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.
To the chief Musician. Of the servant of Yahweh, of David, —who spake unto Yahweh the words of this song, —in the day when Yahweh had rescued him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul; and he said: — I will love thee, O Yahweh 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.
Yahweh, was my mountain crag and my stronghold, and my deliverer: My GOD, was my rock, I sought refuge in him, 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.
As one worthy to be praised, called I on Yahweh, —And, from my foes, was I saved.
4 The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity dismayed me.
The meshes of death encompassed me, The torrents of perdition, made me afraid;
The meshes of hades, had surrounded me, The snares of death, had 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, called I on Yahweh, And, unto my God, made outcry for help, He heard, out of his temple, my voice, And my outcry for help came before him—entered into 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 did the earth shake and quake, Even, the foundations of the mountains, were deeply moved, Yea they did shake, because he was angry.
8 A smoke ascended by his wrath, and a fire flared up from his face: coals were kindled by it.
There went up smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, Live coals, were kindled from it:
9 He bent the heavens, and they descended. And darkness was under his feet.
Then he stretched out the heaven, and came down, —and, thick gloom, was under his feet;
10 And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew: he flew upon the feathers of the winds.
Then he rode on a cherub, and flew, and darted on 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.
Made darkness his hiding-place, Round about him—his pavilion, Darkness of waters, clouds of vapours.
12 At the brightness that was before his sight, the clouds crossed by, with hail and coals of fire.
Out of the brightness before him, his clouds rolled along, hail, and live coals of fire.
13 And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire.
Then did Yahweh thunder in the heavens, and the Highest uttered his voice, —hail, and live 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 forth his arrows and scattered them, yea, lightnings, he shot out, and confused 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.
Then appeared the channels of waters, were uncovered the foundations of the world, —At thy rebuke O Yahweh, 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 rescued me from my foe, in his might, and from them who hated me, because they were too strong 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 necessity, Then became Yahweh my stay:
19 And he led me out, into a wide place. He accomplished my salvation, because he willed me.
And brought me out, 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.
Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, he repaid me;
21 For I have preserved the ways of the Lord, and I have not behaved impiously before my God.
For I had kept the ways of Yahweh, and not broken away 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 regulations, were before me, and, his statutes, did I not put from me:
23 And I will be immaculate together with him, and I will keep myself from my iniquity.
So became I blameless with him, and 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.
Yahweh therefore repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the pureness of my hands, before his eyes.
25 With the holy, you will be holy, and with the innocent, you will be innocent,
With the loving, thou didst show thyself loving, —With the blameless man, thou didst show thyself blameless;
26 and with the elect, you will be elect, and with the perverse, you will be perverse.
With the pure, thou didst show thyself pure, But, with the perverse, thou didst show thyself ready to contend.
27 For you will save the humble people, but you will bring down the eyes of the arrogant.
For, as for thee, an oppressed people, thou didst save, but, looks that were lofty, layedst thou low;
28 For you illuminate my lamp, O Lord. My God, enlighten my darkness.
For, thou, didst light up my lamp, Yahweh my God, enlightened 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 ran through a troop, and, by my God, I leapt over 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, blameless is his way, The speech of Yahweh hath been proved, A shield, he is to all who seek refuge in him.
31 For who is God, except the Lord? And who is God, except our God?
For who is a GOD, save Yahweh? And who is a Rock, save our God?
32 It is God who has wrapped me with virtue and made my way immaculate.
The GOD who girded me with strength, and set forth, as blameless, my way:
33 It is he who has perfected my feet, like the feet of deer, and who stations me upon the heights.
Planting my feet like hinds’ [feet], yea, on my high places, he caused me to stand:
34 It is he who trains my hands for battle. And you have set my arms like a bow of brass.
Teaching my hands to war, —so that a bow of bronze was bent by mine arms.
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.
Thus didst thou grant me, as a shield, thy salvation, —and, thy right hand, sustained me, and, thy condescension, made me great.
36 You have expanded my footsteps under me, and my tracks have not been weakened.
Thou didst widen my stepping-places under me, so that, mine ankles, faltered not.
37 I will pursue my enemies and apprehend them. And I will not turn back until they have failed.
I pursued my foes, and overtook them, and returned not, till they were consumed:
38 I will break them, and they will not be able to stand. They will fall under my feet.
I crushed them, and they were unable to rise, They fell 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.
Thus didst thou gird me with strength, for the battle, Thou subduedst mine assailants under me.
40 And you have given the back of my enemies to me, and you have destroyed those who hated me.
As for my foes, thou didst give me their neck, and, as for them who hated me, I destroyed them.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save them, to the Lord, but he did not heed them.
They cried out, but there was none to save, unto Yahweh, 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 in pieces, like dust on the face of the wind. Like the mire in the lanes, did I scatter them.
43 You will rescue me from the contradictions of the people. You will set me at the head of the Gentiles.
Thus didst thou rescue me from the contentions of a people, —didst appoint me to be the head of nations, A people I had not known, served me:
44 A people I did not know has served me. As soon as their ears heard, they were obedient to me.
At the hearing of the ear, they submitted to me, the sons of the foreigner, came cringing unto 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 foreigner, lost heart, and came quaking out of their fortresses.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed is my God, and may the God of my salvation be exalted:
Yahweh liveth and, blessed, be my Rock, yea, 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.
The GOD, who hath avenged me, —and subjugated peoples under me:
48 And you will exalt me above those who rise up against me. From the iniquitous man, you will rescue me.
Who hath delivered me from my foes, —Yea, from mine assailants, hast thou set me on high, From the man of violence, hast thou rescued me.
49 Because of this, O Lord, I will confess to you among the nations, and I will compose a psalm to your name:
For this cause, will I praise thee among the nations, O Yahweh, and, to thy Name, will I sweep the strings: —
50 magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring, even for all time.
Who hath made great the victories of his King, —and shown lovingkindness to his Anointed One, To David and to his Seed, Unto times age-abiding.
