Psalm 35. Judica, Domine.

1. Fight those who fight me, O Lord; *
   attack those who are attacking me.
2. Take up shield and armor *
   and rise up to help me.
3. Draw the sword and bar the way against those who pursue me; *
   say to my soul," I am your salvation."
4. Let those who seek after my life be shamed and humbled, *
   let those who plot my ruin fall back and be dismayed.
5. Let them be like chaff before the wind, *
   and let the angel of the Lord drive them away.
6. Let their way be dark and slippery, *
   and let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
7. For they have secretly spread a net for me without a cause; *
   without a cause they have dug a pit to take me alive.
8. Let ruin come upon them unawares; *
   let them be caught in the net they hid; let them fall into the pit they dug.
9. Then I will be joyful in the Lord; *
   I will glory in his victory.
10. My very bones will say, "Lord, who is like you? *
    You deliver the poor from those who are too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them."
11. Malicious witnesses rise up against me; *
    they charge me with matters I know nothing about.
12. They pay me evil in exchange for good; *
    my soul is full of despair.
13. But when they were sick I dressed in sack-cloth *
    and humbled myself by fasting;
14. I prayed with my whole heart, as one would for a friend or a brother; *
    I behaved like one who mourns for his mother, bowed down and grieving.
15. But when I stumbled, they were glad and gathered together; they gathered against me; *
    strangers whom I did not know tore me to pieces and would not stop.
16. They put me to the test and mocked me; *
    they gnashed at me with their teeth.
17. O Lord, how long will you look on? *
    rescue me from the roaring beasts, and my life from the young lions.
18. I will give you thanks in the great congregation; *
    I will praise you in the mighty throng.
19. Do not let my treacherous foes rejoice over me, *
    nor let those who hate me without a cause wink at each other.
20. For they do not plan for peace, *
    but invent deceitful schemes against the quiet in the land.
21. They opened their mouths at me and said, *
    Aha! we saw it with our own eyes.
22. You saw it, O Lord; do not be silent; *
    O Lord, be not far from me.
23. Awake, arise, to my cause! *
    to my defense, my God and my Lord!
24. Give me justice, O Lord my God, according to your righteousness; *
    do not let them triumph over me.
25. Do not let them say in their hearts, Aha! just what we want! *
    Do not let them say, "We have swallowed him up."
26. Let all who rejoice at my ruin be ashamed and disgraced; *
    let those who boast against me be clothed with dismay and shame.
27. Let those who favor my cause sing out with joy and be glad; *
    let them say always, "Great is the Lord, who desires the prosperity of his servant."
28. And my tongue shall be talking of your righteousness *
    and of your praise all the day long.