1  Contend, O Lord, with those who ^ycontend with me;

^zfight against those who fight against me!

2  Take hold of ^ashield and buckler

and rise for my help!

3  Draw the spear and javelin¹

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

“I am your salvation!”

4  ^bLet them be ^cput to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be ^dturned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me!

5  Let them be like ^echaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them away!

6  Let their way be dark and ^fslippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

7  For ^gwithout cause ^hthey hid their net for me;

without cause they dug ⁱa pit for my life.²

8  Let ^jdestruction come upon him ^kwhen he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into it—to his destruction!

9  Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,

^lexulting in his salvation.

10  All my ^mbones shall say,

“O Lord, ⁿwho is like you,

delivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

11  ^oMalicious³ witnesses rise up;

they ask me of things that I do not know.

12  ^pThey repay me evil for good;

my soul is bereft.⁴

13  But I, ^qwhen they were sick—

I ^rwore sackcloth;

I ^safflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed ^twith head bowed⁵ on my chest.

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

as one who laments his mother,

I ^ubowed down in mourning.

15  But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

^vwretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

16  like profane mockers at a feast,⁶

they ^wgnash at me with their teeth.

17  How long, O Lord, will you ^xlook on?

Rescue me from their destruction,

^ymy precious life from the lions!

18  I will thank you in ^zthe great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19  ^aLet not those rejoice over me

who are ^bwrongfully my foes,

and let not those ^cwink the eye

who ^dhate me ^ewithout cause.

20  For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they devise words of deceit.

21  They ^fopen wide their mouths against me;

they say, ^g“Aha, Aha!

Our eyes have seen it!”

22  ^hYou have seen, O Lord; ⁱbe not silent!

O Lord, ^jbe not far from me!

23  Awake and ^krouse yourself for ^lmy vindication,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24  ^mVindicate me, O Lord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and ⁿlet them not rejoice over me!

25  Let them not say in their hearts,

^o“Aha, our heart’s desire!”

Let them not say, ^p“We have swallowed him up.”

26  Let them be ^qput to shame and disappointed altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be ^rclothed with shame and dishonor

who ^smagnify themselves against me!

27  Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

^tand say evermore,

^u“Great is the Lord,

who ^vdelights in the welfare of his servant!”

28  Then my ^wtongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long.

5  Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man ^bwho trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,¹

whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6  ^cHe is like a shrub in the desert,

^dand shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in ^ean uninhabited salt land.

7  ^f“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

^gwhose trust is the Lord.

8  ^hHe is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

9  The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?

10  ⁱ“I the Lord search the heart

^jand test the mind,²

^kto give every man according to his ways,

according to the fruit of his deeds.”

11  Like the ^lpartridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,

so is ^mhe who gets riches but not by justice;

ⁿin the midst of his days they will leave him,

^oand at his end he will be a fool.

12  A glorious throne set on high from the beginning

is the place of our sanctuary.

13  O Lord, ^pthe hope of Israel,

^qall who forsake you shall be put to shame;

those who turn away from you^{3 r}shall be written in the earth,

for ^sthey have forsaken ^tthe Lord, the fountain of living water.

14  ^uHeal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;

save me, and I shall be saved,

for ^vyou are my praise.

15  ^wBehold, they say to me,

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it come!”

16  I have not run away from being your shepherd,

nor have I desired the day of sickness.

^xYou know ^xwhat came out of my lips;

it was before your face.

17  Be not a terror to me;

^yyou are my refuge in the day of disaster.

18  ^zLet those be put to shame who persecute me,

but let me not be put to shame;

^zlet them be dismayed,

but let me not be dismayed;

^abring upon them the day of disaster;

destroy them with double destruction!