Psalm 35:4-16

New International Version - UK

⁴ May those who seek my life
    be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
    be turned back in dismay.
⁵ May they be like chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away;
⁶ may their path be dark and slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

⁷ Since they hid their net for me without cause
    and without cause dug a pit for me,
⁸ may ruin overtake them by surprise –
    may the net they hid entangle them,
    may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
⁹ Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord
    and delight in his salvation.
¹⁰ My whole being will exclaim,
    ‘Who is like you, Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
    the poor and needy from those who rob them.’

¹¹ Ruthless witnesses come forward;
    they question me on things I know nothing about.
¹² They repay me evil for good
    and leave me like one bereaved.
¹³ Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
    and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
¹⁴     I went about mourning
    as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief
    as though weeping for my mother.
¹⁵ But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
    assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.
    They slandered me without ceasing.
¹⁶ Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;^[a]
    they gnashed their teeth at me.