2 Samuel 22

¹ David addressed the words of this song to Yahweh, when Yahweh had delivered him from theclutches of all his enemies and from the clutches of Saul.

² He said: Yahweh is my rock and my fortress,

³ my deliverer is my God. I take refuge in him, my rock, my shield, my saving strength, my stronghold,my place of refuge. My Saviour, you have saved me from violence;

⁴ I cal to Yahweh, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my foes.

⁵ With Death's breakers closing in on me, Belial's torrents ready to swal ow me,

⁶ Sheol's snares on every side of me, Death's traps lying ahead of me,

⁷ I cal ed to Yahweh in my anguish, I cried for help to my God, from his Temple he heard my voice, mycry came to his ears!

⁸ Then the earth quaked and rocked, the heavens' foundations shuddered, they quaked at his blazinganger.

⁹ Smoke rose from his nostrils, from his mouth devouring fire (coals were kindled at it).

¹⁰ He parted the heavens and came down, a storm-cloud underneath his feet;

¹¹ riding one of the winged creatures, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.

¹² He wrapped himself in darkness, his pavilion dark waters and dense cloud.

¹³ A brightness lit up before him, hail and blazing fire.

¹⁴ Yahweh thundered from the heavens, the Most High made his voice heard.

¹⁵ He shot his arrows and scattered them, his lightning flashed and routed them.

¹⁶ The very springs of ocean were exposed, the world's foundations were laid bare, at the roaring ofYahweh, at the blast of breath from his nostrils!

¹⁷ He reached down from on high, snatched me up, pul ed me from the watery depths,

¹⁸ rescued me from my mighty foe, from my enemies who were stronger than I.

¹⁹ They assailed me on my day of disaster, but Yahweh was there to support me,

²⁰ he freed me, set me at large, he rescued me, because he loves me.

²¹ Yahweh rewards me for my uprightness, as my hands are pure so he repays me,

²² since I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and not fal en away from my God.

²³ His judgements are al before me, his statutes I have not put away from me;

²⁴ I am blameless before him, I keep myself clear of evil.

²⁵ Hence Yahweh repaid me for acting uprightly because he could see I was pure.

²⁶ Faithful you are to the faithful, blameless with the blameless,

²⁷ sincere to the sincere but cunning to the crafty,

²⁸ you save a people that is humble and humiliate those with haughty looks.

²⁹ Yahweh, you yourself are my lamp, my God lights up my darkness;

³⁰ with you I storm the rampart with my God I can scale any wal .

³¹ This God, his way is blameless; the word of Yahweh is refined in the furnace, for he alone is theshield of al who take refuge in him.

³² For who is God but Yahweh, who is a rock but our God:

³³ this God who girds me with strength, who makes my way free from blame,

³⁴ who makes me as swift as a deer and sets me firmly on the heights,

³⁵ who trains my hands for battle my arms to bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶ You give me your invincible shield, you never cease to listen to me,

³⁷ you give me the strides of a giant, give me ankles that never weaken-

³⁸ I pursue my enemies and exterminate them, not turning back till they are annihilated;

³⁹ I strike them down, and they cannot rise, they fal , they are under my feet.

⁴⁰ You have girded me with strength for the fight, bent down my assailants beneath me,

⁴¹ made my enemies retreat before me; and those who hate me I destroy.

⁴² They cry out, there is no one to save, to Yahweh, but no answer comes.

⁴³ I crumble them like the dust of the squares, trample them like the mud of the streets.

⁴⁴ You free me from the quarrels of my people, you place me at the head of the nations, a people I didnot know are now my servants,

⁴⁵ foreigners come wooing my favour, no sooner do they hear than they obey me,

⁴⁶ foreigners grow faint of heart, they come trembling out of their fastnesses.

⁴⁷ Life to Yahweh! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be the God of my salvation,

⁴⁸ the God who gives me vengeance and crushes the peoples under me,

⁴⁹ who takes me away from my enemies. You lift me high above those who attack me, you deliver mefrom the man of violence.

⁵⁰ For this I wil praise you, Yahweh, among the nations, and sing praise to your name.

⁵¹ He saves his king, time after time, displays faithful love for his anointed, for David and his heirs forever.