Psalms 18
1 Unto the end. For David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke the words of this canticle to the Lord, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said: I will love you, O Lord my strength.
For the Leader. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul; And he said: I love thee, O LORD, my strength.
2 The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my liberator. My God is my helper, and I hope in him: my protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support.
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in Him I take refuge; my shield, and my horn of salvation, my high tower.
3 Praising, I will call upon the Lord. And I will be saved from my enemies.
Praised, I cry, is the LORD, and I am saved from mine enemies.
4 The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity dismayed me.
The cords of Death compassed me, and the floods of Belial assailed me.
The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of Death confronted me. (Sheol h7585)
6 In my tribulation, I called upon the Lord, and I cried out to my God. And he listened to my voice from his holy temple. And my cry in his presence entered into his ears.
In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God; out of His temple He heard my voice, and my cry came before Him unto His ears.
7 The earth was shaken, and it trembled. The foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and they were shaken, because he was angry with them.
Then the earth did shake and quake, the foundations also of the mountains did tremble; they were shaken, because He was wroth.
8 A smoke ascended by his wrath, and a fire flared up from his face: coals were kindled by it.
Smoke arose up in His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth did devour; coals flamed forth from Him.
9 He bent the heavens, and they descended. And darkness was under his feet.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and thick darkness was under His feet.
10 And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew: he flew upon the feathers of the winds.
And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly; yea, He did swoop down upon the wings of the wind.
11 And he set darkness as his hiding place, with his tabernacle all around him: dark waters in the clouds of the air.
He made darkness His hiding-place, His pavilion round about Him; darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness that was before his sight, the clouds crossed by, with hail and coals of fire.
At the brightness before Him, there passed through His thick clouds hailstones and coals of fire.
13 And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire.
The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave forth His voice; hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent forth his arrows and scattered them. He multiplied lightnings, and he set them in disarray.
And He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.
15 Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were revealed, by your rebuke, O Lord, by the inspiration of the Spirit of your wrath.
And the channels of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare, at Thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, and he accepted me. And he took me up, out of many waters.
He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.
17 He rescued me from my strongest enemies, and from those who hated me. For they had been too strong for me.
He delivered me from mine enemy most strong, and from them that hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
18 They intercepted me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my protector.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the LORD was a stay unto me.
19 And he led me out, into a wide place. He accomplished my salvation, because he willed me.
He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me.
20 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice, and he will repay me according to the purity of my hands.
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me.
21 For I have preserved the ways of the Lord, and I have not behaved impiously before my God.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his judgments are in my sight, and his justice, I have not pushed away from me.
For all His ordinances were before me, and I put not away His statutes from me.
23 And I will be immaculate together with him, and I will keep myself from my iniquity.
And I was single-hearted with Him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
24 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
25 With the holy, you will be holy, and with the innocent, you will be innocent,
With the merciful Thou dost show Thyself merciful, with the upright man Thou dost show Thyself upright;
26 and with the elect, you will be elect, and with the perverse, you will be perverse.
With the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure; and with the crooked Thou dost show Thyself subtle.
27 For you will save the humble people, but you will bring down the eyes of the arrogant.
For Thou dost save the afflicted people; but the haughty eyes Thou dost humble.
28 For you illuminate my lamp, O Lord. My God, enlighten my darkness.
For Thou dost light my lamp; the LORD my God doth lighten my darkness.
29 For in you, I will be delivered from temptation; and with my God, I will climb over a wall.
For by Thee I run upon a troop; and by my God do I scale a wall.
30 As for my God, his way is undefiled. The eloquence of the Lord has been examined by fire. He is the protector of all who hope in him.
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God, except the Lord? And who is God, except our God?
For who is God, save the LORD? And who is a Rock, except our God?
32 It is God who has wrapped me with virtue and made my way immaculate.
The God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way straight;
33 It is he who has perfected my feet, like the feet of deer, and who stations me upon the heights.
Who maketh my feet like hinds', and setteth me upon my high places;
34 It is he who trains my hands for battle. And you have set my arms like a bow of brass.
Who traineth my hands for war, so that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.
35 And you have given me the protection of your salvation. And your right hand sustains me. And your discipline has corrected me unto the end. And your discipline itself will teach me.
Thou hast also given me Thy shield of salvation, and Thy right hand hath holden me up; and Thy condescension hath made me great.
36 You have expanded my footsteps under me, and my tracks have not been weakened.
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped.
37 I will pursue my enemies and apprehend them. And I will not turn back until they have failed.
I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn back till they were consumed.
38 I will break them, and they will not be able to stand. They will fall under my feet.
I have smitten them through, so that they are not able to rise; they are fallen under my feet.
39 And you have wrapped me with virtue for the battle. And those rising up against me, you have subdued under me.
For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle; Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
40 And you have given the back of my enemies to me, and you have destroyed those who hated me.
Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me, and I did cut off them that hate me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save them, to the Lord, but he did not heed them.
They cried, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but He answered them not.
42 And I will crush them into dust before the face of the wind, so that I will obliterate them like the mud in the streets.
Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.
43 You will rescue me from the contradictions of the people. You will set me at the head of the Gentiles.
Thou hast delivered me from the contentions of the people; Thou hast made me the head of the nations; a people whom I have not known serve me.
44 A people I did not know has served me. As soon as their ears heard, they were obedient to me.
As soon as they hear of me, they obey me; the sons of the stranger dwindle away before me.
45 The sons of foreigners have been deceitful to me, the sons of foreigners have grown weak with time, and they have wavered from their paths.
The sons of the stranger fade away, and come trembling out of their close places.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed is my God, and may the God of my salvation be exalted:
The LORD liveth, and blessed be my Rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation;
47 O God, who vindicates me and who subdues the people under me, my liberator from my enraged enemies.
Even the God that executeth vengeance for me, and subdueth peoples under me.
48 And you will exalt me above those who rise up against me. From the iniquitous man, you will rescue me.
He delivereth me from mine enemies; yea, Thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me; Thou deliverest me from the violent man.
49 Because of this, O Lord, I will confess to you among the nations, and I will compose a psalm to your name:
Therefore I will give thanks unto Thee, O LORD, among the nations, and will sing praises unto Thy name.
50 magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring, even for all time.
Great salvation giveth He to His king; and showeth mercy to His anointed, to David and to his seed, for evermore.
