Help Me, O Lord My God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 tBe not silent, O uGod of my praise!
2 For wicked and vdeceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me wwithout cause.
4 In return for my love they xaccuse me,
but I ygive myself to prayer.1
5 So they zreward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 aAppoint a wicked man bagainst him;
let an accuser stand cat his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his dprayer be counted as sin!
8 May his edays be few;
may fanother take his goffice!
9 May his hchildren be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children iwander about and beg,
jseeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May kthe creditor seize all that he has;
may kstrangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to lextend kindness to him,
nor any to mpity his fatherless children!
13 May his nposterity be cut off;
may his oname be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May pthe iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
and let not the sin of his mother be qblotted out!
15 rLet them be before the Lord continually,
that he may scut off the memory of them from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued tthe poor and needy
and uthe brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 vHe loved to curse; let curses come2 upon him!
He did not delight in blessing; may it be far3 from him!
18 He wclothed himself with cursing as his coat;
may it xsoak4 into his body like water,
like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my yaccusers from the Lord,
of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But you, O God my Lord,
deal on my behalf zfor your name’s sake;
because your asteadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am bpoor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like ca shadow at evening;
I am dshaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak ethrough fasting;
my fbody has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am gan object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they hwag their heads.
26 iHelp me, O Lord my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them jknow that this is your hand;
you, O Lord, have done it!
28 kLet them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but lyour servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be mclothed with dishonor;
may they nbe wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will opraise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands pat the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
Rulers and Prophets Denounced
1 And I said:
lHear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
mIs it not for you to know justice?—
2 you nwho hate the good and love the evil,
owho tear the skin from off my people1
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 pwho eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
4 qThen they will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer them;
rhe will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says the Lord concerning sthe prophets
who lead my people astray,
twho cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
who puts nothing into their mouths.
6 Therefore uit shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without divination.
vThe sun shall go down on the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
7 wthe seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
xthey shall all cover their lips,
for ythere is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, zI am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob ahis transgression
and to Israel his sin.
9 bHear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
cwho detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
10 dwho build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 eIts heads give judgment for a bribe;
fits priests teach for a price;
gits prophets practice divination for money;
hyet they lean on the Lord and isay,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
jNo disaster shall come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
kZion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem lshall become a heap of ruins,
