Mazmur 31:17-18

31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you!

May evil men be humiliated!

May they go wailing to the grave! ¹ 

31:18 May lying lips be silenced –

lips ²  that speak defiantly against the innocent ³ 

with arrogance and contempt!

[31:17]  ¹ tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”

[31:18]  ² tn Heb “the [ones which].”

[31:18]  ³ tn Or “godly.”