Psalm 35:1–28

¹Contend, O Lord, with those who ^ycontend with me;

^zfight against those who fight against me!

²Take hold of ^ashield and buckler

and rise for my help!

³Draw the spear and javelin¹

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

“I am your salvation!”

^4bLet them be ^cput to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be ^dturned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me!

⁵Let them be like ^echaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them away!

⁶Let their way be dark and ^fslippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

⁷For ^gwithout cause ^hthey hid their net for me;

without cause they dug ⁱa pit for my life.²

⁸Let ^jdestruction come upon him ^kwhen he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into it—to his destruction!

⁹Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,

^lexulting in his salvation.

¹⁰All my ^mbones shall say,

“O Lord, ⁿwho is like you,

delivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

^11oMalicious³ witnesses rise up;

they ask me of things that I do not know.

^12pThey repay me evil for good;

my soul is bereft.⁴

¹³But I, ^qwhen they were sick—

I ^rwore sackcloth;

I ^safflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed ^twith head bowed⁵ on my chest.

¹⁴I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

I ^ubowed down in mourning.

¹⁵But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

^vwretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

¹⁶like profane mockers at a feast,⁶

they ^wgnash at me with their teeth.

¹⁷How long, O Lord, will you ^xlook on?

Rescue me from their destruction,

^ymy precious life from the lions!

¹⁸I will thank you in ^zthe great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

^19aLet not those rejoice over me

who are ^bwrongfully my foes,

and let not those ^cwink the eye

who ^dhate me ^ewithout cause.

²⁰For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they devise words of deceit.

²¹They ^fopen wide their mouths against me;

they say, ^g“Aha, Aha!

Our eyes have seen it!”

^22hYou have seen, O Lord; ⁱbe not silent!

O Lord, ^jbe not far from me!

²³Awake and ^krouse yourself for ^lmy vindication,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

^24mVindicate me, O Lord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and ⁿlet them not rejoice over me!

²⁵Let them not say in their hearts,

^o“Aha, our heart’s desire!”

Let them not say, ^p“We have swallowed him up.”

²⁶Let them be ^qput to shame and disappointed altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be ^rclothed with shame and dishonor

who ^smagnify themselves against me!

²⁷Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

^tand say evermore,

^u“Great is the Lord,

who ^vdelights in the welfare of his servant!”

²⁸Then my ^wtongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long.