< Kings II 22 >

1 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, in the day in which the Lord rescued 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 the song was thus: O Lord, my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,
He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my Savior.
3 my God; he shall be to me my guard, I will trust in him: [he is] my protector, and the horn of my salvation, my helper, and my sure refuge; you shall save me from the unjust man.
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 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 troubles of death compassed me, the floods of iniquity amazed me:
The waves of death swept over me; surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
6 the pangs of death surrounded me, the agonies of death prevented me. (Sheol h7585)
The grave wound its ropes around me; death set snares for me. (Sheol h7585)
7 When I am afflicted I will call upon the Lord, and will cry to my God, and he shall hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry shall come into 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 And the earth was troubled and quaked, and the foundations of heaven were confounded and torn asunder, because the Lord was angry with them.
The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the heavens trembled, shaking because of his anger.
9 There went up a smoke in his wrath, and fire out of his mouth devours: coals were kindled at it.
Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire from his mouth, burning coals that blazed before him.
10 And he bowed the heavens, and came down, and [there was] darkness under his feet.
He pushed aside the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
11 And he rode upon the cherubs and did fly, and was seen upon the wings of the wind.
Riding on a heavenly being he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness his hiding-place; his tabernacle round about him was the darkness of waters, he condensed it with the clouds of the air.
He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black rainclouds.
13 At the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled.
Burning coals blazed out of his brightness.
14 The Lord thundered out of heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice.
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
15 And he sent forth arrows, and scattered them, and he flashed lightning, and dismayed them.
He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies, he routed them with his lightning bolts.
16 And the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his anger.
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 above and took me; 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 delivered me from my strong enemies, from them that hated me, for they were stronger than I.
He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.
19 The days of my affliction prevented me; but the Lord was my stay.
They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
20 And he brought me into a wide place, and rescued me, because he delighted in me.
He set me free, he rescued me because he's happy with me.
21 And the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of my hands did he recompense me.
The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
22 Because, I kept the ways of the Lord, and did not wickedly depart 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 and his ordinances [were] before me: I departed not from them.
I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
24 And I shall be blameless before him, and will 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 righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands in his eye-sight.
The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
26 With the holy you will be holy, and with the perfect man you will be perfect,
You show trust to those who are trusting; you show integrity to those with integrity,
27 and with the excellent you will be excellent, and with the froward you will be froward.
You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself astute to those who are crafty.
28 And you will save the poor people, and will bring down the eyes of the haughty.
You save the humble, but your eyes watch the proud to bring them down.
29 For you, Lord, [are] my lamp, and the Lord shall shine forth to me in my darkness.
You, Lord, are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness.
30 For by you shall I run [as] a girded man, and by my God shall I leap over a wall.
With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress wall.
31 As for the Mighty One, his way [is] blameless: the word of the Lord [is] strong [and] tried in the fire: he is a protector to all that put their 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] strong, but the Lord? and who will be a Creator except our God?
For who is God except the Lord? Who is a Rock, except our God?
33 [It is] the Mighty One who strengthens me with might, and has prepared my way without fault.
God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
34 He makes my feet like hart's feet, and sets me upon the high places.
He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
35 He teaches my hands to war, and has broken a brazen bow by my arm.
He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
36 And you have given me the shield of my salvation, and your propitious dealing has increased me,
You protect me with the shield of your salvation; your help has made me great.
37 so as to make room under me for my going, and my legs did not totter.
You gave me room to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
38 I will pursue my enemies, and will utterly destroy them; and I will not turn again till I have consumed them.
I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
39 And I will crush them, and they shall not rise; and they shall fall under my feet.
I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
40 And you shall strengthen me with power for the war; you shall cause them that rise up against me to bow down under me.
You made me strong for the battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel low before me.
41 And you have caused mine enemies to flee before me, even them that hated me, and you have slain them.
You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
42 They shall cry, and there shall be no helper; to the Lord, but he hearkens not to 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 And I ground them as the dust of the earth, I beat them small as 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 And you shall deliver me from the striving of the peoples, you shall keep me [to be] the head of the Gentiles: a people which I knew not served 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 strange children feigned [obedience] to me; they listened to me as soon as they heard.
Foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey.
46 The strange children shall be cast away, and shall be overthrown out of their hiding places.
They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
47 The Lord lives, and blessed [be] my guardian, and my God, my strong keeper, shall be exalted.
The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
48 The Lord who avenges me [is] strong, chastening the nations under me,
God avenges me, he puts peoples under me,
49 and bringing me out from my enemies: and you shall set me on high from among those that rise up against me: you shall deliver me from the violent 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 Therefore will I confess to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.
That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
51 He magnifies the salvation of his king, and works mercy for his anointed, even for David and for his seed for ever.
You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.”

< Kings II 22 >