1 ARST Yahweh, fight against those who fight against me! Fight with my enemies when they fight me! BSB BSB: Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.
2 ARST Be like a shield to protect me and come to help me! BSB BSB: Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.
3 ARST Lift up your spear and throw it at those who pursue me! Promise me that you will enable me to defeat my enemies. BSB BSB: Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
4 ARST Those who are trying to kill me— make others disgrace and dishonor them. Push back and confuse those who are planning to do evil things to me. BSB BSB: May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.
5 ARST Send your angel to pursue them and to make them disappear like chaff that the wind blows away. BSB BSB: May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
6 ARST Cause the path on which they run to be dark and slippery as your angel pursues them! BSB BSB: May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
7 ARST Although I did not do anything wrong to them, they dug a deep pit for me to fall into; they hid a net in which they would catch me. BSB BSB: For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
8 ARST Cause them to suddenly experience disaster! Cause their own nets to trap them. Cause them to fall into the pits that they have dug for me, and make them die in them! BSB BSB: May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.
9 ARST Then I will rejoice in what you, Yahweh, have done for me; I will be glad that you have rescued me. BSB BSB: Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and exult in His salvation.
10 ARST With my whole inner being I will say,“There is no one like Yahweh! No one else can rescue helpless people from powerful people. No one else can rescue weak and needy people from those who want to rob them.” BSB BSB: All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
11 ARST People who tell lies stand in court and accuse me of doing things that I do not know anything about. BSB BSB: Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.
12 ARST In return for my doing good things for them, they do evil things to me, with the result that I feel that I am alone. BSB BSB: They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
13 ARST When they were ill, I showed that I was sad. I did not eat any food, and I bowed my head as I prayed for them. BSB BSB: Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
14 ARST I mourned and bowed my head as I prayed as though it were a friend or my mother for whom I was grieving. BSB BSB: I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.
15 ARST But when I had troubles, they were all happy about it. They unexpectedly gathered around to make fun of me. Strangers kept striking me; they would not stop. BSB BSB: But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
16 ARST People who respect no one ridiculed me and snarled at me. BSB BSB: Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
17 ARST Lord, how long will you only watch them doing this? Rescue me from their attacks; Save me from being killed by these men who are attacking me as lions attack other animals! BSB BSB: How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
18 ARST Then, when many of your people gather, I will praise you, and I will thank you in front of all of them. BSB BSB: Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people.
19 ARST Do not allow my enemies, who tell lies about me, defeat me and then rejoice about it! Do not allow those who hate me when there is no reason to hate me to laugh about how I suffer! BSB BSB: Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
20 ARST They do not speak peacefully to people; instead, they look for ways to tell lies about people in our land who do no harm to anyone. BSB BSB: For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
21 ARST They shout at me in order to accuse me; they say,“We saw the wrong things that you did!” BSB BSB: They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
22 ARST Yahweh, you have seen these things, so do not be silent! Do not stay far from me! BSB BSB: O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me.
23 ARST Arise, my God, plead my case in court, and successfully defend me! BSB BSB: Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 ARST Yahweh, my God, because you are righteous, prove that I am innocent so that my enemies will not be able to gloat that I was judged to be guilty. BSB BSB: Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me.
25 ARST Do not allow them to be able to say to themselves,“Yes, we have gotten rid of him just like we desired!” BSB BSB: Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
26 ARST Cause those who rejoice about my misfortunes to be completely confused and disgraced; cause those who boast that they are much greater than I am to be disgraced and dishonored! BSB BSB: May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
27 ARST But cause those who desire that you declare me innocent to be happy and shout joyfully; cause them to always say,“Yahweh is great! He is delighted to cause things to go well for those who serve him.” BSB BSB: May those who favor my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD who delights in His servant’s well-being.”
28 ARST Then I will proclaim that you act in the right way, and I will praise you all the time. BSB BSB: Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness and Your praises all day long.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.