Imprecatory psalm

Imprecatory Psalms, contained within the Book of Psalms of the Hebrew Bible (תנ"ך), are those that invoke judgment, calamity, or curses, upon one's enemies or those perceived as the enemies of God. Major Imprecatory Psalms include and Psalm 109, while Psalms 5, 6, 11, 12, 35, 37, 40, 52, 54, 56, 58, 69, 79, 83, 137, 139, and 143 are also considered imprecatory (). As a sample, Psalm 69:24 states toward God, "Pour out Your indignation on them, and let Your burning anger overtake them" and Psalm 137:9, which declares "Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."

The Psalms (Hebrew: Tehilim‎‎, תהילים, or "praises"), considered part of both Hebrew and Christian Scripture, served as ancient Israel's "psalter" or "hymnbook", which was used during temple and private worship.

The New Testament contains passages that quote Imprecatory Psalms. Jesus of Nazareth is shown quoting from them in John 15:25, and John 2:17, while Paul the Apostle quotes from Psalm 69 in the Epistle to the Romans 11:9-10 and 15:3.

Imprecations in the Hebrew Bible are not limited to the Imprecatory Psalms. The Nevi'im (prophetic literature) contains many, as well, in the books of Hosea, Micah, and Jeremiah, for example, leading to their categorization as "imprecatory topoi". As well, in the Torah, in the Third Sermon of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is shown describing a litany of curses that would befall Israel for rebelliousness. Many of the same curses were later warned about by Joshua, some 100 years after Moses's death.

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