1Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me!

2Take hold of shield and buckler,

and rise for my help!

3Draw the spear and javelin

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

"I am your deliverance!"

4Let them be put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be turned back and confounded

who devise evil against me!

5Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them on!

6Let their way be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

7For without cause they hid their net for me;

without cause they dug a pita for my life.

8Let ruin come upon them unawares!

And let the net which they hid ensnare them;

let them fall therein to ruin!

9Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,

exulting in his deliverance.

10All my bones shall say,

"O Lord, who is like thee,

thou who deliverest the weak

from him who is too strong for him,

the weak and needy from him who despoils him?"

11Malicious witnesses rise up;

they ask me of things that I know not.

12They requite me evil for good;

my soul is forlorn.

13But I, when they were sick-

I wore sackcloth,

I afflicted myself with fasting.

I prayed with head bowedb on my bosom,

14as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

I went about as one who laments his mother,

bowed down and in mourning.

15But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,

they gathered together against me;

cripples whom I knew not

slandered me without ceasing;

16they impiously mocked more and more,c

gnashing at me with their teeth.

17How long, O Lord, wilt thou look on?

Rescue me from their ravages,

my life from the lions!

18Then I will thank thee in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise thee.

19Let not those rejoice over me

who are wrongfully my foes,

and let not those wink the eye

who hate me without cause.

20For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they conceive words of deceit.

21They open wide their mouths against me;

they say, "Aha, Aha!

our eyes have seen it!"

22Thou hast seen, O Lord; be not silent!

O Lord, be not far from me!

23Bestir thyself, and awake for my right,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to thy righteousness;

and let them not rejoice over me!

25Let them not say to themselves,

"Aha, we have our heart's desire!"

Let them not say, "We have swallowed him up."

26Let them be put to shame and confusion altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor

who magnify themselves against me!

27Let those who desire my vindication

shout for joy and be glad,

and say evermore,

"Great is the Lord,

who delights in the welfare of his servant!"

28Then my tongue shall tell of thy righteousness

and of thy praise all the day long.