1 O my God, whose name I worship,
be not silent, LORD, I pray;
2 For the wicked and deceitful
speak against me every day.
They have uttered lies against me;
with malicious tongues they fight.
3 Without cause they rush upon me,
closing in with words of spite.
4 In return for love they blame me,
though for them I daily pray.
5 They reward my good with evil,
for my friendship hate repay.
6 Set an evil man against him
at his right hand to denounce.
7 May his very prayers condemn him;
let the court his guilt pronounce.
8 May his rule pass to another;
short and wretched be his life.
9 Fatherless shall be his children;
make a widow of his wife.
10 May his children beg and wander,
driven from their ruined gate.
11 May his goods be seized and taken—
strangers plunder his estate.
12 May no one take pity on him
or his orphans in their plight.
13 May his fam’ly line be ended,
and their names be lost to sight.
This could be set to any 8787 tune.
14 May the LORD remember ever
all his parents’ sin and shame.
15 May their sin be held against them,
and forgotten be their name.
16 For he never thought of helping
those in trouble or distress;
But to death the poor he hounded,
and the weak and comfortless.
17 He was always cursing others—
may his curse on him rebound;
He took no delight in blessing—
far from him may it be found.
18 He wore cursing as his garment—
to his bones it soaked like oil;
It poured down his throat like water.
19 May his curses round him coil.
May they cling to him for ever,
wrapped around him like a cloak.
20 May this be the LORD’s repayment
to those false, accusing folk.