A Prayer for the Betrayed
[1] My God, whom I praise,
do not remain silent,
[2] for people who are wicked and deceitful
have opened their mouths against me;
they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
[3] With words of hatred they surround me;
they attack me without cause.
[4] In return for my friendship they accuse me,
but I am a man of prayer.
[5] They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my friendship.
[6] Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
[7] When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
and may his prayers condemn him.
[8] May his days be few;
may another take his place of leadership.
[9] May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
[10] May his children be wandering beggars;
may they be driven from their ruined homes.
[11] May a creditor seize all he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
[12] May no one extend kindness to him
or take pity on his fatherless children.
[13] May his descendants be cut off,
their names blotted out from the next generation.
[14] May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord;
may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
[15] May their sins always remain before the Lord,
that he may blot out their name from the earth.
[16] For he never thought of doing a kindness,
but hounded to death the poor
and the needy and the brokenhearted.
[17] He loved to pronounce a curse—
may it come back on him.
He found no pleasure in blessing—
may it be far from him.
[18] He wore cursing as his garment;
it entered into his body like water,
into his bones like oil.
[19] May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
like a belt tied forever around him.
[20] May this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers,
to those who speak evil of me.
--------------------------------------
God bless. Best regards,
Rontabs
