Psalm 34:17-35:11

English Standard Version

¹⁷^(A)When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord is near to ^(B)the brokenhearted
and saves ^(C)the crushed in spirit.

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

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

35 Contend, O Lord, with those who ^(J)contend with me;
    ^(K)fight against those who fight against me!
²Take hold of ^(L)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^(M)Let them be ^(N)put to shame and dishonor
    who seek after my life!
Let them be ^(O)turned back and disappointed
    who devise evil against me!
⁵Let them be like ^(P)chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
⁶Let their way be dark and ^(Q)slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

⁷For ^(R)without cause ^(S)they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug ^(T)a pit for my life.^[b]
⁸Let ^(U)destruction come upon him ^(V)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,
    ^(W)exulting in his salvation.
¹⁰All my ^(X)bones shall say,
    “O Lord, ^(Y)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^(Z)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