35:1 CONTEND, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! |
35:2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help! |
35:3 Draw out also the spear and javelin {and} close up the way of those who pursue {and} persecute me. Say to me, I am your deliverance! |
35:4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek {and} require my life; let them be turned back and confounded who plan my hurt! |
35:5 Let them be as chaff before the wind, with the Angel of the Lord driving them on! |
35:6 Let their way be through dark and slippery places, with the Angel of the Lord pursuing {and} afflicting them. |
35:7 For without cause they hid for me their net; a pit of destruction without cause they dug for my life. |
35:8 Let destruction befall [my foe] unawares; let the net he hid for me catch him; let him fall into that very destruction. |
35:9 Then I shall be joyful in the Lord; I shall rejoice in His deliverance. |
35:10 All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like You, You Who deliver the poor {and} the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who snatches away his goods? |
35:11 Malicious {and} unrighteous witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I know not. |
35:12 They reward me evil for good to my personal bereavement. |
35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting, and I prayed with head bowed on my breast. |
35:14 I behaved as if grieving for my friend {or} my brother; I bowed down in sorrow, as one who bewails his mother. |
35:15 But in my stumbling {and} limping they rejoiced and gathered together [against me]; the smiters (slanderers and revilers) gathered against me, and I knew them not; they ceased not to slander {and} revile me. |
35:16 Like profane mockers at feasts [making sport for the price of a cake] they gnashed at me with their teeth. |
35:17 Lord, how long will You look on [without action]? Rescue my life from their destructions, my dear {and} only life from the lions! |
35:18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among a mighty throng. |
35:19 Let not those who are wrongfully my foes rejoice over me; neither let them wink with the eye who hate me without cause. |
35:20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful matters against those who are quiet in the land. |
35:21 Yes, they open their mouths wide against me; they say, Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen it! |
35:22 You have seen this, O Lord; keep not silence! O Lord, be not far from me! |
35:23 Arouse Yourself, awake to the justice due me, even to my cause, my God and my Lord! |
35:24 Judge {and} vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness (Your rightness and justice); and let [my foes] not rejoice over me! |
35:25 Let them not say in their hearts, Aha, that is what we wanted! Let them not say, We have swallowed him up {and} utterly destroyed him. |
35:26 Let them be put to shame and confusion together who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify {and} exalt themselves over me! |
35:27 Let those who favor my righteous cause {and} have pleasure in my uprightness shout for joy and be glad and say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. |
35:28 And my tongue shall talk of Your righteousness, rightness, {and} justice, and of [my reasons for] Your praise all the day long. |