2 Samuel

22 And David spake unto Yahweh, the words of this song, in the day when Yahweh had rescued him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul;

2 and he said,—Yahweh was my mountain crag and my stronghold and my deliverer—mine;

3 My God was my rock, I sought refuge in him,—My shield, and my horn of salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, My Saviour! from violence thou didst save me.

4 As one worthy to be praised, called I on Yahweh,—And from my foes was I saved.

5 When the breakers of death had encompassed me,—the torrents of perdition made me afraid,—

6 the meshes of hades had surrounded me,—the snares of death had confronted me,

7 In my distress called I on Yahweh, Yea, unto my God, did I call,—And he hearkened out of his temple unto my voice, And my cry for help was in his ears!

8 Then did the earth shake and quake, The foundations of the heavens were deeply moved,—Yea, they did shake because he was angry,

9 There went up a smoke in his nostrils, And a fire out of his mouth devoured,—Live coals were kindled from it:

10 Then he stretched out the heavens and came down,—And thick gloom was under his feet;

11 Then he rode on a cherub and flew,—And was seen on the wings of the wind;

12 And made of the darkness around him pavilions,—Gathering of waters, clouds of vapours.

13 Out of the brightness before him were kindled live coals of fire;

14 Thunder from the heavens did Yahweh give forth,—Yea, the Highest uttered his voice;

15 And he sent forth arrows, and scattered them,—Lightning, and confused them;

16 Then appeared the channels of the sea, Were uncovered the foundations of the world,—At the rebuke of Yahweh, The blast of the breath of his nostrils;

17 He sent from on high, he took me,—He drew me out of many waters;

18 He rescued me from my foe in his might,—From them who hated me, because they were too strong for me:

19 They confronted me in the day of my necessity,—Then became Yahweh my stay:

20 And brought out into a large place even me,—He delivered me, because he delighted in me:

21 Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness,—According to the cleanness of my hands, he repaid me:

22 For I had kept the ways of Yahweh,—And not broken away from my God;

23 For all his regulations were before me,—And as for his statutes, I turned not from them.

24 So became I blameless towards him,—And kept myself from mine iniquity:

25 Yahweh therefore repaid me according to my righteousness,—According to my pureness before his eyes.

26 With the loving, thou didst shew thyself loving,—With the blameless hero, thou didst shew thyself blameless;

27 With the pure, thou didst shew thyself pure,—But with the perverse, thou didst shew thyself ready to contend:

28 And a patient people thou didst save,—But thine eyes were on the lofty—thou layedst them low;

29 For thou wast my lamp, O Yahweh,—And Yahweh enlightened my darkness;

30 For by thee I ran through a troop,—By my God I leapt over a wall.

31 As for God, blameless is his way,—The speech of Yahweh hath been proved, A shield he is to all who seek refuge in him.

32 For who is a God, save Yahweh? And who a Rock, save our God?

33 God is my fortress of strength,—And shewed to the blameless his way;

34 Planting my feet like the hinds’,—Yea, on my high places he caused me to stand;

35 Teaching my hands to war,—So that a bow of bronze was bent by mine arms;

36 Thus didst thou grant me, as a shield, thy salvation,—And thy condescension made me great.

37 Thou didst widen my stepping-places under me,—So that mine ankles faltered not:

38 I pursued my foes, and destroyed them,—And returned not till they were consumed;

39 So I consumed them, and crushed them, and they rose not again,—Thus fell they under my feet:

40 Thus didst thou gird me with strength for the battle,—Thou subduedst mine assailants under me:

41 And as for my foes, thou didst give me their neck,—Yea, them who hated me that I might destroy them:

42 They cried out, But there was none to save,—Unto Yahweh, But he answered them not.

43 Then did I beat them in pieces, like the dust of the earth,—Like the clay of the lanes did I crush them stamp them down.

44 Thus didst thou rescue me from the contentions of my people,—Didst keep me to be the head of nations:—A people whom I had not known served me;

45 The sons of the foreigner came cringing unto me,—At the hearing of the ear, they submitted to me,—

46 The sons of the foreigner were disheartened, And came quaking out of their fortresses.

47 Yahweh liveth and blessed be my rock,—And exalted be the God (of the rock) of my salvation:—

48 The God who hath avenged me, And brought down peoples under me;

49 And brought me forth from among my foes,—Yea, from mine assailants hast thou set me on high, From the man of violence hast thou delivered me.

50 For this cause will I praise thee, O Yahweh, among the nations,—And to thy name will I touch the strings:—

51 Who hath made great the victories of his King,—And shown lovingkindness to his Anointed One, To David and to his Seed, Unto times age-abiding.