Psalm 35

¹LORD , argue with those who argue with me;

fight with those who fight against me!

²Grab a shield and armor;

stand up and help me!

³Use your spear and ax[#35.3 Correction]

against those who are out to get me!

Say to me: “I’m your salvation!”

⁴Let those who want me dead

be humiliated and put to shame.

Let those who intend to hurt me

be thoroughly frustrated and disgraced.

⁵Let them be like dust on the wind—

and let the LORD ’s messenger be the one who does the blowing!

⁶Let their path be dark and slippery—

and let the LORD ’s messenger be the one who does the chasing!

⁷Because they hid their net for me for no reason,

they dug a pit for me for no reason.

⁸Let disaster come to them when they don’t suspect it.

Let the net they hid catch them instead!

Let them fall into it—to their disaster!

⁹But I will rejoice in the LORD ;

I will celebrate his salvation.

¹⁰All my bones will say, “LORD , who could compare to you?

You rescue the weak from those who overpower them;

¹¹Violent witnesses stand up.

They question me about things I know nothing about.

¹²They pay me back evil for good,

leaving me stricken with grief.

¹³But when they were sick, I wore clothes for grieving,

and I kept a strict fast.

When my prayer came back unanswered,

¹⁴I would wander around like I was grieving a friend or a brother.

I was weighed down, sad, like I was a mother in mourning.

¹⁵But when I stumbled, they celebrated and gathered together—

they gathered together against me!

Strangers I didn’t know tore me to pieces and wouldn’t quit.

¹⁶They ridiculed me over and over again,

like godless people would do,

grinding their teeth at me.

¹⁷How long, my Lord, will you watch this happen?

Rescue me from their attacks;

rescue my precious life from these predatory lions!

¹⁸Then I will thank you in the great assembly;

I will praise you in a huge crowd of people.

¹⁹Don’t let those who are my enemies

without cause celebrate over me;

don’t let those who hate me for no reason

²⁰They don’t speak the truth;

instead, they plot false accusations

against innocent people in the land.

²¹They speak out against me,

saying, “Yes! Oh, yes! We’ve seen it with our own eyes!”

²²But you’ve seen it too, LORD .

Don’t keep quiet about it.

Please don’t be far from me, my Lord.

²³Wake up! Get up and do justice for me;

argue my case, my Lord and my God!

²⁴Establish justice for me

according to your righteousness, LORD , my God.

Don’t let them celebrate over me.

²⁵Don’t let them say to themselves,

Yes! Exactly what we wanted!

Don’t let them say, “We ate him up!”

²⁶Let all those who celebrate my misfortune be disgraced and put to shame!

Let those who exalt themselves over me

²⁷But let those who want things to be set right for me

Let them constantly say, “The LORD is great—

²⁸Then my tongue will talk

it will talk