PSALM 35 [†] Contend, O LORD, with those who  y contend with me;

 z fight against those who fight against me!

2 Take hold of  a shield and buckler

and rise for my help!

3[^] Draw the spear and javelin [1]

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

“I am your salvation!”

4[^][†]  b Let them be  c put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be  d turned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me!

5 Let them be like  e chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the LORD driving them away!

6 Let their way be dark and  f slippery,

with the angel of the LORD pursuing them!

7 For  g without cause  h they hid their net for me;

without cause they dug  i a pit for my life. [2]

8 Let  j destruction come upon him  k when he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into it—to his destruction!

9[†] Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD,

 l exulting in his salvation.

10 All my  m bones shall say,

“O LORD,  n who is like you,

delivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

11[†]  o Malicious [3] witnesses rise up;

they ask me of things that I do not know.

12  p They repay me evil for good;

my soul is bereft. [4]

13 But I,  q when they were sick—

I  r wore sackcloth;

I  s afflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed  t with head bowed [5] on my chest.

14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

I  u bowed down in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

 v wretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

16 like profane mockers at a feast, [6]

they  w gnash at me with their teeth.

17[†] How long, O Lord, will you  x look on?

Rescue me from their destruction,

 y my precious life from the lions!

18[^] I will thank you in  z the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19[^][†]  a Let not those rejoice over me

who are  b wrongfully my foes,

and let not those  c wink the eye

who  d hate me  e without cause.

20 For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they devise words of deceit.

21 They  f open wide their mouths against me;

they say,  g “Aha, Aha!

Our eyes have seen it!”

22[†]  h You have seen, O LORD;  i be not silent!

O Lord,  j be not far from me!

23 Awake and  k rouse yourself for  l my vindication,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24  m Vindicate me, O LORD, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and  n let them not rejoice over me!

25 Let them not say in their hearts,

 o “Aha, our heart’s desire!”

Let them not say,  p “We have swallowed him up.”

26 Let them be  q put to shame and disappointed altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be  r clothed with shame and dishonor

who  s magnify themselves against me!

27[†] Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

 t and say evermore,

 u “Great is the LORD,

who  v delights in the welfare of his servant!”

28 Then my  w tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long.

To the choirmaster. Of David, the  x servant of the LORD.