In Return for My Love

Verses 1–20 · betrayal answered with fierce curses

1. ^{verse 1}O God of my praise, be not silent.
2. ^{verse 2}For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.
3. ^{verse 3}They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
4. ^{verse 4}In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
5. ^{verse 5}They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6. ^{verse 6}Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7. ^{verse 7}When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin.
8. ^{verse 8}May his days be few; may another take his position.
9. ^{verse 9}May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
10. ^{verse 10}May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
11. ^{verse 11}May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
12. ^{verse 12}May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.
13. ^{verse 13}May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
14. ^{verse 14}May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
15. ^{verse 15}May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth.
16. ^{verse 16}For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.
17. ^{verse 17}The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.
18. ^{verse 18}The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.
19. ^{verse 19}May it be like a robe wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.
20. ^{verse 20}May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.

Verses 21–31 · trust in God's steadfast love and praise

1. ^{verse 21}But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.
2. ^{verse 22}For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.
3. ^{verse 23}I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
4. ^{verse 24}My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.
5. ^{verse 25}I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
6. ^{verse 26}Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion.
7. ^{verse 27}Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it.
8. ^{verse 28}Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
9. ^{verse 29}May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.
10. ^{verse 30}With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely; I will praise Him in the presence of many.
11. ^{verse 31}For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.