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1CONTEND, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler;
arise and come to my aid.
3 Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
4 Let those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to shame;
let those who devise harm against me
be turned back and brought to confusion.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord chasing them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7 Since without cause they hid their net for me,
and without cause they dug a pit for me,
8 let destruction come on them unexpectedly,
let them become entangled in their own net,
and let them fall into their own ruin.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord;
I will delight in His salvation.
10 All my bones will say,
“O Lord, who is like You,
delivering the poor from those too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them?”
11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
they question me about things I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good,
to the mourning of my soul.
13 Yet when they were sick, I clothed myself with sackcloth,
and I humbled my soul with fasting.
When my prayer returned to me unfulfilled,
14I went about mourning,
as if he were a friend or brother.
I bowed down in grief,
like one who weeps for his mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;
attackers whom I did not know gathered against me;
they tore at me without ceasing.
16 With godless mockery
they gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 O Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue my life from their ravages,
my precious life, from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great congregation;
among throngs of people I will praise You.
19 Do not let my treacherous enemies
gloat over me;
do not let those who hate me without cause
wink with the eye in malice.
20 They do not speak peaceably,
but devise deceitful accusations
against those who live quietly in the land.
21 They open their mouths wide against me;
they say, “Aha! Aha!
We have seen it with our own eyes.”
22 You have seen this, O Lord;
do not keep silent.
O Lord, do not be far from me!
23 Awake, rise to my defence,
to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me, O Lord my God,
according to Your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them think in their hearts,
“Aha, just what we wanted.”
Do not let them say openly,
“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let all who rejoice at my calamity
be put to shame and confusion.
Let all who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and dishonour.
27 Let all who want my vindication
shout for joy and be glad;
may they say continually, “Let the Lord be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of His servant.”
28 Then my tongue will speak of Your righteousness,
and of Your praise, all day long.