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Psalm 31

¹In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me.

²Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.

³You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,

⁴take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge.

⁵Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

⁶You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord.

⁷I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have taken heed of my adversities,

⁸and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.

⁹Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.

¹⁰For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.

¹¹I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.

¹²I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.

¹³For I hear the whispering of many— terror all around!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.

¹⁴But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”

¹⁵My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.

¹⁶Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.

¹⁷Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.

¹⁸Let the lying lips be stilled that speak insolently against the righteous with pride and contempt.

¹⁹O how abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who fear you, and accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of everyone!

²⁰In the shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots; you hold them safe under your shelter from contentious tongues.

²¹Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege.

²²I had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help.

²³Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.

²⁴Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.

Psalm 35

¹Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!

²Take hold of shield and buckler, and rise up to help me!

³Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”

⁴Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life. Let them be turned back and confounded who devise evil against me.

⁵Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them on.

⁶Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

⁷For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.

⁸Let ruin come on them unawares. And let the net that they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it—to their ruin.

⁹Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance.

¹⁰All 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.”

¹¹Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me about things I do not know.

¹²They repay me evil for good; my soul is forlorn.

¹³But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,

¹⁴as though I grieved for a friend or a brother; I went about as one who laments for a mother, bowed down and in mourning.

¹⁵But at my stumbling they gathered in glee, they gathered together against me; ruffians whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;

¹⁶they impiously mocked more and more, gnashing at me with their teeth.

¹⁷How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their ravages, my life from the lions!

¹⁸Then I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.

¹⁹Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me, or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.

²⁰For they do not speak peace, but they conceive deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.

²¹They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it.”

²²You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent! O Lord, do not be far from me!

²³Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense, for my cause, my God and my Lord!

²⁴Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and do not let them rejoice over me.

²⁵Do not let them say to themselves, “Aha, we have our heart’s desire.” Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you up.”

²⁶Let 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.

²⁷Let 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.”

²⁸Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all day long.