< 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.
Unto the end, for David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hands of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 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 firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. My God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust. My protector and the horn of my salvation, and my support.
3 I call on YHWH, the Praised One, And I am saved from my enemies.
Praising I will call upon the Lord: and I shall be saved from my enemies.
4 Cords of death have surrounded me, And streams of the worthless make me afraid.
The sorrows of death surrounded me: and the torrents of iniquity troubled me.
5 Cords of Sheol have surrounded me, Snares of death have been before me. (Sheol )
The sorrows of hell encompassed me: and the snares of death prevented me. (Sheol )
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.
In my affliction I called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God: And he heard my voice from his holy temple: and my cry before him came into his ears.
7 And the earth shakes and trembles, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake—because He has wrath.
The earth shook and trembled: the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because he 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 a fire flamed from his face: coals were kindled by it.
9 And He inclines the heavens, and comes down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.
He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
10 And He rides on a cherub, and flies, And He flies on wings of wind.
And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; he flew upon the wings of the 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 covert, his pavilion round about him: dark waters 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 that was 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.
And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the highest gave his voice: hail and coals of fire.
14 And He sends His arrows and scatters them, And much lightning, and crushes them.
And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: he multiplied lightnings, and troubled 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.
Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were discovered: At thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the spirit 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: and received me 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 delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.
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 my affliction: and the Lord became my protector.
19 And He brings me forth to a large place, He draws me out, because He delighted in me.
And he brought me forth into a large place: he saved me, because he was well pleased with me.
20 YHWH repays me According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He returns to me.
And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; and will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands:
21 For I have kept the ways of YHWH, And have not done wickedly against my God.
Because I have kept the ways of the Lord; and have not done wickedly against my God.
22 For all His judgments [are] before me, And I do not turn His statutes from me.
For till his judgments are in my sight: and his justices I have not put away from me.
23 And I am perfect with Him, And I keep myself from my iniquity.
And I shall be spotless with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity.
24 And YHWH returns to me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, Before His eyes.
And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; and according to the cleanness 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 elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.
27 For You save a poor people, And cause the eyes of the high to fall.
For thou wilt save the humble people; but wilt bring down the eyes of the proud.
28 For You light my lamp, My God YHWH enlightens my darkness.
For thou lightest my lamp, O Lord: O my God enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I run [against] a troop! And by my God I leap a wall.
For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; and through my God I shall go 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 undefiled: the words of the Lord are fire tried: he is the protector of all that trust in him.
31 For who [is] God besides YHWH? And who [is] a rock except our God?
For who is God but the Lord? or who is God but our God?
32 God—who is girding me [with] strength, And He makes my way perfect.
God who hath girt me with strength; and made my way blameless.
33 Making my feet like does, And on my high places causes me to stand.
Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: and who setteth me upon high places.
34 Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of bronze was brought down by my arms.
Who teacheth my hands to war: and thou hast made my arms like 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 given me the protection of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath held me up: And thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end: and thy discipline, the same shall teach me.
36 You enlarge my step under me, And my ankles have not slipped.
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet are not weakened.
37 I pursue my enemies, and overtake them, And do not turn back until they are consumed.
I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them: and I will not turn again till they are consumed.
38 I strike them, and they are not able to rise, They fall under my feet,
I will break them, 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.
And thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; and hast subdued under me them 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 hast made my enemies turn their back upon me, and 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 none to save them, to the Lord: but he heard them not.
42 And I beat them as dust before wind, I empty them out as mire of the streets.
And I shall beat them as small as the dust before the wind; I shall bring them to nought, like the dirt in the streets.
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.
Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people: thou wilt make me head of the Gentiles.
44 At the hearing of the ear they listen to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me,
A people, which I knew not, hath served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.
45 Sons of a stranger fade away, And are slain out of their close places.
The children that are strangers have lied to me, strange children have faded away, and have halted from their paths.
46 YHWH lives—and blessed [is] my rock, And exalted is the God of my salvation.
The Lord liveth, 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,
O God, who avengest me, and subduest the people under me, my deliverer from my enemies.
48 My deliverer from my enemies, You raise me above my withstanders, Deliver me from a man of violence.
And thou wilt lift me up above them that rise up against me: from the unjust man thou wilt deliver me.
49 Therefore I confess You among nations, O YHWH, And I sing praise to Your Name,
Therefore will I give glory to thee, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing a psalm 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!
Giving great deliverance to his king, and shewing mercy to David his anointed: and to his seed for ever.