Psalms 35
1 Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.
[A Psalm] of David. Judge you, O Lord, them that injure me, fight against them that fight against me.
2 Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.
Take hold of shield and buckler, and arise for my help.
3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
Bring forth a sword, and stop [the way] against them that persecute me: say to my soul, I am your salvation.
4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.
Let them that seek my soul be ashamed and confounded: let them that devise evils against me be turned back and put to shame.
5 May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
Let them be as dust before the wind, and an angel of the Lord afflicting them.
6 May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
Let their way be dark and slippery, and an angel of the Lord persecuting them.
7 For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
For without cause they have hid for me their destructive snare: without a cause they have reproached my soul.
8 May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.
Let a snare which they know not come upon them; and the gin which they hid take them; and let them fall into the very same snare.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and exult in His salvation.
But my soul shall exult in the Lord: it shall delight in his salvation.
10 All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
All my bones shall say, O Lord, who is like to you? delivering the poor out of the hand of them that are stronger than he, yes, the poor and needy one from them that spoil him.
11 Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.
Unjust witnesses arose, and asked me of things I new not.
12 They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
They rewarded me evil for good, and bereavement to my soul.
13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
But I, when they troubled me, put on sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting: and my prayer shall return to my [own] bosom.
14 I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.
I behaved agreeably towards them as [if it had been] our neighbor [or] brother: I humbled myself as one mourning and sad of countenance.
15 But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
Yet they rejoiced against me, and plagues were plentifully brought against me, and I knew [it] not: they were scattered, but repented not.
16 Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
They tempted me, they sneered at me most contemptuously, they gnashed their teeth upon me.
17 How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
O Lord, when will you look upon me? Deliver my soul from their mischief, mine only-begotten one from the lions.
18 Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people.
I will give thanks to you even in a great congregation: in an abundant people I will praise you.
19 Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
Let not them that are mine enemies without a cause rejoice against me; who hate me for nothing, and wink with their eyes.
20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
For to me they spoke peaceably, but imagined deceits in [their] anger.
21 They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
And they opened wide their mouth upon me; they said Aha, aha, our eyes have seen [it].
22 O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me.
You have seen [it], O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, withdraw not [yourself] from me.
23 Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
Awake, O Lord, and attend to my judgment, [even] to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me.
Judge me, O Lord, according to your righteousness, O Lord my God; and let them not rejoice against me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
Let them not say in their hearts, Aha, aha, [it is pleasing] to our soul: neither let them say, We have devoured him.
26 May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
Let them be confounded and ashamed together that rejoice at my afflictions: let them be clothed with shame and confusion that speak great swelling words against me.
27 May those who favor my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD who delights in His servant’s well-being.”
Let them that rejoice in my righteousness exult and be glad: and let them say continually, The Lord be magnified, who desire the peace of his servant.
28 Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness and Your praises all day long.
And my tongue shall meditate on your righteousness, [and] on your praise all the day.
