2 Samuel 22
1 David sang to Yahweh the words of this song on the day that Yahweh rescued him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.
And David made a song to the Lord in these words, on the day when the Lord made him free from the hands of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul:
2 He prayed, “Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, the one who rescues me.
And he said, The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour, even mine;
3 God is my rock. I take refuge in him. He is my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, and my refuge, the one who saves me from violence.
My God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my safe place; my saviour, who keeps me safe from the violent man.
4 I will call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised, and I will be saved from my enemies.
I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me.
5 For the waves of death surrounded me, the rushing waters of destruction overwhelmed me.
For the waves of death came round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear;
The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me. (Sheol h7585)
7 In my distress I called to Yahweh; I called to my God; he heard my voice from his temple, and my call for help went into his ears.
In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came to his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of the heavens trembled and were shaken, because God was angry.
Then the earth was moved with a violent shock; the bases of heaven were moved and shaking, because he was angry.
9 Smoke went up from out of his nostrils, and blazing fire came out of his mouth. Coals were ignited by it.
There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: coals were lighted by it.
10 He opened the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under his feet.
The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew. He was seen on the wings of the wind.
And he went through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness a tent around him, gathering heavy rain clouds in the skies.
And he made the dark his tent round him, a mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13 From the lightning before him coals of fire fell.
Before his shining light his dark clouds went past, raining ice and coals of fire.
14 Yahweh thundered from the heavens. The Most High shouted.
The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out.
15 He shot arrows and scattered his enemies— lightning bolts and dispersed them.
And he sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen; the foundations of the world were laid bare at the rebuke of Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
Then the deep beds of the sea were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of the Lord's wrath, because of the breath of his mouth.
17 He reached down from above; he took hold of me! He pulled me out of the surging water.
He sent from on high, he took me, pulling me out of great waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
He made me free from my strong hater, from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I.
19 They came against me on the day of my distress, but Yahweh was my support.
They came on me in the day of my trouble: but the Lord was my support.
20 He also brought me out to a wide open place. He saved me because he was pleased with me.
He took me out into a wide place; he was my saviour because he had delight in me.
21 Yahweh has rewarded me to the measure of my righteousness; he has restored me to the measure of the cleanness of my hands.
The Lord gives me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean before him.
22 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh and have not acted wickedly by turning from my God.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not been turned away in sin from my God.
23 For all his righteous decrees have been before me; as for his statutes, I have not turned away from them.
For all his decisions were before me, and I did not put away his laws from me.
24 I have also been innocent before him, and I have kept myself from sin.
And I was upright before him, and I kept myself from sin.
25 Therefore Yahweh has restored me to the measure of my righteousness, to the degree of my cleanness in his sight.
Because of this the Lord has given me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean in his eyes.
26 To one who is faithful, you show yourself to be faithful; to a man who is blameless, you show yourself to be blameless.
On him who has mercy you will have mercy; to the upright you will be upright;
27 With the pure you show yourself pure, but you are perverse to the twisted.
He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge.
28 You save afflicted people, but your eyes are against the proud, and you bring them down.
For you are the saviour of those who are in trouble; but your eyes are on men of pride, to make them low.
29 For you are my lamp, Yahweh. Yahweh lights up my darkness.
For you are my light, O Lord; and the Lord will make the dark bright for me.
30 For by you I can run over a barricade; by my God I can leap over a wall.
By your help I have made a way through the wall which was shutting me in: by the help of my God I have gone over a wall.
31 As for God, his way is perfect. The word of Yahweh is pure. He is a shield to everyone who takes refuge in him.
As for God, his way is all good: the word of the Lord is tested; he is a safe cover for all those who put their faith in him.
32 For who is God except Yahweh, and who is a rock except our God?
For who is God but the Lord? and who is a Rock but our God?
33 God is my refuge, and he leads the blameless person on his path.
God puts a strong band about me, guiding me in a straight way.
34 He makes my feet swift like a deer and places me on the high hills.
He makes my feet like roes' feet, and puts me on high places.
35 He trains my hands for war, and my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
He makes my hands expert in war, so that a bow of brass is bent by my arms.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your favor has made me great.
You have given me the breastplate of your salvation, and your mercy has made me great.
37 You have made a wide place for my feet beneath me, so my feet have not slipped.
You have made my steps wide under me, so that my feet make no slip.
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them. I did not turn back until they were destroyed.
I go after my haters and overtake them; not turning back till they are all overcome.
39 I devoured them and smashed them; they cannot rise. They have fallen under my feet.
I have sent destruction on them and given them wounds, so that they are not able to get up: they are stretched under my feet.
40 You put strength on me like a belt for battle; you put under me those who rise up against me.
For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who came out against me.
41 You gave me the back of my enemies' necks; I annihilated those who hated me.
By you their backs are turned in flight, so that my haters are cut off.
42 They cried for help, but no one saved them; they cried out to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.
They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer.
43 I beat them into fine pieces like dust on the ground, I pulverized them like mud in the streets.
Then they were crushed as small as the dust of the earth, stamped down under my feet like the waste of the streets.
44 You also have rescued me from the disputes of my own people. You have kept me as the head of nations. A people that I have not known serves me.
You have made me free from the fightings of my people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants.
45 Foreigners were forced to bow to me. As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
Men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority: from the time when my name comes to their ears, they will be ruled by me.
46 The foreigners came trembling out of their strongholds.
They will be wasted away, they will come out of their secret places shaking with fear.
47 Yahweh lives! May my rock be praised. May God be exalted, the rock of my salvation.
The Lord is living; praise be to my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be honoured:
48 This is the God who executes vengeance for me, the one who brings down peoples under me.
It is God who sends punishment on my haters, and puts peoples under my rule.
49 He sets me free from my enemies. Indeed, you lifted me up above those who rose up against me. You rescue me from violent men.
He makes me free from my haters: I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.
50 Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name.
Because of this I will give you praise, O Lord, among the nations, and will make a song of praise to your name.
51 God gives great victory to his king, and he shows his covenant loyalty to his anointed one, to David and to his descendants forever.”
Great salvation does he give to his king; he has mercy on the king of his selection, David, and on his seed for ever.
