| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 1To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Do not keep silent, O God of my praise! | 1For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, |
| 2For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. | 2for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. |
| 3They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause. | 3With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. |
| 4In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer. | 4In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. |
| 5Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love. | 5They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship. |
| 6Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. | 6Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand. |
| 7When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin. | 7When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. |
| 8Let his days be few, And let another take his office. | 8May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. |
| 9Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. | 9May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. |
| 10Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. | 10May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. |
| 11Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor. | 11May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. |
| 12Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. | 12May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. |
| 13Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out. | 13May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. |
| 14Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. | 14May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. |
| 15Let them be continually before the LORD, That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth; | 15May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may blot out their name from the earth. |
| 16Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart. | 16For he never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted. |
| 17As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him. | 17He loved to pronounce a curse-- may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing-- may it be far from him. |
| 18As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, So let it enter his body like water, And like oil into his bones. | 18He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil. |
| 19Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, And for a belt with which he girds himself continually. | 19May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him. |
| 20Let this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person. | 20May this be the LORD's payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me. |
| 21But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me. | 21But you, Sovereign LORD, help me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. |
| 22For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. | 22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. |
| 23I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust. | 23I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust. |
| 24My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. | 24My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt. |
| 25I also have become a reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake their heads. | 25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads. |
| 26Help me, O LORD my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy, | 26Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love. |
| 27That they may know that this is Your hand— That You, LORD, have done it! | 27Let them know that it is your hand, that you, LORD, have done it. |
| 28Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice. | 28While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice. |
| 29Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. | 29May my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak. |
| 30I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. | 30With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him. |
| 31For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, To save him from those who condemn him. | 31For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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