¹O thou the God of all my praise,

do thou not hold thy peace;

²For mouths of wicked men to speak

against me do not cease:

The mouths of vile deceitful men

against me open’d be;

And with a false and lying tongue

they have accused me.

³They did beset me round about

with words of hateful spight:

And though to them no cause I gave,

against me they did fight.

⁴They for my love became my foes,

but I me set to pray.

⁵Evil for good, hatred for love,

to me they did repay.

⁶Set thou the wicked over him;

and upon his right hand

Give thou his greatest enemy,

ev’n Satan, leave to stand.

⁷And when by thee he shall be judg’d,

let him condemned be;

And let his pray’r be turn’d to sin,

when he shall call on thee.

⁸Few be his days, and in his room

his charge another take.

⁹His children let be fatherless,

his wife a widow make.

¹⁰His children let be vagabonds,

and beg continually;

And from their places desolate

seek bread for their supply.

¹¹Let covetous extortioners

catch all he hath away:

Of all for which he labour’d hath

let strangers make a prey.

¹²Let there be none to pity him,

let there be none at all

That on his children fatherless

will let his mercy fall.

¹³Let his posterity from earth

cut off for ever be,

And in the foll’wing age their name

be blotted out by thee.

¹⁴Let God his father’s wickedness

still to remembrance call;

And never let his mother’s sin

be blotted out at all.

¹⁵But let them all before the Lord

appear continually,

That he may wholly from the earth

cut off their memory.

¹⁶Because he mercy minded not,

but persecuted still

The poor and needy, that he might

the broken-hearted kill.

¹⁷As he in cursing pleasure took,

so let it to him fall;

As he delighted not to bless,

so bless him not at all.

¹⁸As cursing he like clothes put on,

into his bowels so,

Like water, and into his bones,

like oil, down let it go.

¹⁹Like to the garment let it be

which doth himself array,

And for a girdle, wherewith he

is girt about alway.

²⁰From God let this be their reward

that en’mies are to me,

And their reward that speak against

my soul maliciously.

²¹But do thou, for thine own name’s sake,

O God the Lord, for me:

Sith good and sweet thy mercy is,

from trouble set me free.

²²For I am poor and indigent,

afflicted sore am I,

My heart within me also is

wounded exceedingly.

²³I pass like a declining shade,

am like the locust tost:

²⁴My knees through fasting weaken’d are,

my flesh hath fatness lost.

²⁵I also am a vile reproach

unto them made to be;

And they that did upon me look

did shake their heads at me.

²⁶O do thou help and succour me,

who art my God and Lord:

And, for thy tender mercy’s sake,

safety to me afford:

²⁷That thereby they may know that this

is thy almighty hand;

And that thou, Lord, hast done the same,

they may well understand.

²⁸Although they curse with spite, yet, Lord,

bless thou with loving voice:

Let them asham’d be when they rise;

thy servant let rejoice.

²⁹Let thou mine adversaries all

with shame be clothed over;

And let their own confusion

them, as a mantle, cover.

³⁰But as for me, I with my mouth

will greatly praise the Lord;

And I among the multitude

his praises will record.

³¹For he shall stand at his right hand

who is in poverty,

To save him from all those that would

condemn his soul to die.