The Second of Samuel

 3 My God is my rock.+ I shall take refuge in him,

My shield+ and my horn+ of salvation, my secure height,+

And my place for flight,+ my Savior;+ from violence you save me.+

 4 On the One to be praised,+ Jehovah, I shall call,

And from my enemies I shall be saved.+

 5 For deadly breaking waves encircled me;+

There were flash floods of good-for-nothing [men] that kept terrifying me.+

 6 The ropes of Sheʹol* themselves surrounded me;+

The snares of death confronted me.+

 7 In my distress I kept calling upon Jehovah,+

And to my God I kept calling.+

Then out of his temple he heard my voice,+

With my cry for help in his ears.+

 8 And back and forth the earth began to shake and to rock;+

The foundations of the heavens themselves became agitated,+

And they kept shaking back and forth because he had been angered.+

 9 Smoke went up at his nostrils, and fire itself from his mouth kept devouring;+

Coals themselves blazed up from him.+

10 And he proceeded to bend the heavens down and to descend;+

And thick gloom was beneath his feet.+

11 And he came riding upon a cherub+ and came flying;

And he was visible* upon the wings of a spirit.*+

12 Then he put a darkness around him as booths,+

Dark waters,* thick clouds.+

14 From heaven Jehovah began to thunder,+

And the Most High himself began to give forth his voice.+

15 And he kept sending out arrows, that he might scatter them;+

Lightning, that he might throw them into confusion.+

16 And the streambeds of the sea became visible,+

The foundations of the productive land*+ became uncovered,

At the rebuke of Jehovah, from the blast of the breath* of his nostrils.+

17 He was sending from on high, he was taking me,+

He was drawing me out of great waters.+

18 He was delivering me from my strong enemy,+

From those hating me; because they were stronger than I was.+

19 They kept confronting me in the day of my disaster,+

But Jehovah became my support.+

20 And he proceeded to bring me out into a roomy place;+

He was rescuing me, because he had found delight in me.+

21 Jehovah rewards me according to my righteousness;+

According to the cleanness of my hands he repays me.+

22 For I have kept the ways of Jehovah,+

And I have not wickedly departed from my God.+

23 For all his judicial decisions+ are in front of me;

And as for his statutes, I shall not turn aside from them.*+

24 And I shall prove myself faultless+ toward him,

And I will keep myself from error on my part.+

25 And let Jehovah repay me according to my righteousness,+

According to my cleanness in front of his eyes.+

26 With someone loyal you will act in loyalty;+

With the faultless, mighty one you will deal faultlessly;+

27 With the one keeping clean you will show yourself clean,+

And with the crooked one you will act as silly.+

28 And the humble people you will save;+

But your eyes are against the haughty ones, [that] you may bring [them] low.*+

29 For you are my lamp, O Jehovah,+

And it is Jehovah that makes my darkness shine.+

30 For by you I can run against a marauder band;+

By my God I can climb a wall.+

31 As for the [true] God, perfect is his way;+

The saying of Jehovah is a refined one.+

A shield he is to all those taking refuge in him.+

32 For who is a God* besides Jehovah,+

And who is a rock besides our God?*+

33 The [true] God is my strong fortress,*+

And he will cause my way to be perfect,+

34 Making* my feet like those of the hinds;+

And upon places high for me he keeps me standing.+

35 He is teaching my hands for warfare;+

And my arms have pressed down a bow of copper.+

36 And you will give me your shield of salvation,+

And it is your humility that makes me great.+

37 You will make room large enough for my steps under me;+

And my ankles will certainly not wobble.+

38 I will pursue my enemies, that I may annihilate them,

And I shall not return until they are exterminated.+

39 And I shall exterminate them and break them in pieces,+ that they may not rise up;+

And they will fall under my feet.+

40 And you will gird me with vital energy for the battle;+

You will make those rising against me collapse under me.+

41 And as for my enemies, you will certainly give me the back of their neck;+

Those hating me intensely—I shall also silence them.+

42 They cry for help, but there is no savior;+

To Jehovah, but he actually does not answer them.+

43 And I shall pound them fine like the dust of the earth;

Like the mire of the streets I shall pulverize them;+

I shall beat them flat.

44 And you will provide me escape from the faultfinding of my people.+

You will safeguard me to be the head of nations;+

A people that I have not known—they will serve me.+

45 Foreigners themselves will come cringing to me;+

Ears will be obedient to hear me.+

46 Foreigners* themselves will fade away,

And they will come quaking out from their bulwarks.+

47 Jehovah is living;+ and blessed be my Rock;+

And let the God of the rock of my salvation be exalted.+

48 The [true] God is the Giver of acts of vengeance to me+

And the One bringing the peoples down under me,+

49 And the One bringing me out from my enemies.+

And above those who rise up against me you will lift me up;+

From the man of violent deeds you will deliver me.+

50 That is why I shall thank you, O Jehovah, among the nations;+

And to your name I shall make melody:+

51 The One doing great acts of salvation for his king+

And exercising loving-kindness* to his anointed one,*+

To David and to his seed* for time indefinite.”+