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The Song of the Slandered

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O God of my praise, do not be silent.² For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.³ They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.⁴ In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.⁵ They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

⁶ Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.⁷ When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin.⁸ May his days be few; may another take his position.⁹ May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.¹⁰ May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.¹¹ May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.¹² May there be none to extend kindness, and no one to favor his fatherless children.¹³ May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.¹⁵ May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth.¹⁶ For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.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 The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.¹⁹ May it be like a robe wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.²⁰ May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.

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.²² For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.²³ I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.²⁴ My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion.²⁷ Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it.²⁸ Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.²⁹ My accusers will be clothed with disgrace; they will wear their shame like a robe.³⁰ With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely; I will praise Him in the presence of many.³¹ For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.