Psalm 34:16-35:11

English Standard Version

¹⁶^(A)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to ^(B)cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷^(C)When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord is near to ^(D)the brokenhearted
    and saves ^(E)the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹^(F)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    ^(G)but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
²⁰He keeps all his bones;
    ^(H)not one of them is broken.
²¹^(I)Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²²The Lord ^(J)redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be ^(K)condemned.

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

35 Contend, O Lord, with those who ^(L)contend with me;
    ^(M)fight against those who fight against me!
²Take hold of ^(N)shield and buckler
    and rise for my help!
³Draw the spear and javelin^[a]
    against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
    “I am your salvation!”

⁴^(O)Let them be ^(P)put to shame and dishonor
    who seek after my life!
Let them be ^(Q)turned back and disappointed
    who devise evil against me!
⁵Let them be like ^(R)chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
⁶Let their way be dark and ^(S)slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

⁷For ^(T)without cause ^(U)they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug ^(V)a pit for my life.^[b]
⁸Let ^(W)destruction come upon him ^(X)when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!

⁹Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
    ^(Y)exulting in his salvation.
¹⁰All my ^(Z)bones shall say,
    “O Lord, ^(AA)who is like you,
delivering the poor
    from him who is too strong for him,
    the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

¹¹^(AB)Malicious^[c] witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.

Footnotes

Psalm 35:3 Or and close the way
Psalm 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
Psalm 35:11 Or Violent