Psalms 35:5-14

⁵Let them be like dust from the grain before the wind; let the angel of the Lord send them in flight.

⁶Let their way be dark and full of danger; let them be troubled by the angel of the Lord.

⁷For without cause they have put a net ready for me secretly, in which to take my soul.

⁸Let destruction come on them without their knowledge; let them be taken themselves in their secret nets, falling into the same destruction.

⁹And my soul will have joy in the Lord; it will be glad in his salvation.

¹⁰All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you? The saviour of the poor man from the hands of the strong, of him who is poor and in need from him who takes his goods.

¹¹False witnesses got up: they put questions to me about crimes of which I had no knowledge.

¹²They gave me back evil for good, troubling my soul.

¹³But as for me, when they were ill I put on the clothing of sorrow: I went without food and was sad, and my prayer came back again to my heart.

¹⁴My behaviour was as if it had been my friend or my brother: I was bent low in grief like one whose mother is dead.