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¹ Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
    fight against those who fight against me!
² Take hold of shield and buckler,
    and rise up to help me!
³ Draw the spear and javelin
    against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
    "I am your salvation."

⁴ Let them be put to shame and dishonor
    who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
    who devise evil against me.
⁵ Let them be like chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them on.
⁶ Let their way be dark and slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

⁷ For without cause they hid their net^[a] for me;
    without cause they dug a pit^[b] for my life.
⁸ Let ruin come on them unawares.
And let the net that they hid ensnare them;
    let them fall in it—to their ruin.

⁹ Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
    exulting in his deliverance.
¹⁰ All my bones shall say,
    "O Lord, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
    from those too strong for them,
    the weak and needy from those who despoil them."

¹¹ Malicious witnesses rise up;
    they ask me about things I do not know.
¹² They repay me evil for good;
    my soul is forlorn.
¹³ But as for me, when they were sick,
    I wore sackcloth;
    I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed^[c] on my bosom,
¹⁴     as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I went about as one who laments for a mother,
    bowed down and in mourning.

¹⁵ But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
    they gathered together against me;
ruffians whom I did not know
    tore at me without ceasing;
¹⁶ they impiously mocked more and more,^[d]
    gnashing at me with their teeth.

¹⁷ How long, O Lord, will you look on?
    Rescue me from their ravages,
    my life from the lions!
¹⁸ Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
    in the mighty throng I will praise you.

¹⁹ Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,
    or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.
²⁰ For they do not speak peace,
    but they conceive deceitful words
    against those who are quiet in the land.
²¹ They open wide their mouths against me;
    they say, "Aha, Aha,
    our eyes have seen it."

²² You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent!
    O Lord, do not be far from me!
²³ Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,
    for 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 say to themselves,
    "Aha, we have our heart's desire."
Do not let them say, "We have swallowed you^[e] up."

²⁶ Let all those who rejoice at my calamity
    be put to shame and confusion;
let those who exalt themselves against me
    be clothed with shame and dishonor.

²⁷ Let those who desire my vindication
    shout for joy and be glad,
    and say evermore,
"Great is the Lord,
    who delights in the welfare of his servant."
²⁸ Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
    and of your praise all day long.