Psalm 35 Common English Bible

Psalm 35

Of David.

35 Lord, 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^[a]
    against those who are out to get me!
    Say to me:^[b] “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;
        you rescue the weak and the needy from those who plunder 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,^[c]
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^[d] 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
        wink at my demise.
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.
²⁵    Don’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
        be dressed up in shame and dishonor!
²⁷But let those who want things to be set right for me
        shout for joy and celebrate!
    Let them constantly say, “The Lord is great—
        God wants his servant to be at peace.”
²⁸Then my tongue will talk
        all about your righteousness;
    it will talk
        about your praise all day long.