Psalm 35

26 Psalms 35
¹Plead my cause, Yahvah, with those who strive with me; fight against those who fight against me.
²Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help.
³Draw out the sword and flash it against those who persecute me; say to my soul, I am your Savior.

⁴Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul; let them be turned back and brought to confusion, that devise evil against me.
⁵Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of Yahvah chase them.
⁶Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of Yahvah persecute them.

⁷For they have dug pits for me and have spread a snare for my soul.
⁸Let evil come on them unexpectedly; and let the net that they have hidden trap them; into that very pit which they have dug, let them fall.

⁹My soul will be joyful in God; it will rejoice in his salvation.
¹⁰All my bones will say, Yahvah, who is like you, who delivers the poor from his enemies, yes, the poor and the needy, from him who seizes his property by force?

¹¹False witnesses rose up; they charged me with things that I did not know.
¹²They rewarded me evil for good, and they destroyed my reputation among men.
¹³But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned into my own embrace.
¹⁴I behaved myself as though they had been my friends and brothers; I bowed down heavily, as one miserable in deep mourning.

¹⁵During my misery, they gathered together and rejoiced; yes, they gathered together against me for a long time, and I did not know it;
¹⁶with their boasting and mocking, they gnashed at me with their teeth.

¹⁷My Master, I have suffered enough; rescue my soul from their riot, my only one from the lions.
¹⁸I will give you thanks in the great congregation; I will praise you among many people.

¹⁹Do not let my enemies rejoice over me, nor the mockers who hate me for no reason; they wink with their eyes, but they do not salute.
²⁰Against the meek of the land, they devise mischievous things.
²¹Yes, they opened their mouths wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye has seen it.

²²You have seen this, God; do not keep silent; my Master, do not be far from me.
²³Stir yourself up and awake to my judgment, see my suffering, my God and my Master.
²⁴Judge me, Yahvah my God, according to your righteousness; and do not let them rejoice over me.
²⁵Do not let them say in their hearts, We have rid ourselves of him and we have buried him.

²⁶Let those be ashamed and brought to confusion, who wish me evil; let those be clothed with shame and dishonor, who magnify themselves against me.
²⁷Let those who are pleased with my victory, shout for joy and be glad; yes, let them say continually, Yahvah be magnified who has pleasure in the peace of his servant,
²⁸and my tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.