Psalms 35

1 Yahweh, fight against those who fight against me! Fight against [my enemies] when they fight me!

A psalm of David. Oppose my opponents, Lord; fight those who are fighting against me.

2 Be [like] a shield [DOU] to protect me and come to help me!

Put your armor on, and pick up your shield. Get ready, come and help me.

3 Lift up your spear [DOU] and [throw it] at those who pursue me! Promise me that you will enable me to defeat [my enemies].

Draw your spear and your javelin, confront those who are chasing me. Tell me, “I am your salvation!”

4 Cause those who are trying to kill me to be defeated and disgraced! Cause those who are planning to do evil things to me to be pushed back and become confused!

Shame them! Humiliate those who are trying to kill me! Turn them back! Disgrace those who are planning to hurt me!

5 Send your angel to pursue them, and as a result cause them to disappear like chaff/straw blown away by the wind!

Let them be like chaff blown by the wind; let the angel of the Lord drive them away.

6 Cause the path on which they run to be dark and slippery as your angel pursues them!

May their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord chasing them down.

7 Although I did not do anything wrong to them, they concealed a deep pit for me to fall into; they hid a net in which they would catch me.

For no reason they set a net to catch me; for no reason they dug a pit to trap me.

8 Cause them to suddenly experience disaster! Cause them to be trapped in their own nets! Cause them to fall into the pits that they have dug for me and disappear!

Let disaster come on them suddenly; let the net they set catch them instead; let the pit they dug trap them instead.

9 Then I will be joyful about what you, Yahweh, have done for me, I will be glad that you have rescued me.

Then I will be glad in the Lord; I will be happy in his salvation.

10 With my whole inner being [SYN] I will say, “There is no one like Yahweh [RHQ]! No one else can rescue helpless people from powerful people [RHQ]. No one else can rescue weak and needy people from those who want to rob them.”

Every part of me will say, Who can compare to you, Lord? You rescue the weak from the strong; the poor and needy from robbers.

11 People who tell lies stand in court and falsely accuse me of doing things that I do not know [anything] about.

Hostile witnesses stand up to testify against me, accusing me of crimes I don't know anything about.

12 In return for my doing good things for them, they do evil things to me, with the result that I feel that I am alone.

They pay me back with evil instead of good. I feel like giving up.

13 When they were ill, I showed that I was sad. I did not eat any food, and I bowed my head as I prayed [for them].

But when they were sick, I put on clothes of sackcloth in sympathy. I denied myself through fasting. May my prayer for them return to bless me too.

14 I mourned and bowed my head as I prayed as though it was a friend or my mother for whom I was grieving.

I was upset for them, as if they were my own friends or family; I bowed down in grief as if I was mourning my own mother.

15 But when I had troubles, they were all happy about it. They gathered around to make fun of me. Strangers struck me, and they would not stop.

But when I was in trouble, they gathered around and laughed at me. Even strangers I don't know attacked me, constantly tearing me apart.

16 Worthless people ridicule me and snarl at me.

Like irreligious people mocking a cripple they mock me and call me names, gnashing their teeth at me.

17 Yahweh, how long will you only watch them doing this? Rescue me from their attacking me; Save me from being killed by these men who are attacking me like [MET] lions [that are attacking other animals]

How long, Lord, will you sit by and just watch? Save me from their vicious attacks; defend the only life I have from these lions.

18 Then, when many of your people gather, I will praise you and I will thank you in front of all of them.

Then I will thank you in front of the whole congregation and praise you in front of all the people.

19 Do not allow my enemies, who tell lies about me, defeat me and then rejoice! Do not allow those who hate me when there in no reason to hate me to (smirk/smile happily)!

Don't let my enemies take pleasure in my troubles, those people who hate me and tell lies about me, gloating over me for no reason.

20 They do not talk peacefully to people; instead, they seek ways to tell lies about people who are peaceful.

They are not looking for peace; they invent malicious and deceptive schemes against innocent peace-loving people.

21 They shout at me, to accuse me, saying, “We saw the wrong things that you did!”

They open their mouths wide to make accusations against me, saying, “Look! Look! We saw it with our own eyes!”

22 Yahweh, you have seen these things, so do not be silent! Do not stay far from me!

But Lord, you've seen all this! Say something! Don't give up on me, Lord!

23 Arise, my God, and plead my case in court, and successfully defend me!

Wake up! Get up and defend me, my Lord and my God! Take up my case and make sure justice is done!

24 Yahweh, my God, because you are righteous, prove that I am innocent in order that my enemies will not be able to gloat [that I was judged to be guilty].

Vindicate me, my Lord and my God, because you are just and right. Don't let them gloat over me.

25 Do not allow them to be able to say to themselves, “Yes, we have gotten rid of him [IDM] just like we desired!”

Don't let them say to themselves, “Look! We got what we wanted!” Don't let them say, “We completely destroyed him!”

26 Cause those who rejoice about my misfortunes to be completely defeated and disgraced; cause those who boast that they are much greater than me to be disgraced and dishonored!

Make them totally ashamed, all those who are happy for the trouble I'm in. Let those who are celebrating over me be covered with shame and dishonor.

27 But cause those who desire that I be acquitted to be happy and shout joyfully, and cause them to continually say, “Yahweh is great! He is delighted to cause things to go well for those who serve him.”

Instead let those who are pleased I've been vindicated celebrate and shout for joy. Let them always say, “How great is the Lord! He is happy when his servants live in peace and have what they need.”

28 Then I will proclaim that you act righteously, and I will praise you all day long.

I will tell others about your character of truth and right, praising you all day long!