Psalms 35

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

1 Contend, O Lord, with those who ^acontend with me;
^bfight against those who fight against me!
2Take hold of ^cshield and buckler
and rise for my help!
3Draw the spear and javelin ▼

▼Or  and close the way

against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation!”
4 ^eLet them be ^fput to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be ^gturned back and disappointed
who devise evil against me!
5Let them be like ^hchaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
6Let their way be dark and ⁱslippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7 For ^jwithout cause ^kthey hid their net for me;
without cause they dug ^la pit for my life. ▼

▼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

8Let ⁿdestruction come upon him ^owhen 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,
^pexulting in his salvation.
10All my ^qbones shall say,
“O Lord, ^rwho is like you,
delivering the poor
from him who is too strong for him,
the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
11 ^sMalicious ▼

▼Or Violent

witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
12 ^uThey repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft. ▼

▼Hebrew it is bereavement to my soul

13But I, ^wwhen they were sick—
I ^xwore sackcloth;
I ^yafflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed ^zwith head bowed ▼

▼Or my prayer shall turn back

on my chest.
14I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I ^abbowed down in mourning.
15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
they gathered together against me;
^acwretches whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;
16like profane mockers at a feast, ▼

▼The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain

they ^aegnash at me with their teeth.
17 How long, O Lord, will you ^aflook on?
Rescue me from their destruction,
^agmy precious life from the lions!
18I will thank you in ^ahthe great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19 ^aiLet not those rejoice over me
who are ^ajwrongfully my foes,
and let not those ^akwink the eye
who ^alhate me ^amwithout cause.
20For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit.
21They ^anopen wide their mouths against me;
they say, ^ao“Aha, Aha!
Our eyes have seen it!”
22 ^apYou have seen, O Lord; ^aqbe not silent!
O Lord, ^arbe not far from me!
23Awake and ^asrouse yourself for ^atmy vindication,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 ^auVindicate me, O Lord, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and ^avlet them not rejoice over me!
25Let them not say in their hearts,
^aw“Aha, our heart’s desire!”
Let them not say, ^ax“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be ^ayput to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be ^azclothed with shame and dishonor
who ^bamagnify themselves against me!
27 Let those who delight in my righteousness
shout for joy and be glad
^bband say evermore,
^bc“Great is the Lord,
who ^bddelights in the welfare of his servant!”
28Then my ^betongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.

Psalms 106

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good

1 ^bfPraise the Lord!
^bgOh give thanks to the Lord, ^bhfor he is good,
^bifor his steadfast love endures forever!
2Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3Blessed are they who observe justice,
who ^bjdo righteousness at all times!
4 ^bkRemember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them, ▼

▼Or  Remember me, O Lord, with the favor you show to your people; help me with your salvation

5that I may look upon the prosperity of your ^bmchosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 ^bnBoth we and ^boour fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they ^bpdid not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but ^bqrebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8Yet he saved them ^brfor his name’s sake,
^bsthat he might make known his mighty power.
9He ^btrebuked the Red Sea, and it ^bubecame dry,
and he ^bvled them through the deep as through a desert.
10So he ^bwsaved them from the hand of the foe
and ^bxredeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11And ^bythe waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12Then ^bzthey believed his words;
they ^casang his praise.
13 But they soon ^cbforgot his works;
they did not wait for ^cchis counsel.
14But they had ^cda wanton craving in the wilderness,
and ^ceput God to the test in the desert;
15he ^cfgave them what they asked,
but sent ^cga wasting disease among them.
16 When men in the camp ^chwere jealous of Moses
and Aaron, ^cithe holy one of the Lord,
17 ^cjthe earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 ^ckFire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They ^clmade a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20They ^cmexchanged the glory of God ▼

▼Hebrew  exchanged their glory

for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21They ^coforgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22wondrous works in ^cpthe land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23Therefore ^cqhe said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his ^crchosen one,
^csstood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they ^ctdespised ^cuthe pleasant land,
having ^cvno faith in his promise.
25They ^cwmurmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26Therefore he ^cxraised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
^cyscattering them among the lands.
28 Then they ^czyoked themselves to the ^daBaal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to ^dbthe dead;
29they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30Then ^dcPhinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.
31And that was ^ddcounted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.
32 They ^deangered him at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account,
33for they ^dfmade his spirit bitter, ▼

▼Or  they rebelled against God’s Spirit

and he ^dhspoke rashly with his lips.
34 They did not ^didestroy the peoples,
^djas the Lord commanded them,
35but they ^dkmixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36They served their idols,
which became ^dla snare to them.
37They ^dmsacrificed their sons
and their daughters to ^dnthe demons;
38they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was ^dopolluted with blood.
39Thus they ^dpbecame unclean by their acts,
and ^dqplayed the whore in their deeds.
40 Then ^drthe anger of the Lord was kindled against ^dshis people,
and he abhorred his ^dtheritage;
41he ^dugave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42Their enemies ^dvoppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 ^dwMany times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their ^dxpurposes
and were ^dybrought low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he ^dzheard their cry.
45For their sake he ^earemembered his covenant,
and ^ebrelented according to ^ecthe abundance of his steadfast love.
46He caused them to be ^edpitied
by all those who held them captive.
47 ^eeSave us, O Lord our God,
and ^efgather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48 ^egBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
^ehAnd let all the people say, “Amen!”
^eiPraise the Lord!

Book Five