Psalms 18
1 TO THE OVERSEER. BY A SERVANT OF YHWH, BY DAVID, WHO HAS SPOKEN TO YHWH THE WORDS OF THIS SONG IN THE DAY YHWH DELIVERED HIM FROM THE HAND OF ALL HIS ENEMIES, AND FROM THE HAND OF SAUL, AND HE SAYS: I love You, O YHWH, my strength.
For the end, [a Psalm] of David, the servant of the Lord; [the words] which he spoke to the Lord, [even] the words of this Song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him out the hand of all his enemies, and out the hand of Saul: and he said: I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
2 YHWH [is] my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God [is] my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and the horn of my salvation, My high tower.
The Lord is my firm support, and my refuge, and my deliverer; my God is my helper, I will hope in him; [he is] my defender, and the horn of my salvation, and my helper.
3 I call on YHWH, the Praised One, And I am saved from my enemies.
I will call upon the Lord with praises, and I shall be saved from mine enemies.
4 Cords of death have surrounded me, And streams of the worthless make me afraid.
The pangs of death compassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.
The pangs of hell came round about me: the snares of death prevented me. (Sheol h7585)
6 In my adversity I call YHWH, And I cry to my God. He hears my voice from His temple, And My cry comes into His ears before Him.
And when I was afflicted I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of this holy temple, and my cry shall enter before him, [even] into his ears.
7 And the earth shakes and trembles, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake—because He has wrath.
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God was angry with them.
8 Smoke has gone up from His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumes, Coals have been kindled by it.
There went up a smoke in his wrath, and fire burst into a flame at his presence: coals were kindled at it.
9 And He inclines the heavens, and comes down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.
And he bowed the heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet.
10 And He rides on a cherub, and flies, And He flies on wings of wind.
And he mounted on cherubs and flew: he flew on the wings of winds.
11 He makes darkness His secret place, Around Him His dwelling place, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
And he made darkness his secret place: round about him was his tabernacle, [even] dark water in the clouds of the air.
12 From the brightness before Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire.
At the brightness before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire.
13 And YHWH thunders in the heavens, And the Most High gives forth His voice, Hail and coals of fire.
The Lord also thundered from heaven, and the Highest uttered his voice.
14 And He sends His arrows and scatters them, And much lightning, and crushes them.
And he sent forth [his] weapons, and scattered them; and multiplied lightnings, and routed them.
15 And the streams of waters are seen, And foundations of the earth are revealed, From Your rebuke, O YHWH, From the breath of the wind of Your anger.
And the springs of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blasting of the breath of thy wrath.
16 He sends from above—He takes me, He draws me out of many waters.
He sent from on high and took me, he drew me to himself out of many waters.
17 He delivers me from my strong enemy, And from those hating me, For they have been stronger than I.
He will deliver me from my mighty enemies, and from them that hate me; for they are stronger than I.
18 They go before me in a day of my calamity And YHWH is for a support to me.
They prevented me in the day of mine affliction: but the Lord was my stay against [them].
19 And He brings me forth to a large place, He draws me out, because He delighted in me.
And he brought me out into a wide place: he will deliver me, because he has pleasure in me.
20 YHWH repays me According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He returns to me.
And the Lord will recompense me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of my hands will he recompense me.
21 For I have kept the ways of YHWH, And have not done wickedly against my God.
For I have kept the way of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments [are] before me, And I do not turn His statutes from me.
For all his judgments were before me, and his ordinances departed not from me.
23 And I am perfect with Him, And I keep myself from my iniquity.
And I shall be blameless with hem, and shall keep myself from mine iniquity.
24 And YHWH returns to me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, Before His eyes.
And the Lord shall recompense me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
25 With the kind You show Yourself kind, With a perfect man You show Yourself perfect.
With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent.
26 With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the perverse You show Yourself a wrestler,
And with the excellent [man] thou wilt be excellent; and with the perverse thou wilt shew frowardness.
27 For You save a poor people, And cause the eyes of the high to fall.
For thou wilt save the lowly people, and wilt humble the eyes of the proud.
28 For You light my lamp, My God YHWH enlightens my darkness.
For thou, O Lord, wilt light my lamp: my God, thou wilt lighten my darkness.
29 For by You I run [against] a troop! And by my God I leap a wall.
For by thee shall I be delivered from a troop; and by my God I will pass over a wall.
30 God—perfect [is] His way, The saying of YHWH is tried, He [is] a shield to all those trusting in Him.
[As for] my God, his way is perfect: the oracles of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a protector of all them that hope in him.
31 For who [is] God besides YHWH? And who [is] a rock except our God?
For who is God but the Lord? and who is a God except our God?
32 God—who is girding me [with] strength, And He makes my way perfect.
[It is] God that girds me with strength, and has made my way blameless:
33 Making my feet like does, And on my high places causes me to stand.
who strengthens my feet as hart's feet, and sets me upon high places.
34 Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of bronze was brought down by my arms.
He instructs my hands for war: and thou hast made my arms [as] a brazen bow.
35 And You give to me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand supports me, And Your lowliness makes me great.
And thou hast made me secure in my salvation: and thy right hand has helped me, and thy correction has upheld me to the end; yea, thy correction itself shall instruct me.
36 You enlarge my step under me, And my ankles have not slipped.
Thou has made room for my goings under me, and by footsteps did not fail.
37 I pursue my enemies, and overtake them, And do not turn back until they are consumed.
I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are consumed.
38 I strike them, and they are not able to rise, They fall under my feet,
I will dash them to pieces and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet.
39 And You gird me [with] strength for battle, You cause my withstanders to bow under me.
For thou hast girded me with strength for war: thou hast beaten down under me all that rose up against me.
40 As for my enemies—You have given to me the neck, As for those hating me—I cut them off.
And thou has made mine enemies turn their backs before me; and thou hast destroyed them that hated me.
41 They cry, and there is no savior, On YHWH, and He does not answer them.
They cried, but there was no deliverer: [even] to the Lord, but he hearkened not to them.
42 And I beat them as dust before wind, I empty them out as mire of the streets.
I will grind them as the mud of the streets: and I will beat them small as dust before the wind.
43 You deliver me From the strivings of the people, You place me for a head of nations, A people I have not known serve me.
Deliver me from the gain sayings of the people: thou shalt make me head of the Gentiles: a people whom I knew not served me,
44 At the hearing of the ear they listen to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me,
at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me: the strange children lied to me.
45 Sons of a stranger fade away, And are slain out of their close places.
The strange children waxed old, and fell away from their paths through lameness.
46 YHWH lives—and blessed [is] my rock, And exalted is the God of my salvation.
The Lord lives; and blessed [be] my God; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 God—who is giving vengeance to me, And He subdues peoples under me,
[It is] God that avenges me, and has subdued the nations under me;
48 My deliverer from my enemies, You raise me above my withstanders, Deliver me from a man of violence.
my deliverer from angry enemies: thou shalt set me on high above them that rise up against me: thou shalt deliver me from the unrighteous man.
49 Therefore I confess You among nations, O YHWH, And I sing praise to Your Name,
Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name.
50 Magnifying the salvation of His king, And doing kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed—for all time!
[God] magnifies the deliverances of his king; and deals mercifully with David his anointed, and his seed, for ever.
