Psalms 35
1 Of David. O Lord, be on my side against those who are judging me; be at war with those who make war against me.
A psalm of David. Oppose my opponents, Lord; fight those who are fighting against me.
2 Be a breastplate to me, and give me your help.
Put your armor on, and pick up your shield. Get ready, come and help me.
3 Take up your spear and keep back my attackers; say to my soul, I am your salvation.
Draw your spear and your javelin, confront those who are chasing me. Tell me, “I am your salvation!”
4 Let them be overcome and put to shame who make attempts to take my soul; let those who would do me damage be turned back and made foolish.
Shame them! Humiliate those who are trying to kill me! Turn them back! Disgrace those who are planning to hurt me!
5 Let them be like dust from the grain before the wind; let the angel of the Lord send them in flight.
Let them be like chaff blown by the wind; let the angel of the Lord drive them away.
6 Let their way be dark and full of danger; let them be troubled by the angel of the Lord.
May their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord chasing them down.
7 For without cause they have put a net ready for me secretly, in which to take my soul.
For no reason they set a net to catch me; for no reason they dug a pit to trap me.
8 Let destruction come on them without their knowledge; let them be taken themselves in their secret nets, falling into the same destruction.
Let disaster come on them suddenly; let the net they set catch them instead; let the pit they dug trap them instead.
9 And my soul will have joy in the Lord; it will be glad in his salvation.
Then I will be glad in the Lord; I will be happy in his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you? The saviour of the poor man from the hands of the strong, of him who is poor and in need from him who takes his goods.
Every part of me will say, Who can compare to you, Lord? You rescue the weak from the strong; the poor and needy from robbers.
11 False witnesses got up: they put questions to me about crimes of which I had no knowledge.
Hostile witnesses stand up to testify against me, accusing me of crimes I don't know anything about.
12 They gave me back evil for good, troubling my soul.
They pay me back with evil instead of good. I feel like giving up.
13 But as for me, when they were ill I put on the clothing of sorrow: I went without food and was sad, and my prayer came back again to my heart.
But when they were sick, I put on clothes of sackcloth in sympathy. I denied myself through fasting. May my prayer for them return to bless me too.
14 My behaviour was as if it had been my friend or my brother: I was bent low in grief like one whose mother is dead.
I was upset for them, as if they were my own friends or family; I bowed down in grief as if I was mourning my own mother.
15 But they took pleasure in my trouble, and came together, yes, low persons came together against me without my knowledge; they never came to an end of wounding me.
But when I was in trouble, they gathered around and laughed at me. Even strangers I don't know attacked me, constantly tearing me apart.
16 Like men of deceit they put me to shame; the voice of their wrath was loud against me.
Like irreligious people mocking a cripple they mock me and call me names, gnashing their teeth at me.
17 Lord, how long will you be looking on? take my soul from their destruction, my life from the lions.
How long, Lord, will you sit by and just watch? Save me from their vicious attacks; defend the only life I have from these lions.
18 I will give you praise in the great meeting; I will give you honour among a strong people.
Then I will thank you in front of the whole congregation and praise you in front of all the people.
19 Do not let my haters be glad over me falsely; let not those who are against me without cause make sport of me.
Don't let my enemies take pleasure in my troubles, those people who hate me and tell lies about me, gloating over me for no reason.
20 For they do not say words of peace; in their deceit they are designing evil things against the quiet ones in the land.
They are not looking for peace; they invent malicious and deceptive schemes against innocent peace-loving people.
21 Their mouths were open wide against me, and they said, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it.
They open their mouths wide to make accusations against me, saying, “Look! Look! We saw it with our own eyes!”
22 You have seen this, O Lord; be not unmoved: O Lord, be not far from me.
But Lord, you've seen all this! Say something! Don't give up on me, Lord!
23 Be awake, O Lord, be moved to take up my cause, my God and my Lord.
Wake up! Get up and defend me, my Lord and my God! Take up my case and make sure justice is done!
24 Be my judge, O Lord my God, in your righteousness; do not let them be glad over me.
Vindicate me, my Lord and my God, because you are just and right. Don't let them gloat over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, So we will have it: let them not say, We have put an end to him.
Don't let them say to themselves, “Look! We got what we wanted!” Don't let them say, “We completely destroyed him!”
26 Let all those who take pleasure in my troubles be shamed and come to nothing: let those who are lifted up against me be covered with shame and have no honour.
Make them totally ashamed, all those who are happy for the trouble I'm in. Let those who are celebrating over me be covered with shame and dishonor.
27 Let those who are on my side give cries of joy; let them ever say, The Lord be praised, for he has pleasure in the peace of his servant.
Instead let those who are pleased I've been vindicated celebrate and shout for joy. Let them always say, “How great is the Lord! He is happy when his servants live in peace and have what they need.”
28 And my tongue will be talking of your righteousness and of your praise all the day.
I will tell others about your character of truth and right, praising you all day long!
