Psalms 35
35
(A psalm by David.)
A Prayer for Protection from Enemies
1Fight my enemies, Lord!
Attack my attackers!
2Shield me and help me.
3Aim your spear at everyone
who hunts me down,
but promise to save me.
4Let all who want to kill me
be disgraced
and put to shame.
Chase away and confuse
all who plan to harm me.
5Send your angel after them
and let them be like straw
in the wind.
6Make them run in the dark
on a slippery road,
as your angel chases them.
7I did them no harm,
but they hid a net
to trap me,
and they dug a deep pit
to catch and kill me.
8 #
3 Macc 6.21. Surprise them with disaster!
Trap them in their own nets
and let them fall and rot
in the pits they have dug.
9I will celebrate and be joyful
because you, Lord,
have saved me.
10Every bone in my body
will shout:
“No one is like the Lord!”
You protect the helpless
from those in power;
you save the poor and needy
from those who hurt them.
11Liars accuse me of crimes
I know nothing about.
12They repay evil for good,
and I feel all alone.
13When they were sick,
I wore sackcloth#35.13 sackcloth: See the note at 30.11.
and went without food.#35.13 went without food: People sometimes went without food (called “fasting”) to show sorrow.
I truly prayed for them,#35.13 I … them: Or “My prayer wasn't answered, but I prayed.”
14as I would for a friend
or a relative.
I was in sorrow and mourned,
as I would for my mother.
15I have stumbled,
and worthless liars
I don't even know
surround me and sneer.
16Worthless people make fun#35.16 Worthless … fun: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and never stop laughing.
17But all you do is watch!
When will you do something?
Save me from the attack
of those vicious lions.
18And when your people meet,
I will praise you
and thank you, Lord,
in front of them all.
19 #
Ps 69.4; Jn 15.25. Don't let my brutal enemies
be glad because of me.
They hate me for no reason.
Don't let them wink
behind my back.
20They say hurtful things,
and they lie to people
who want to live in peace.
21They are quick to accuse me.
They say, “You did it!
We saw you ourselves.”
22You see everything, Lord!
Please don't keep silent
or stay so far away.
23Fight to defend me, Lord God,
24and prove that I am right
by your standards.
Don't let them laugh at me
25or say to each other,
“Now we've got what we want!
We'll gobble him up!”
26Disappoint and confuse
all who are glad
to see me in trouble;
disgrace and embarrass
my proud enemies who say to me,
“You are nothing!”
27Let all who want me to win
be happy and joyful.
From now on let them say,
“The Lord is wonderful!
God is glad when all goes well
for his servant.”
28Then I will shout all day,
“Praise the Lord God!
He did what was right.”
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Psalms 35: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Psalms 35
35
A Psalm of David.
1Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!
2Take hold of shield and buckler,
and rise for my help!
3Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your deliverance!”
4Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be turned back and confounded
who devise evil against me!
5Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them on!
6Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7For without cause they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit#35.7 The word pitis transposed from the preceding line for my life.
8Let ruin come upon them unawares!
And let the net which they hid ensnare them;
let them fall therein to ruin!
9Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
exulting in his deliverance.
10All my bones shall say,
“O Lord, who is like thee,
thou who deliverest the weak
from him who is too strong for him,
the weak and needy from him who despoils him?”
11Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I know not.
12They requite me evil for good;
my soul is forlorn.
13But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth,
I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed#35.13 Or My prayer turned back on my bosom,
14as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
I went about as one who laments his mother,
bowed down and in mourning.
15But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
they gathered together against me;
cripples whom I knew not
slandered me without ceasing;
16they impiously mocked more and more,#35.16 Cn Compare Gk: Heb like the profanest of mockers of a cake
gnashing at me with their teeth.
17How long, O Lord, wilt thou look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my life from the lions!
18Then I will thank thee in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise thee.
19 #
Ps 69.4; Jn 15.25. Let not those rejoice over me
who are wrongfully my foes,
and let not those wink the eye
who hate me without cause.
20For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they conceive words of deceit.
21They open wide their mouths against me;
they say, “Aha, Aha!
our eyes have seen it!”
22Thou hast seen, O Lord; be not silent!
O Lord, be not far from me!
23Bestir thyself, and awake for my right,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to thy righteousness;
and let them not rejoice over me!
25Let them not say to themselves,
“Aha, we have our heart's desire!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26Let them be put to shame and confusion altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
who magnify themselves against me!
27Let those who desire my vindication
shout for joy and be glad,
and say evermore,
“Great is the Lord,
who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
28Then my tongue shall tell of thy righteousness
and of thy praise all the day long.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America