7You seduced me,*Lord, and I let myself be seduced;

you were too strong for me, and you prevailed.

All day long I am an object of laughter;

everyone mocks me.

8Whenever I speak, I must cry out,

violence and outrage I proclaim;

The word of theLord has brought me

reproach and derision all day long.

9I say I will not mention him,

I will no longer speak in his name.

But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart,

imprisoned in my bones;

I grow weary holding back,

I cannot!f

10Yes, I hear the whisperings of many:

“Terror on every side!

Denounce! let us denounce him!”

All those who were my friends

are on the watch for any misstep of mine.

“Perhaps he can be tricked; then we will prevail,

and take our revenge on him.”g

11But theLord is with me, like a mighty champion:

my persecutors will stumble, they will not prevail.

In their failure they will be put to utter shame,

to lasting, unforgettable confusion.h

12Lord of hosts, you test the just,

you see mind and heart,

Let me see the vengeance you take on them,

for to you I have entrusted my cause.i

13Sing to theLord,

praise theLord,

For he has rescued the life of the poor

from the power of the evildoers!j

14Cursed be the day*

on which I was born!

May the day my mother gave me birth

never be blessed!k

15Cursed be the one who brought the news

to my father,

“A child, a son, has been born to you!”

filling him with great joy.

16Let that man be like the cities

which theLord relentlessly overthrew;

Let him hear war cries in the morning,

battle alarms at noonday,l

17because he did not kill me in the womb!

Then my mother would have been my grave,

her womb confining me forever.m

18Why did I come forth from the womb,

to see sorrow and pain,

to end my days in shame?n