Psalms 18
1 “To the chief musician, by the servant of the Lord, by David, who spoke unto the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the power of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul; And he said,” I ever love thee, O Lord, my strength.
For the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord, who recited the words of this song to the Lord after the Lord had saved him from the power of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, deliverer, my God, my rock, where I take refuge, my shield, my defender, my tower.
3 Praised, I cried, be the Lord, and from my enemies was I saved.
Worthy of praise is the Lord whom I call on, he rescues me from all my foes.
4 The bonds of death encompassed me, and the floods of destruction made me afraid.
The waves of death broke about me, fearful floods of chaos.
Sheol threw cords around me, snares of death came to meet me. (Sheol h7585)
6 [When] in my distress I called upon the Lord, and unto my God I cried: he heard from his temple my voice, and my complaint came before him, even into his ears.
In distress I cried to the Lord, and shouted for help to my God; in his temple he heard my voice, into his ears came my cry.
7 Then shook and trembled the earth; and the foundations of the mountains were moved; and they were shaken, because he was wroth.
Then the earth shook and quaked, mountains trembled to their foundations, and quaked because of his wrath.
8 Smoke went up in his anger and consuming fire out of his mouth: coals flamed forth from him.
Smoke went up from his nostrils, devouring fire from his mouth, coals were kindled by it.
9 And he bent the heavens, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet:
Then he bent the sky and came down, thick darkness was under his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and flew along, and he flitted by upon the wings of the wind.
He rode on a cherub and flew, darting on wings of wind,
11 He made darkness his hiding-place, round about him as his pavilion, dark waters, thick clouds of the skies.
with his screen of darkness about him, in thick dark clouds of water.
12 From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed away, [with] hail-stones and coals of fire.
At the radiance before him there passed hailstones and coals of fire.
13 And the Lord thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered forth his voice, [with] hail-stones and coals of fire.
The Lord thundered from heaven, the Most High uttered his voice.
14 And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.
He shot his arrows and scattered them, flashed lightnings, and routed them.
15 And then were seen the channels of the waters, and there were laid open the foundations of the world, through thy rebuke, O Lord, through the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
The channels of the sea were revealed, the world was laid bare to its base, at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He stretched out from above [his hand], he took me; he drew me out from mighty waters.
He stretched from on high, he seized me, drew me up from the mighty waters,
17 He delivered me from my enemy, the strong, and from those that hated me, when they were too mighty for me.
and saved me from those who hated me – fierce foes, too mighty for me.
18 They overcame me on the day of my calamity; but the Lord became my stay.
In my day of distress they assailed me, but the Lord proved my support.
19 And he brought me forth into a large space; he delivered me, because he had delight in me.
To a spacious place he brought me, and, for love of me, he saved me.
20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the purity of my hands did he recompense me.
The Lord repays my innocence, he rewards my cleanness of hands.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For I kept the ways of the Lord, nor have wickedly strayed from my God.
22 For all his ordinances were before me, and his statutes had I not put away from me.
His commandments were all before me, his statutes I put not away.
23 I was also upright with him, and I guarded myself against my iniquity.
And I was blameless before him, guarding myself from sin.
24 Therefore did the Lord recompense me according to my righteousness, according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
So the Lord repaid my innocence, my cleanness of hands in his sight.
25 With the kind thou wilt show thyself kind; with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright;
With the loyal you are loyal, and with the blameless blameless.
26 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the perverse thou wilt wage a contest.
With the pure you show yourself pure, but shrewd with the devious.
27 For thou wilt indeed save the afflicted people; but haughty eyes wilt thou bring down.
For the lowly people you save, but haughty eyes you abase.
28 For thou wilt cause my light to shine: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
You are my lamp, Lord, my God who enlightens my darkness.
29 For [aided] by thee I run through a troop; and [helped] by my God I leap over a wall.
With you I can storm a rampart, with my God I can leap a wall.
30 As for God, —his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a shield to all those that trust in him.
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is shield to all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock beside our God?
For who is God but the Lord? And who is a rock but our God?
32 He is the God that girdeth me with strength, and rendereth my way unobstructed.
The God who arms me with strength, who cleared and smoothed my way.
33 He maketh my feet like those of the hinds, and upon my high-places he causeth me to stand.
He made my feet like hinds’ feet, and set me up on the heights.
34 He teacheth my hands for the war, so that a brazen bow is bent by my arms.
He taught my hands how to fight, and my arms how to bend a bronze bow.
35 And thou gavest me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand supported me: and thy meekness hath made me great.
The shield of your help you gave me, your right hand supports me, you stoop down to make me great.
36 Thou enlargest my steps under me, so that my joints do not slip.
In your strength I took giant strides, and my feet never slipped.
37 I pursue my enemies, and overtake them; and I return not again till I have made an end of them.
So I chased the foe till I caught them, and turned not, till I made an end of them.
38 I crush them that they are not able to rise: they fall under my feet.
I smashed them, they could not rise, they fell beneath my feet.
39 For thou hast girded me with strength for the war: thou subduest my opponents under me.
You did arm me with strength for war, you did bow my assailants beneath me.
40 And my enemies thou causest to turn their back to me; and those that hate me, —that I may destroy them.
You made my foes turn their back to me, and those who did hate me I finished.
41 They cry, but there is none to help; unto the Lord, —but he answereth them not.
They cried for help, but none saved them; to the Lord, but he answered them not.
42 And I beat them small as the dust before the wind: like the dirt in the streets do I cast them out.
I beat them like dust of the market-place, stamped them like mud of the streets.
43 Thou deliverest me from the contests of the people; thou appointest me to be the head of nations: a people that I know not shall serve me.
From the strife of the peoples you saved me, you made me head of the nations, peoples I knew not did serve me.
44 As soon as their ear heareth they shall be obedient to me: the children of the stranger shall utter flattery unto me.
On the instant they hear, they obey me, foreigners come to me cringing.
45 The children of the stranger shall fade away, and come forth trembling out of their close places.
Foreigners lose courage, and come out of their strongholds trembling.
46 The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation;
The Lord is alive! Blest be my rock! Exalted be God, my protector!
47 The God that granteth me vengeance, and subdueth nations under me;
The God who gave me revenge, and brought down nations beneath me,
48 That delivereth me from my enemies: also above my opponents thou liftest me up; thou deliverest me from the man of violence.
who saved me from angry foes, and set me above my assailants, safe from the violent.
49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee among the nations, O Lord, and unto thy name will I sing praises, —
For this I will praise you among the nations, making music, O Lord, to your name:
50 [To him] that maketh great the salvation of his king, and who sheweth kindness to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for ever.
for great triumphs he grants to his king, and faithful love he shows his anointed, to David and his seed evermore.
