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.
“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.
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 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.
3 I call on YHWH, the Praised One, And I am saved from my enemies.
Praised, I cried, be the Lord, and from my enemies was I saved.
4 Cords of death have surrounded me, And streams of the worthless make me afraid.
The bonds of death encompassed me, and the floods of destruction made me afraid.
The bonds of hell encircled me: the snares of death seized on 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.
[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.
7 And the earth shakes and trembles, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake—because He has wrath.
Then shook and trembled the earth; and the foundations of the mountains were moved; and they were shaken, because he was wroth.
8 Smoke has gone up from His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumes, Coals have been kindled by it.
Smoke went up in his anger and consuming fire out of his mouth: coals flamed forth from him.
9 And He inclines the heavens, and comes down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.
And he bent the heavens, 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 rode upon a cherub, and flew along, and he flitted by upon the wings of the wind.
11 He makes darkness His secret place, Around Him His dwelling place, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
He made darkness his hiding-place, round about him as his pavilion, dark waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire.
From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed away, [with] hail-stones 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 in the heavens, and the Most High uttered forth his voice, [with] hail-stones and coals of fire.
14 And He sends His arrows and scatters them, And much lightning, and crushes them.
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited 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 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.
16 He sends from above—He takes me, He draws me out of many waters.
He stretched out from above [his hand], he took me; he drew me out from mighty 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 enemy, the strong, and from those that hated me, when they were too mighty for me.
18 They go before me in a day of my calamity And YHWH is for a support to me.
They overcame me on the day of my calamity; but the Lord became my stay.
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 space; he delivered me, because he had delight in me.
20 YHWH repays me According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He returns to me.
The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the purity of my hands did 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 ways 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 ordinances were before me, and his statutes had I not put away from me.
23 And I am perfect with Him, And I keep myself from my iniquity.
I was also upright with him, and I guarded myself against my iniquity.
24 And YHWH returns to me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, Before His eyes.
Therefore did the Lord recompense me according to my righteousness, 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 kind thou wilt show thyself kind; with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright;
26 With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the perverse You show Yourself a wrestler,
With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the perverse thou wilt wage a contest.
27 For You save a poor people, And cause the eyes of the high to fall.
For thou wilt indeed save the afflicted people; but haughty eyes wilt thou bring down.
28 For You light my lamp, My God YHWH enlightens my darkness.
For thou wilt cause my light to shine: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I run [against] a troop! And by my God I leap a wall.
For [aided] by thee I run through a troop; and [helped] by my God I leap 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 God, —his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a shield to all those that trust in him.
31 For who [is] God besides YHWH? And who [is] a rock except our God?
For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock beside our God?
32 God—who is girding me [with] strength, And He makes my way perfect.
He is the God that girdeth me with strength, and rendereth my way unobstructed.
33 Making my feet like does, And on my high places causes me to stand.
He maketh my feet like those of the hinds, and upon my high-places he causeth me to stand.
34 Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of bronze was brought down by my arms.
He teacheth my hands for the war, so that a brazen bow is bent by my arms.
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 gavest me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand supported me: and thy meekness hath made me great.
36 You enlarge my step under me, And my ankles have not slipped.
Thou enlargest my steps under me, so that my joints do not slip.
37 I pursue my enemies, and overtake them, And do not turn back until they are consumed.
I pursue my enemies, and overtake them; and I return not again till I have made an end of them.
38 I strike them, and they are not able to rise, They fall under my feet,
I crush them that they are not able to rise: they 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 the war: thou subduest my opponents under me.
40 As for my enemies—You have given to me the neck, As for those hating me—I cut them off.
And my enemies thou causest to turn their back to me; and those that hate me, —that I may destroy them.
41 They cry, and there is no savior, On YHWH, and He does not answer them.
They cry, but there is none to help; unto the Lord, —but he answereth them not.
42 And I beat them as dust before wind, I empty them out as mire of the streets.
And I beat them small as the dust before the wind: like the dirt in the streets do I cast them out.
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 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.
44 At the hearing of the ear they listen to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me,
As soon as their ear heareth they shall be obedient to me: the children of the stranger shall utter flattery unto me.
45 Sons of a stranger fade away, And are slain out of their close places.
The children of the stranger shall fade away, and come forth trembling out of their close places.
46 YHWH lives—and blessed [is] my rock, And exalted is the God of my salvation.
The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation;
47 God—who is giving vengeance to me, And He subdues peoples under me,
The God that granteth me vengeance, and subdueth nations under me;
48 My deliverer from my enemies, You raise me above my withstanders, Deliver me from a man of violence.
That delivereth me from my enemies: also above my opponents thou liftest me up; thou deliverest me from the man of violence.
49 Therefore I confess You among nations, O YHWH, And I sing praise to Your Name,
Therefore will I give thanks unto thee among the nations, O Lord, and unto thy name will I sing praises, —
50 Magnifying the salvation of His king, And doing kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed—for all time!
[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.
