2 Samuel 22
1 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of 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 saviour.
He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my Savior.
3 God is my strong one, in him will I trust: my shield, and the horn of my salvation: he lifteth me up, and is my refuge: my saviour, thou wilt deliver 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 on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall 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 surrounded me: the floods of Belial have made me afraid.
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 distress I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry to my God: and he will hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry shall come to 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 shook and trembled, the foundations of the mountains were moved, and 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 A smoke went up from his nostrils, and a devouring fire out of his mouth: coals were kindled by it.
Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire from his mouth, burning coals that blazed before him.
10 He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
He pushed aside the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
11 And he rode upon the cherubims, and flew: and slid upon the wings of the wind.
Riding on a heavenly being he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness a covering round about him: dropping waters out of the clouds of the heavens.
He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black rainclouds.
13 By the brightness before him, the coals of fire were kindled.
Burning coals blazed out of his brightness.
14 The Lord shall thunder from heaven: and the most high shall give forth his voice.
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
15 He shot arrows and scattered them: lightning, and consumed them.
He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies, he routed them with his lightning bolts.
16 And the overflowings of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid open at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the spirit of his wrath.
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 took me, and 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 delivered me from my most mighty enemy, and from them that 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 prevented me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my stay.
They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
20 And he brought me forth into a large place, he delivered me, because I pleased 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 according to the cleanness of my hands he will render to me.
The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
22 Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from 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 his precepts I have not removed 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 shall keep myself from my 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 thou wilt be holy: and with the valiant perfect.
You show trust to those who are trusting; you show integrity to those with integrity,
27 With the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.
You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself astute to those who are crafty.
28 And the poor people thou wilt save: and with thy eyes thou wilt humble the haughty.
You save the humble, but your eyes watch the proud to bring them down.
29 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and thou, O Lord, wilt enlighten my darkness.
You, Lord, are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness.
30 For in thee 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 word of the Lord is tried by fire: he is the shield of all that trust 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 but the Lord: and who is strong but our God?
For who is God except the Lord? Who is a Rock, except our God?
33 God who hath girded me with strength, and made my way perfect.
God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
34 Making my feet like the feet of harts, and setting me upon my high places.
He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
35 He teacheth my bands to war: and maketh 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 Thou hast given me the shield of my salvation: and thy mildness hath multiplied me.
You protect me with the shield of your salvation; your help has made me great.
37 Thou shalt enlarge my steps under me: and my ankles shall not fail.
You gave me room to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
38 I will pursue after my enemies, and crush them: and will not return again till 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 in pieces, so that they shall not rise: they shall fall under my feet.
I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
40 Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: thou hast made them that resisted me to bow under me.
You made me strong for the battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel low before me.
41 My enemies thou hast made to turn their back to me: them that hated me, and I shall destroy them.
You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
42 They shall cry, and there shall be none to save: to the Lord, and he shall not hear 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 shall beat them as small as the dust of the earth: I shall crush them and spread them abroad like the mire 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 Thou wilt save me from the contradictions of my people: thou wilt keep me to be the head of the Gentiles: the people which I know not, 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 the stranger will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will obey me.
Foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey.
46 The strangers are melted away, and shall be straitened in their distresses.
They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
47 The Lord liveth, 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 who giveth me revenge, and bringest down people under me,
God avenges me, he puts peoples under me,
49 Who bringest me forth from my enemies, and liftest me up from them that resist me: from the wicked man thou shalt deliver me.
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 Therefore will I give thanks to thee. O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.
That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
51 Giving great salvation to his king, and shewing mercy to David his anointed, and to his seed for ever.
You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.”
