Psalm 118:1-18

Contemporary English Version

² Let Israel shout,
    “God is always merciful!”
³ Let the family of Aaron
the priest shout,
    “God is always merciful!”
⁴ Let every true worshiper
of the Lord shout,
    “God is always merciful!”

⁵ When I was really hurting,
    I prayed to the Lord.
He answered my prayer,
    and took my worries away.
^6 (B) The Lord is on my side,
and I am not afraid
    of what others can do to me.
⁷ With the Lord on my side,
I will defeat
    my hateful enemies.
⁸ It is better to trust the Lord
    for protection
than to trust anyone else,
⁹     including strong leaders.

¹⁰ Nations surrounded me,
but I got rid of them
    by the power of the Lord.
¹¹ They attacked from all sides,
but I got rid of them
    by the power of the Lord.
¹² They swarmed around like bees,
but by the power of the Lord,
    I got rid of them
    and their fiery sting.
¹³ Their attacks were so fierce
that I nearly fell,
    but the Lord helped me.
^14 (C) My power and my strength
come from the Lord,
    and he has saved me.

¹⁵ From the tents of God's people
come shouts of victory:
    “The Lord is powerful!
¹⁶ With his mighty arm
the Lord wins victories!
    The Lord is powerful!”

¹⁷ And so my life is safe,
and I will live to tell
    what the Lord has done.
¹⁸ He punished me terribly,
but he did not let death
    lay its hands on me.