Psalms 35:1-16 ▼

1 Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.

2 Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.

3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; 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.

5 May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.

6 May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.

7 For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.

8 May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and exult 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?”

11 Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.

12 They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.

13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.

14 I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.

15 But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.

16 Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.