Passage

Psalms 109

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; 2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit have they opened against me: They have spoken unto me with a lying tongue. 3. They have compassed me about also with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause. 4. For my love they are my adversaries: But I give myself unto prayer. 5. And they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love. 6. Set thou a wicked man over him; And let an adversary stand at his right hand. 7. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty; And let his prayer be turned into sin. 8. Let his days be few; And let another take his office. 9. Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. 10. Let his children be vagabonds, and beg; And let them seek their bread out of their desolate places. 11. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; And let strangers make spoil of his labor. 12. Let there be none to extend kindness unto him; Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children. 13. Let his posterity be cut off; In the generation following let their name be blotted out. 14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with Jehovah; And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. 15. Let them be before Jehovah continually, That he may cut off the memory of them from the earth; 16. Because he remembered not to show kindness, But persecuted the poor and needy man, And the broken in heart, to slay them. 17. Yea, he loved cursing, and it came unto him; And he delighted not in blessing, and it was far from him. 18. He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment, And it came into his inward parts like water, And like oil into his bones. 19. Let it be unto him as the raiment wherewith he covereth himself, And for the girdle wherewith he is girded continually. 20. This is the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah, And of them that speak evil against my soul. 21. But deal thou with me, O Jehovah the Lord, for thy name's sake: Because thy lovingkindness is good, deliver thou me; 22. For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. 23. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. 24. My knees are weak through fasting; And my flesh faileth of fatness. 25. I am become also a reproach unto them: When they see me, they shake their head. 26. Help me, O Jehovah my God; Oh save me according to thy lovingkindness: 27. That they may know that this is thy hand; That thou, Jehovah, hast done it. 28. Let them curse, but bless thou: When they arise, they shall be put to shame, But thy servant shall rejoice. 29. Let mine adversaries be clothed with dishonor, And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe. 30. I will give great thanks unto Jehovah with my mouth; Yea, I will praise him among the multitude. 31. For he will stand at the right hand of the needy, To save him from them that judge his soul." (Psalms 109:1-31, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. God of my praise, don’t remain silent, 2. for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to me with a lying tongue. 3. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. 4. In return for my love, they are my adversaries; but I am in prayer. 5. They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. 6. Set a wicked man over him. Let an adversary stand at his right hand. 7. When he is judged, let him come out guilty. Let his prayer be turned into sin. 8. Let his days be few. Let another take his office. 9. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. 10. Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins. 11. Let the creditor seize all that he has. Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor. 12. Let there be no one to extend kindness to him, neither let there be anyone to have pity on his fatherless children. 13. Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out. 14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by Yahweh. Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out. 15. Let them be before Yahweh continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth; 16. because he didn’t remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them. 17. Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him. 18. He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment. It came into his inward parts like water, like oil into his bones. 19. Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself, for the belt that is always around him. 20. This is the reward of my adversaries from Yahweh, of those who speak evil against my soul. 21. But deal with me, Yahweh the Lord, for your name’s sake, because your loving kindness is good, deliver me; 22. for I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded within me. 23. I fade away like an evening shadow. I am shaken off like a locust. 24. My knees are weak through fasting. My body is thin and lacks fat. 25. I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head. 26. Help me, Yahweh, my God. Save me according to your loving kindness; 27. that they may know that this is your hand; that you, Yahweh, have done it. 28. They may curse, but you bless. When they arise, they will be shamed, but your servant shall rejoice. 29. Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor. Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe. 30. I will give great thanks to Yahweh with my mouth. Yes, I will praise him among the multitude. 31. For he will stand at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul." (Psalms 109:1-31, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; 2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. ^{of the deceitful: Heb. of deceit} ^{are opened: Heb. have opened themselves} 3. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. 4. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. 5. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. 6. Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. ^{Satan: or, an adversary} 7. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. ^{be condemned: Heb. go out guilty, or, wicked} 8. Let his days be few; and let another take his office. ^{office: or, charge} 9. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. 10. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. 11. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. 12. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. 13. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. 14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. 15. Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. 16. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. 17. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. 18. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. ^{into his bowels: Heb. within him} 19. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. 20. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul. 21. But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. 22. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. 24. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. 25. I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads. 26. Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 27. That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it. 28. Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice. 29. Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle. 30. I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. 31. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul. ^{those: Heb. the judges of}" (Psalms 109:1-31, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. To the Overseer., A Psalm of David. O God of my praise, be not silent, 2. For the mouth of wickedness, and the mouth of deceit, Against me they have opened, They have spoken with me, A tongue of falsehood, and words of hatred! 3. They have compassed me about, And they fight me without cause. 4. For my love they oppose me, and I, prayer! 5. And they set against me evil for good, And hatred for my love. 6. Appoint Thou over him the wicked, And an adversary standeth at his right hand. 7. In his being judged, he goeth forth wicked, And his prayer is for sin. 8. His days are few, his oversight another taketh, 9. His sons are fatherless, and his wife a widow. 10. And wander continually do his sons, Yea, they have begged, And have sought out of their dry places. 11. An exactor layeth a snare for all that he hath, And strangers spoil his labour. 12. He hath none to extend kindness, Nor is there one showing favour to his orphans. 13. His posterity is for cutting off, In another generation is their name blotted out. 14. The iniquity of his fathers Is remembered unto Jehovah, And the sin of his mother is not blotted out. 15. They are before Jehovah continually, And He cutteth off from earth their memorial. 16. Because that he hath not remembered to do kindness, And pursueth the poor man and needy, And the smitten of heart, to slay, 17. And he loveth reviling, and it meeteth him, And he hath not delighted in blessing, And it is far from him. 18. And he putteth on reviling as his robe, And it cometh in as water into his midst, And as oil into his bones. 19. It is to him as apparel, he covereth himself, And for a continual girdle he girdeth it on. 20. This [is] the wage of mine accusers from Jehovah, And of those speaking evil against my soul. 21. And Thou, O Jehovah Lord, Deal with me for Thy name's sake, Because Thy kindness [is] good, deliver me. 22. For I [am] poor and needy, And my heart hath been pierced in my midst. 23. As a shadow when it is stretched out I have gone, I have been driven away as a locust. 24. My knees have been feeble from fasting, And my flesh hath failed of fatness. 25. And I, I have been a reproach to them, They see me, they shake their head. 26. Help me, O Jehovah my God, Save me, according to Thy kindness. 27. And they know that this [is] Thy hand, Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast done it. 28. They revile, and Thou dost bless, They have risen, and are ashamed, And Thy servant doth rejoice. 29. Mine accusers put on blushing, and are covered, As an upper robe [is] their shame. 30. I thank Jehovah greatly with my mouth, And in the midst of many I praise Him, 31. For He standeth at the right hand of the needy, To save from those judging his soul." (Psalms 109:1-31, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.