Contend with My Opponents, O LORD 1 UST A psalm of David. Yahweh, be the enemy of my enemies! Defend me against those who attack me! BSB BSB: Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.
2 UST Protect me like a soldier who has both of his shields, and come to help me! BSB BSB: Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.
3 UST Take your spear and javelin and confront those who are pursuing me! Tell me,“I am the one who saves you.” BSB BSB: Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
4 UST Please defeat and dishonor those who want to kill me, and make those who plan to harm me become confused and turn back. 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 UST May an angel from Yahweh chase them away so that they disappear like chaff in the wind. BSB BSB: May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
6 UST May their lives be like running on a path that is dark and slippery, while an angel from Yahweh pursues them! BSB BSB: May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
7 UST Please do these things to them, because I have not done anything wrong to them, yet they try to kill me. It is as though they hide nets and dig pits for me to walk into! BSB BSB: For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
8 UST So let disaster suddenly surprise each of them! Let it be as though the nets that they hid catch them instead, and as though they fall into their own{ pits} and die! BSB BSB: May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.
9 UST Then I will rejoice because of{ what} Yahweh{ has done for me}, and I will be glad because he has saved me. BSB BSB: Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and exult in His salvation.
10 UST With my whole being I will say,“Yahweh, no one is like you! No one else rescues weak people from those who are stronger, no one else rescues poor and needy people from those who 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 UST Hostile people tell lies{ about me} in court and accuse me of things that I know nothing about. BSB BSB: Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.
12 UST I was good to them. But instead of being good to me, they are evil to me. That makes me feel completely alone. BSB BSB: They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
13 UST Yet for my part, when they were sick, I put on rough cloth to mourn for them; I went without food as I prayed for them, bowing my head over my chest. BSB BSB: Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
14 UST I walked around grieving for them as I would grieve for a friend or for a brother, and I bowed down mourning for them as though for my own mother. BSB BSB: I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.
15 UST But when I suffered, they all gathered together and celebrated. People whom I did not even know gathered to attack me. They kept slandering me and 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 UST Profane people mocked me for being lame and ground their teeth at me{ to show how angry they were}. BSB BSB: Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
17 UST Lord, please do more than just watch what they do! Rescue me from these people who want to destroy me! Save me from these people who are as fierce as young lions! BSB BSB: How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
18 UST Then I will thank you when the great crowd of your people gather together, and I will praise 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 UST Do not let my enemies who lie about me celebrate{ because they defeated me}, and do not let those who hate me for no reason wink at each other{ to show how pleased they are about it}. BSB BSB: Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
20 UST { Do not let them succeed,} because they do not speak peacefully{ to anyone}; instead, they make up lies about quiet, peaceable people in the land. BSB BSB: For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
21 UST They shout loudly to accuse me, saying,“Yes! Yes! We saw{ what you did}!” BSB BSB: They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
22 UST Yahweh, you have seen all of this, so please do something about it! Lord, please help me! BSB BSB: O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me.
23 UST Become active and do the right thing for me; my God and my Lord, defend me! BSB BSB: Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 UST Yahweh my God, because you are righteous, declare that I am innocent, and do not let my enemies celebrate{ that they have defeated} me. BSB BSB: Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me.
25 UST Do not let them think to themselves,“Yes! We got what we wanted!” Do not let them say{ to each other},“We have completely destroyed him!” BSB BSB: Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
26 UST Instead, make all those who celebrate when bad things happen to me feel totally ashamed and disgraced. Yes, completely humiliate those who boast that they are greater than me. 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 UST But let those who want God to show that I am innocent shout for joy and celebrate! Let them always say,“Yahweh is great! He loves to make things go well for the one who serves 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 UST Then I will tell everyone how righteous you are, and I will praise you all day long. 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.