Psalms 35
35
Psalm 35
Of David.
1 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#35.3 Correction
against those who are out to get me!
Say to me:#35.3 Or my soul; also in 35:4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 17, 24 “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,#35.13 Heb uncertain
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#35.15 Correction 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.
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
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.
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Psalms 35: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Psalms 35
35
1-3Harass these hecklers, God,
punch these bullies in the nose.
Grab a weapon, anything at hand;
stand up for me!
Get ready to throw the spear, aim the javelin,
at the people who are out to get me.
Reassure me; let me hear you say,
“I’ll save you.”
4-8When those thugs try to knife me in the back,
make them look foolish.
Frustrate all those
who are plotting my downfall.
Make them like cinders in a high wind,
with God’s angel working the bellows.
Make their road lightless and mud-slick,
with God’s angel on their tails.
Out of sheer cussedness they set a trap to catch me;
for no good reason they dug a ditch to stop me.
Surprise them with your ambush—
catch them in the very trap they set,
the disaster they planned for me.
9-10But let me run loose and free,
celebrating God’s great work,
Every bone in my body laughing, singing, “God,
there’s no one like you.
You put the down-and-out on their feet
and protect the unprotected from bullies!”
11-12Hostile accusers appear out of nowhere,
they stand up and badger me.
They pay me back misery for mercy,
leaving my soul empty.
13-14When they were sick, I dressed in black;
instead of eating, I prayed.
My prayers were like lead in my gut,
like I’d lost my best friend, my brother.
I paced, distraught as a motherless child,
hunched and heavyhearted.
15-16But when I was down
they threw a party!
All the nameless misfits of the town came
chanting insults about me.
Like barbarians desecrating a shrine,
they destroyed my reputation.
17-18 God, how long are you going
to stand there doing nothing?
Save me from their brutalities;
everything I’ve got is being thrown to the lions.
I will give you full credit
when everyone gathers for worship;
When the people turn out in force
I will say my Hallelujahs.
19-21Don’t let these liars, my enemies,
have a party at my expense,
Those who hate me for no reason,
winking and rolling their eyes.
No good is going to come
from that crowd;
They spend all their time cooking up gossip
against those who mind their own business.
They open their mouths
in ugly grins,
Mocking, “Ha-ha, ha-ha, thought you’d get away with it?
We’ve caught you hands down!”
22Don’t you see what they’re doing, God?
You’re not going to let them
Get by with it, are you? Not going to walk off
without doing something, are you?
23-26Please get up—wake up! Tend to my case.
My God, my Lord—my life is on the line.
Do what you think is right, God, my God,
but don’t make me pay for their good time.
Don’t let them say to themselves,
“Ha-ha, we got what we wanted.”
Don’t let them say,
“We’ve chewed him up and spit him out.”
Let those who are being hilarious
at my expense
Be made to look ridiculous.
Make them wear donkey’s ears;
Pin them with the donkey’s tail,
who made themselves so high and mighty!
27-28But those who want
the best for me,
Let them have the last word—a glad shout!—
and say, over and over and over,
“God is great—everything works
together for good for his servant.”
I’ll tell the world how great and good you are,
I’ll shout Hallelujah all day, every day.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.