New International Version NIV
The Message Bible MSG
1 My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent,
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My God, don't turn a deaf ear to my hallelujah prayer.
2 for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
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Liars are pouring out invective on me; Their lying tongues are like a pack of dogs out to get me,
3 With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.
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barking their hate, nipping my heels - and for no reason!
4 In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
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I loved them and now they slander me - yes, me! - and treat my prayer like a crime;
5 They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.
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They return my good with evil, they return my love with hate.
6 Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
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Send the Evil One to accuse my accusing judge; dispatch Satan to prosecute him.
7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him.
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When he's judged, let the verdict be, "Guilty," and when he prays, let his prayer turn to sin.
8 May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.
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Give him a short life, and give his job to somebody else.
9 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
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Make orphans of his children, dress his wife in widow's weeds;
10 May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes.
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Turn his children into begging street urchins, evicted from their homes - homeless.
11 May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
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May the bank foreclose and wipe him out, and strangers, like vultures, pick him clean.
12 May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children.
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May there be no one around to help him out, no one willing to give his orphans a break.
13 May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation.
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Chop down his family tree so that nobody even remembers his name.
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
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But erect a memorial to the sin of his father, and make sure his mother's name is there, too -
15 May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may blot out their name from the earth.
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Their sins recorded forever before God, but they themselves sunk in oblivion.
16 For he never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted.
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That's all he deserves since he was never once kind, hounded the afflicted and heartbroken to their graves.
17 He loved to pronounce a curse— may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing— may it be far from him.
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Since he loved cursing so much, let curses rain down; Since he had no taste for blessing, let blessings flee far from him.
18 He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil.
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He dressed up in curses like a fine suit of clothes; he drank curses, took his baths in curses.
19 May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.
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So give him a gift - a costume of curses; he can wear curses every day of the week!
20 May this be the LORD’s payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me.
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That's what they'll get, those out to get me - an avalanche of just deserts from God.
21 But you, Sovereign LORD, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
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Oh, God, my Lord, step in; work a miracle for me - you can do it! Get me out of here - your love is so great! -
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
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I'm at the end of my rope, my life in ruins.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
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I'm fading away to nothing, passing away, my youth gone, old before my time.
24 My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt.
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I'm weak from hunger and can hardly stand up, my body a rack of skin and bones.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
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I'm a joke in poor taste to those who see me; they take one look and shake their heads.
26 Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love.
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Help me, oh help me, God, my God, save me through your wonderful love;
27 Let them know that it is your hand, that you, LORD, have done it.
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Then they'll know that your hand is in this, that you, God, have been at work.
28 While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice.
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Let them curse all they want; you do the blessing.
29 May my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.
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Let them be jeered by the crowd when they stand up, followed by cheers for me, your servant. Dress my accusers in clothes dirty with shame, discarded and humiliating old ragbag clothes.
30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him.
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My mouth's full of great praise for God, I'm singing his hallelujahs surrounded by crowds,
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.
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For he's always at hand to take the side of the needy, to rescue a life from the unjust judge.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.