The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Book of Psalms
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Psalm 34
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1
(Of David.)
Lord, espouse my quarrel; disarm the enemies who rise in arms against me;
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grip target and shield, bestir thyself in my defence.
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With poised lance, bar the way against my pursuers; whisper in my heart, I am here to save thee.
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For my mortal enemies, shame and disappointment; for my ill-wishers one and all, ruin and remorse;
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chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord to scatter them,
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benighted and bemired on their way, with the angel of the Lord in pursuit!
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Wantonly they have spread their nets for me, wantonly they have dug the cruel snare;
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now let sudden doom overtake them, their own nets enmesh, their own snare entrap them!
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Mine to triumph in the Lord, to boast of the aid he brings me;
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this be the cry of my whole being, There is none like thee, Lord; who else rescues the afflicted from the hand of tyranny, the poor, the destitute, from his oppressors?
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See how perjured witnesses have come forward, to browbeat me over charges of which I know nothing;
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how they have repaid my kindness with cruelty, and left me friendless!
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Time was, when these were sick; what did I then? Sackcloth was my wear; rigorously I kept fast, prayed from my heart’s depths.
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I went my way sadly, as one that mourns for brother or friend, bowed with grief, as one that bewails a mother’s loss.
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And now it was my turn to reel under fortune’s blows; what did they?
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Gleeful they met, and plotted to attack me unawares; tore at me without ceasing, baited and mocked me, gnashing their teeth in hatred.
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Lord, wilt thou look on unheeding still? Wilt thou leave my life at the mercy of these roaring lions?
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Let me live to praise and thank thee before the multitude that throngs thy courts.
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No more the leer of triumph in the eye of yonder treacherous foe, that wantonly assails me!

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In all their whispering, never a word of peace; they will still be plotting against the land’s repose.
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See how they mop and mow at me, crying out, Joy, joy that we should have lived to see this!
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Thou too, Lord, hast seen it, do not pass it by in silence; Lord, do not abandon me.
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Bestir thyself and take my part, give me speedy redress, my Lord and my God.
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As thou art just, O Lord my God, give thy award for me, never let them triumph over me;
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never let them think, All goes well, and boast that they have made a prey of me.
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Disappoint them, fill them with confusion, the men who delight in my misfortune; cover them with shame and self-reproach, the enemies that triumph over me.
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Joy and gladness be theirs, who applaud my innocence; Praise to the Lord! be their cry, the Lord who defends his servant.
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And all day long, for thy just awarding, this tongue shall make known thy praise.