Psalm 35 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Great Is the Lord

Psa 35:1Of David.
Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!

Psa 35:2Take hold of shield and buckler
and rise for my help!

Psa 35:3Draw the spear and javelin[fn]
against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation!”

Psa 35:4Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be turned back and disappointed
who devise evil against me!

Psa 35:5

Psa 35:5Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them away!

Psa 35:6

Psa 35:6Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them!

Psa 35:7

Psa 35:7For without cause they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit for my life.[fn]

Psa 35:8

Psa 35:8Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!

Psa 35:9

Psa 35:9Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD,
exulting in his salvation.

Psa 35:10

Psa 35:10All my bones shall say,
“O LORD, who is like you,
delivering the poor
from him who is too strong for him,
the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

Psa 35:11

Psa 35:11Malicious[fn] witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.

Psa 35:12

Psa 35:12They repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft.[fn]

Psa 35:13

Psa 35:13But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed with head bowed[fn] on my chest.

Psa 35:14

Psa 35:14I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I bowed down in mourning.

Psa 35:15

Psa 35:15But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
they gathered together against me;
wretches whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;

Psa 35:16

Psa 35:16like profane mockers at a feast,[fn]
they gnash at me with their teeth.

Psa 35:17

Psa 35:17How long, O Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their destruction,
my precious life from the lions!

Psa 35:18

Psa 35:18I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.

Psa 35:19

Psa 35:19Let not those rejoice over me
who are wrongfully my foes,
and let not those wink the eye
who hate me without cause.

Psa 35:20

Psa 35:20For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit.

Psa 35:21

Psa 35:21They open wide their mouths against me;
they say, “Aha, Aha!
Our eyes have seen it!”

Psa 35:22

Psa 35:22You have seen, O LORD; be not silent!
O Lord, be not far from me!

Psa 35:23

Psa 35:23Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!

Psa 35:24

Psa 35:24Vindicate me, O LORD, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and let them not rejoice over me!

Psa 35:25

Psa 35:25Let them not say in their hearts,
“Aha, our heart’s desire!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

Psa 35:26

Psa 35:26Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
who magnify themselves against me!

Psa 35:27

Psa 35:27Let those who delight in my righteousness
shout for joy and be glad
and say evermore,
“Great is the LORD,
who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

Psa 35:28

Psa 35:28Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(35:3)

Or and close the way

(35:7)

The word pit is transposed from the preceding line; Hebrew For without cause they hid the pit of their net for me; without cause they dug for my life

(35:11)

Or Violent

(35:12)

Hebrew it is bereavement to my soul

(35:13)

Or my prayer shall turn back

(35:16)

The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.