Psalms 18
1 For the end, [a Psalm] of David, the servant of the Lord; [the words] which he spoke to the Lord, [even] the words of this Song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him out the hand of all his enemies, and out the hand of Saul: and he said: I will love you, O Lord, my strength.
For the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord, who recited the words of this song to the Lord after the Lord had saved him from the power of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my firm support, and my refuge, and my deliverer; my God is my helper, I will hope in him; [he is] my defender, and the horn of my salvation, and my helper.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, deliverer, my God, my rock, where I take refuge, my shield, my defender, my tower.
3 I will call upon the Lord with praises, and I shall be saved from mine enemies.
Worthy of praise is the Lord whom I call on, he rescues me from all my foes.
4 The pangs of death compassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.
The waves of death broke about me, fearful floods of chaos.
Sheol threw cords around me, snares of death came to meet me. (Sheol h7585)
6 And when I was afflicted I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of this holy temple, and my cry shall enter before him, [even] into his ears.
In distress I cried to the Lord, and shouted for help to my God; in his temple he heard my voice, into his ears came my cry.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God was angry with them.
Then the earth shook and quaked, mountains trembled to their foundations, and quaked because of his wrath.
8 There went up a smoke in his wrath, and fire burst into a flame at his presence: coals were kindled at it.
Smoke went up from his nostrils, devouring fire from his mouth, coals were kindled by it.
9 And he bowed the heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet.
Then he bent the sky and came down, thick darkness was under his feet.
10 And he mounted on cherubs and flew: he flew on the wings of winds.
He rode on a cherub and flew, darting on wings of wind,
11 And he made darkness his secret place: round about him was his tabernacle, [even] dark water in the clouds of the air.
with his screen of darkness about him, in thick dark clouds of water.
12 At the brightness before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire.
At the radiance before him there passed hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered from heaven, and the Highest uttered his voice.
The Lord thundered from heaven, the Most High uttered his voice.
14 And he sent forth [his] weapons, and scattered them; and multiplied lightnings, and routed them.
He shot his arrows and scattered them, flashed lightnings, and routed them.
15 And the springs of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blasting of the breath of your wrath.
The channels of the sea were revealed, the world was laid bare to its base, at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high and took me, he drew me to himself out of many waters.
He stretched from on high, he seized me, drew me up from the mighty waters,
17 He will deliver me from my mighty enemies, and from them that hate me; for they are stronger than I.
and saved me from those who hated me – fierce foes, too mighty for me.
18 They prevented me in the day of mine affliction: but the Lord was my stay against [them].
In my day of distress they assailed me, but the Lord proved my support.
19 And he brought me out into a wide place: he will deliver me, because he has pleasure in me.
To a spacious place he brought me, and, for love of me, he saved me.
20 And the Lord will recompense me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of my hands will he recompense me.
The Lord repays my innocence, he rewards my cleanness of hands.
21 For I have kept the way of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For I kept the ways of the Lord, nor have wickedly strayed from my God.
22 For all his judgements were before me, and his ordinances departed not from me.
His commandments were all before me, his statutes I put not away.
23 And I shall be blameless with hem, and shall keep myself from mine iniquity.
And I was blameless before him, guarding myself from sin.
24 And the Lord shall recompense me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
So the Lord repaid my innocence, my cleanness of hands in his sight.
25 With the holy you will be holy; and with the innocent man you will be innocent.
With the loyal you are loyal, and with the blameless blameless.
26 And with the excellent [man] you will be excellent; and with the perverse you will show frowardness.
With the pure you show yourself pure, but shrewd with the devious.
27 For you will save the lowly people, and will humble the eyes of the proud.
For the lowly people you save, but haughty eyes you abase.
28 For you, O Lord, will light my lamp: my God, you will lighten my darkness.
You are my lamp, Lord, my God who enlightens my darkness.
29 For by you shall I be delivered from a troop; and by my God I will pass over a wall.
With you I can storm a rampart, with my God I can leap a wall.
30 [As for] my God, his way is perfect: the oracles of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a protector of all them that hope in him.
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is shield to all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God but the Lord? and who is a God except our God?
For who is God but the Lord? And who is a rock but our God?
32 [It is] God that girds me with strength, and has made my way blameless:
The God who arms me with strength, who cleared and smoothed my way.
33 who strengthens my feet as hart's feet, and sets me upon high places.
He made my feet like hinds’ feet, and set me up on the heights.
34 He instructs my hands for war: and you have made my arms [as] a brazen bow.
He taught my hands how to fight, and my arms how to bend a bronze bow.
35 And you have made me secure in my salvation: and your right hand has helped me, and your correction has upheld me to the end; yes, your correction itself shall instruct me.
The shield of your help you gave me, your right hand supports me, you stoop down to make me great.
36 You has made room for my goings under me, and by footsteps did not fail.
In your strength I took giant strides, and my feet never slipped.
37 I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are consumed.
So I chased the foe till I caught them, and turned not, till I made an end of them.
38 I will dash them to pieces and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet.
I smashed them, they could not rise, they fell beneath my feet.
39 For you have girded me with strength for war: you have beaten down under me all that rose up against me.
You did arm me with strength for war, you did bow my assailants beneath me.
40 And you has made mine enemies turn their backs before me; and you have destroyed them that hated me.
You made my foes turn their back to me, and those who did hate me I finished.
41 They cried, but there was no deliverer: [even] to the Lord, but he listened not to them.
They cried for help, but none saved them; to the Lord, but he answered them not.
42 I will grind them as the mud of the streets: and I will beat them small as dust before the wind.
I beat them like dust of the market-place, stamped them like mud of the streets.
43 Deliver me from the gain sayings of the people: you shall make me head of the Gentiles: a people whom I knew not served me,
From the strife of the peoples you saved me, you made me head of the nations, peoples I knew not did serve me.
44 at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me: the strange children lied to me.
On the instant they hear, they obey me, foreigners come to me cringing.
45 The strange children waxed old, and fell away from their paths through lameness.
Foreigners lose courage, and come out of their strongholds trembling.
46 The Lord lives; and blessed [be] my God; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
The Lord is alive! Blest be my rock! Exalted be God, my protector!
47 [It is] God that avenges me, and has subdued the nations under me;
The God who gave me revenge, and brought down nations beneath me,
48 my deliverer from angry enemies: you shall set me on high above them that rise up against me: you shall deliver me from the unrighteous man.
who saved me from angry foes, and set me above my assailants, safe from the violent.
49 Therefore will I confess to you, O Lord, amongst the Gentiles, and sing to your name.
For this I will praise you among the nations, making music, O Lord, to your name:
50 [God] magnifies the deliverances of his king; and deals mercifully with David his anointed, and his seed, for ever.
for great triumphs he grants to his king, and faithful love he shows his anointed, to David and his seed evermore.
