2 Samuel 22
1 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this verse, in the day that the Lord freed him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
David sang the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord saved him from all his enemies, and from Saul.
2 And he said: “The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my Savior.
He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my Savior.
3 I will hope in him. God is my strong one, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. He lifts me up, and he is my refreshment. You, O my Savior, will free me from iniquity.
He is my God, my rock who protects me. He shields me from harm, his power saves me, he keeps me safe. He is my protector; he is my savior; he saves me from violence.
4 I will call upon the Lord, who is praiseworthy; and I will be saved from my enemies.
I call for help from the Lord, who should be praised, and he saves me from those who hate me.
5 For the pangs of death have encircled me. The torrents of Belial have terrified me.
The waves of death swept over me; surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
The grave wound its ropes around me; death set snares for me. (Sheol h7585)
7 In my tribulation, I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry out to my God. And he will heed my voice from his temple, and my outcry will reach his ears.
In my despair I called on the Lord; I called out to my God. He heard my voice from his Temple; my cry for help reached his ears.
8 The earth was shaken, and it quaked. The foundations of the mountains were struck together and violently shaken, because he was angry with them.
The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the heavens trembled, shaking because of his anger.
9 Smoke ascends from his nostrils, and fire from his mouth will devour; coals have been kindled by it.
Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire from his mouth, burning coals that blazed before him.
10 He bent down the heavens, and it descended; and a fog was beneath his feet.
He pushed aside the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
11 And he climbed upon the cherubim, and he flew; and he slid upon the wings of the wind.
Riding on a heavenly being he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
12 He set darkness as a hiding place around himself, with waters sifted from the clouds of the heavens.
He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black rainclouds.
13 By means of the brightness of his glance, coals of fire were kindled.
Burning coals blazed out of his brightness.
14 The Lord will thunder from heaven; and the Most High will utter his voice.
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
15 He shot arrows, and he scattered them; lightning, and he consumed them.
He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies, he routed them with his lightning bolts.
16 And the overflow of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the globe were revealed, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the exhale of the breath of his fury.
The Lord roared, and by the wind from the breath of his nostrils the valleys of the sea could be seen and the foundations of the earth were uncovered.
17 He sent from on high, and he took me up. And he drew me out of many waters.
He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He dragged me out of the deep water.
18 He freed me from my most powerful enemy and from those who had hated me. For they were too strong for me.
He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.
19 He went before me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my firmament.
They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
20 And he led me out to a wide-open place. He freed me, because I was pleasing to him.
He set me free, he rescued me because he's happy with me.
21 The Lord will reward me according to my justice. And he will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands.
The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
22 For I have kept to the ways of the Lord, and I have not acted impiously before my God.
For I have followed the Lord's ways; I have not sinned by turning away from my God.
23 For all his judgments are in my sight. And I have not removed his precepts from me.
I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
24 And I shall be perfect with him. And I shall guard myself from my own iniquity.
I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
25 And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice, and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes.
The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
26 With the holy one, you will be holy, and with the strong one, you will be perfect.
You show trust to those who are trusting; you show integrity to those with integrity,
27 With the elect one, you will be elect, and with the perverse one, you will be perverse.
You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself astute to those who are crafty.
28 And you will bring to salvation the poor people, and you will humble the exalted with your eyes.
You save the humble, but your eyes watch the proud to bring them down.
29 For you are my lamp, O Lord. And you, O Lord, will illuminate my darkness.
You, Lord, are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness.
30 For in you, I will run girded. In my God, I will leap over the wall.
With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress wall.
31 God, his way is immaculate; the eloquence of the Lord is an exacting fire. He is the shield of all who hope in him.
God's way is absolutely right. What the Lord says is trustworthy. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
32 Who is God except the Lord? And who is strong except our God?
For who is God except the Lord? Who is a Rock, except our God?
33 God, he has girded me with fortitude, and he has made my way perfect:
God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
34 making my feet like the feet of the stag, and stationing me upon my exalted places,
He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
35 teaching my hands to do battle, and making my arms like a bow of brass.
He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation. And your mildness has multiplied me.
You protect me with the shield of your salvation; your help has made me great.
37 You will enlarge my steps under me, and my ankles will not fail.
You gave me room to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
38 I will pursue my enemies, and crush them. And I will not turn back, until I consume them.
I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
39 I will consume them and break them apart, so that they cannot rise up; they will fall under my feet.
I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
40 You have girded me with strength for the battle. Those who resisted me, you have bent down under me.
You made me strong for the battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel low before me.
41 You have caused my enemies to turn their back to me; they have hatred for me, and I shall destroy them.
You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
42 They will cry out, and there will be no one to save; to the Lord, and he will not heed them.
They cried out for help, but no one came to rescue them. They even called out to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43 I will wipe them away like the dust of the earth. I will break them apart and crush them, like the mud of the streets.
I ground them into dust, like the dust of the earth. I crushed them and threw them out like mud in the street.
44 You will save me from the contradictions of my people. You will preserve me to be the head of the Gentiles; a people I do not know shall serve me.
You rescued me from rebellious people; you have kept me as ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.
45 The sons of foreigners, who will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will be obedient to me.
Foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey.
46 The foreigners flowed away, but they will be drawn together in their anguishes.
They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
47 The Lord lives, and my God is blessed. And the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted.
The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
48 God gives me vindication, and he casts down the peoples under me.
God avenges me, he puts peoples under me,
49 He leads me away from my enemies, and he lifts me up from those who resist me. You will free me from the iniquitous man.
He frees me from those who hate me. You keep me safe from those who rebel against me, you save me from violent men.
50 Because of this, I will confess to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and I will sing to your name:
That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
51 magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring forever.”
You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.”
