Psalms 18
1 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.
[For the Chief Musician. By David the servant of YHWH, who spoke to YHWH the words of this song in the day that YHWH delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said, ] I love you, YHWH, my strength.
2 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.
YHWH is my Rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my Rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
3 I will call upon the Lord with praises, and I shall be saved from mine enemies.
I call on YHWH, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The pangs of death compassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.
The waves of death surrounded me, and the currents of ungodliness overwhelmed me.
The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death came on me. (Sheol h7585)
6 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.
In my distress I called upon YHWH, and cried out to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry before him came into his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God was angry with them.
Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
8 There went up a smoke in his wrath, and fire burst into a flame at his presence: coals were kindled at it.
Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it.
9 And he bowed the heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
10 And he mounted on cherubs and flew: he flew on the wings of winds.
He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 And he made darkness his secret place: round about him was his tabernacle, [even] dark water in the clouds of the air.
He made darkness his hiding place, his canopy around him thick clouds dark with water.
12 At the brightness before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire.
From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed on, with hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered from heaven, and the Highest uttered his voice.
YHWH also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice.
14 And he sent forth [his] weapons, and scattered them; and multiplied lightnings, and routed them.
And he sent out arrows and scattered them, and he shot lightning bolts and routed them.
15 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.
And the depths of the sea appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, YHWH, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high and took me, he drew me to himself out of many waters.
He sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters.
17 He will deliver me from my mighty enemies, and from them that hate me; for they are stronger than I.
He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
18 They prevented me in the day of mine affliction: but the Lord was my stay against [them].
They came on me in the day of my calamity, but YHWH was my support.
19 And he brought me out into a wide place: he will deliver me, because he has pleasure in me.
He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20 And the Lord will recompense me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of my hands will he recompense me.
YHWH has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the way of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For I have kept the ways of YHWH, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his judgments were before me, and his ordinances departed not from me.
For all his ordinances were before me. I did not put away his statutes from me.
23 And I shall be blameless with hem, and shall keep myself from mine iniquity.
I was also blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 And the Lord shall recompense me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
Therefore YHWH has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25 With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent.
With the faithful you show yourself faithful. With the innocent you show yourself innocent.
26 And with the excellent [man] thou wilt be excellent; and with the perverse thou wilt shew frowardness.
With the pure you show yourself pure. And with the crooked you show yourself tortuous.
27 For thou wilt save the lowly people, and wilt humble the eyes of the proud.
For you will save a humble people, but the eyes of the proud you will bring low.
28 For thou, O Lord, wilt light my lamp: my God, thou wilt lighten my darkness.
For you light my lamp. YHWH my God lights up my darkness.
29 For by thee shall I be delivered from a troop; and by my God I will pass over a wall.
For by you, I advance through a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall.
30 [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.
As for God, his way is perfect. The word of YHWH is pure. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God but the Lord? and who is a God except our God?
For who is God, except YHWH? Who is a rock, besides our God,
32 [It is] God that girds me with strength, and has made my way blameless:
the God who girds me with strength, and makes my way blameless?
33 who strengthens my feet as hart's feet, and sets me upon high places.
He makes my feet like deer's feet, and sets me on my high places.
34 He instructs my hands for war: and thou hast made my arms [as] a brazen bow.
He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
35 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.
You have also given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand holds me up, and your help has made me great.
36 Thou has made room for my goings under me, and by footsteps did not fail.
You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped.
37 I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are consumed.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and I did not turn back until they were destroyed.
38 I will dash them to pieces and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet.
I struck them through, so that they did not rise. They fell beneath my feet.
39 For thou hast girded me with strength for war: thou hast beaten down under me all that rose up against me.
For you have equipped me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 And thou has made mine enemies turn their backs before me; and thou hast destroyed them that hated me.
You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.
41 They cried, but there was no deliverer: [even] to the Lord, but he hearkened not to them.
They cried, but there was none to save; even to YHWH, but he did not answer them.
42 I will grind them as the mud of the streets: and I will beat them small as dust before the wind.
Then I ground them as fine as the dust on the surface of a path. Like the mud in the streets, I trampled them.
43 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,
You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. You have made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44 at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me: the strange children lied to me.
As soon as they hear of me they obey me. Foreigners come cringing to me;
45 The strange children waxed old, and fell away from their paths through lameness.
they are not bound in chains.
46 The Lord lives; and blessed [be] my God; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
YHWH lives; and blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 [It is] God that avenges me, and has subdued the nations under me;
even the God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples under me.
48 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.
He rescues me from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man.
49 Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name.
Therefore I will praise you, YHWH, among the nations, and will sing praises to your name.
50 [God] magnifies the deliverances of his king; and deals mercifully with David his anointed, and his seed, for ever.
He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his descendants, until forever.
