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 spoke to the Lord the words of this verse, in the day that the Lord freed him from the hand of all his enemies 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, and my strength, and my Savior.
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.
I will hope in him. God is my strong one, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. He lifts me up, and he is my refreshment. You, O my Savior, will free me from iniquity.
4 I will call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised, and I will be saved from my enemies.
I will call upon the Lord, who is praiseworthy; and I will be saved from my enemies.
5 For the waves of death surrounded me, the rushing waters of destruction overwhelmed me.
For the pangs of death have encircled me. The torrents of Belial have terrified me.
The ropes of Hell have encompassed me. The snares of death have intercepted 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 tribulation, I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry out to my God. And he will heed my voice from his temple, and my outcry will reach his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of the heavens trembled and were shaken, because God was angry.
The earth was shaken, and it quaked. The foundations of the mountains were struck together and violently shaken, because he was angry with them.
9 Smoke went up from out of his nostrils, and blazing fire came out of his mouth. Coals were ignited by it.
Smoke ascends from his nostrils, and fire from his mouth will devour; coals have been kindled by it.
10 He opened the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under his feet.
He bent down the heavens, and it descended; and a fog was beneath his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew. He was seen on the wings of the wind.
And he climbed upon the cherubim, and he flew; and he slid upon the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness a tent around him, gathering heavy rain clouds in the skies.
He set darkness as a hiding place around himself, with waters sifted from the clouds of the heavens.
13 From the lightning before him coals of fire fell.
By means of the brightness of his glance, coals of fire were kindled.
14 Yahweh thundered from the heavens. The Most High shouted.
The Lord will thunder from heaven; and the Most High will utter his voice.
15 He shot arrows and scattered his enemies— lightning bolts and dispersed them.
He shot arrows, and he scattered them; lightning, and he consumed them.
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.
And the overflow of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the globe were revealed, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the exhale of the breath of his fury.
17 He reached down from above; he took hold of me! He pulled me out of the surging water.
He sent from on high, and he took me up. And he drew me out of many waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
He freed me from my most powerful enemy and from those who had hated me. For they were too strong for me.
19 They came against me on the day of my distress, but Yahweh was my support.
He went before me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my firmament.
20 He also brought me out to a wide open place. He saved me because he was pleased with me.
And he led me out to a wide-open place. He freed me, because I was pleasing to him.
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 will reward me according to my justice. And he will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands.
22 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh and have not acted wickedly by turning from my God.
For I have kept to the ways of the Lord, and I have not acted impiously before 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 judgments are in my sight. And I have not removed his precepts from me.
24 I have also been innocent before him, and I have kept myself from sin.
And I shall be perfect with him. And I shall guard myself from my own iniquity.
25 Therefore Yahweh has restored me to the measure of my righteousness, to the degree of my cleanness in his sight.
And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice, and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of 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.
With the holy one, you will be holy, and with the strong one, you will be perfect.
27 With the pure you show yourself pure, but you are perverse to the twisted.
With the elect one, you will be elect, and with the perverse one, you will be perverse.
28 You save afflicted people, but your eyes are against the proud, and you bring them down.
And you will bring to salvation the poor people, and you will humble the exalted with your eyes.
29 For you are my lamp, Yahweh. Yahweh lights up my darkness.
For you are my lamp, O Lord. And you, O Lord, will illuminate my darkness.
30 For by you I can run over a barricade; by my God I can leap over a wall.
For in you, I will run girded. In my God, I will leap over the 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.
God, his way is immaculate; the eloquence of the Lord is an exacting fire. He is the shield of all who hope in him.
32 For who is God except Yahweh, and who is a rock except our God?
Who is God except the Lord? And who is strong except our God?
33 God is my refuge, and he leads the blameless person on his path.
God, he has girded me with fortitude, and he has made my way perfect:
34 He makes my feet swift like a deer and places me on the high hills.
making my feet like the feet of the stag, and stationing me upon my exalted places,
35 He trains my hands for war, and my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
teaching my hands to do battle, and making my arms like a bow of brass.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your favor has made me great.
You have given me the shield of your salvation. And your mildness has multiplied me.
37 You have made a wide place for my feet beneath me, so my feet have not slipped.
You will enlarge my steps under me, and my ankles will not fail.
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them. I did not turn back until they were destroyed.
I will pursue my enemies, and crush them. And I will not turn back, until I consume them.
39 I devoured them and smashed them; they cannot rise. They have fallen under my feet.
I will consume them and break them apart, so that they cannot rise up; they will fall under my feet.
40 You put strength on me like a belt for battle; you put under me those who rise up against me.
You have girded me with strength for the battle. Those who resisted me, you have bent down under me.
41 You gave me the back of my enemies' necks; I annihilated those who hated me.
You have caused my enemies to turn their back to me; they have hatred for me, and I shall destroy them.
42 They cried for help, but no one saved them; they cried out to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.
They will cry out, and there will be no one to save; to the Lord, and he will not heed them.
43 I beat them into fine pieces like dust on the ground, I pulverized them like mud in the streets.
I will wipe them away like the dust of the earth. I will break them apart and crush them, like the mud 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 will save me from the contradictions of my people. You will preserve me to be the head of the Gentiles; a people I do not know shall serve me.
45 Foreigners were forced to bow to me. As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
The sons of foreigners, who will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will be obedient to me.
46 The foreigners came trembling out of their strongholds.
The foreigners flowed away, but they will be drawn together in their anguishes.
47 Yahweh lives! May my rock be praised. May God be exalted, the rock of my salvation.
The Lord lives, and my God is blessed. And the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted.
48 This is the God who executes vengeance for me, the one who brings down peoples under me.
God gives me vindication, and he casts down the peoples under me.
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 leads me away from my enemies, and he lifts me up from those who resist me. You will free me from the iniquitous 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 confess to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and I will sing 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.”
magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring forever.”
