2 Samuel 22
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
David’s Song of Thanksgiving
22 David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the grasp of Saul. 2 He said:(A)
The Lord is my rock, my fortress,(B) and my deliverer,
3 my God,[a] my rock where I seek refuge.
My shield, the horn of my salvation,(C) my stronghold,(D) my refuge,(E)
and my Saviour, you save me from violence.
4 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,(F)
and I was saved from my enemies.
5 For the waves of death engulfed me;(G)
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
6 The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(H)
7 I called to the Lord in my distress;
I called to my God.(I)
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry for help reached his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the heavens[b] trembled;(J)
they shook because he burned with anger.(K)
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and consuming fire came from his mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.[c]
10 He bent the heavens and came down,(L)
total darkness beneath his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring[d] on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness a canopy around him,
a gathering[e] of water and thick clouds.(M)
13 From the radiance of his presence,
blazing coals were ignited.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice heard.(N)
15 He shot arrows and scattered them;(O)
he hurled lightning bolts and routed them.(P)
16 The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath(Q) of his nostrils.(R)
17 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me;
he pulled me out of deep water.(S)
18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
20 He brought me out to a spacious place;(T)
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
21 The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;(U)
he repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.(V)
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord(W)
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.
23 Indeed, I let all his ordinances(X) guide me[f]
and have not disregarded his statutes.
24 I was blameless before him
and kept myself from my iniquity.
25 So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness[g] in his sight.
26 With the faithful
you prove yourself faithful,
with the blameless
you prove yourself blameless,
27 with the pure
you prove yourself pure,
but with the crooked
you prove yourself shrewd.
28 You rescue an oppressed people,(Y)
but your eyes are set against the proud –
you humble them.(Z)
29 Lord, you are my lamp;
the Lord illuminates my darkness.(AA)
30 With you I can attack a barricade,[h]
and with my God I can leap over a wall.(AB)
31 God – his way is perfect;(AC)
the word of the Lord is pure.(AD)
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is a rock? Only our God.
33 God is my strong refuge;[i]
he makes my way perfect.[j]
34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and sets me securely on the[k] heights.[l]
35 He trains my hands for war;(AE)
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation;(AF)
your help[m] exalts me.
37 You make a spacious place beneath me for my steps,
and my ankles do not give way.
38 I pursue my enemies and destroy them;
I do not turn back until they are wiped out.
39 I wipe them out and crush them,
and they do not rise;
they fall beneath my feet.
40 You have clothed me with strength for battle;
you subdue my adversaries beneath me.(AG)
41 You have made my enemies retreat before me;[n]
I annihilate those who hate me.
42 They look, but there is no one to save them –
they look to the Lord, but he does not answer them.(AH)
43 I pulverise them like dust of the earth;
I crush them and trample them like mud in the streets.(AI)
44 You have freed me from the feuds among my people;(AJ)
you have preserved me as head of nations;
a people I had not known serve me.(AK)
45 Foreigners submit to me cringing;
as soon as they hear, they obey me.
46 Foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their fortifications.(AL)
47 The Lord lives – blessed be my rock!
God, the rock of my salvation,(AM) is exalted.
48 God – he grants me vengeance
and casts down peoples under me.(AN)
49 He frees me from my enemies.
You exalt me above my adversaries;
you rescue me from violent men.(AO)
50 Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, Lord;
I will sing praises about your name.(AP)
51 He is a tower of salvation for[o] his king;
he shows loyalty to his anointed,
to David and his descendants for ever.(AQ)
Footnotes
- 22:3 LXX, Ps 18:2 read my God; MT reads God of
- 22:8 Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg read mountains; Ps 18:7
- 22:9 Or him
- 22:11 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss, Syr, Tg read he was seen
- 22:12 Or sieve, or mass; Hb obscure
- 22:23 Lit Indeed, all his ordinances have been in front of me
- 22:25 LXX, Syr, Vg read to the cleanness of my hands; Ps 18:24
- 22:30 Or a ridge, or raiders
- 22:33 DSS, some LXX mss, Syr, Vg read God clothes me with strength; Ps 18:32
- 22:33 Some LXX mss, Syr; MT reads he sets free the blameless his way; Hb obscure
- 22:34 LXX; some Hb mss read my; other Hb mss read his
- 22:34 Or on my high places
- 22:36 LXX reads humility; Ps 18:35
- 22:41 Lit you gave me the neck of my enemies
- 22:51 DSS read he gives great victory to
2 Samuel 22
Revised Standard Version
David’s Song of Thanksgiving
22 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,
“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,
3 my[a] God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; thou savest me from violence.
4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 “For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of perdition assailed me;
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me,
the snares of death confronted me.
7 “In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.
8 “Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
10 He bowed the heavens, and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub, and flew;
he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness around him
his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water.
13 Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;
lightning, and routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 “He reached from on high, he took me,
he drew me out of many waters.
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity;
but the Lord was my stay.
20 He brought me forth into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
21 “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his ordinances were before me,
and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
24 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
25 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.
26 “With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal;
with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless;
27 with the pure thou dost show thyself pure,
and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse.
28 Thou dost deliver a humble people,
but thy eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down.
29 Yea, thou art my lamp, O Lord,
and my God lightens my darkness.
30 Yea, by thee I can crush a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
32 “For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
33 This God is my strong refuge,
and has made[b] my[c] way safe.
34 He made my[d] feet like hinds’ feet,
and set me secure on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation,
and thy help[e] made me great.
37 Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet[f] did not slip;
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.
40 For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle;
thou didst make my assailants sink under me.
41 Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me,
those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
42 They looked, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43 I beat them fine as the dust of the earth,
I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.
44 “Thou didst deliver me from strife with the peoples;[g]
thou didst keep me as the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46 Foreigners lost heart,
and came trembling[h] out of their fastnesses.
47 “The Lord lives; and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
48 the God who gave me vengeance
and brought down peoples under me,
49 who brought me out from my enemies;
thou didst exalt me above my adversaries,
thou didst deliver me from men of violence.
50 “For this I will extol thee, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing praises to thy name.
51 Great triumphs he gives[i] to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David, and his descendants for ever.”
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 22:3 Gk Ps 18.2: Heb lacks my
- 2 Samuel 22:33 Ps 18.32: Heb set free
- 2 Samuel 22:33 Another reading is his
- 2 Samuel 22:34 Another reading is his
- 2 Samuel 22:36 Or gentleness
- 2 Samuel 22:37 Heb ankles
- 2 Samuel 22:44 Gk: Heb from strife with my people
- 2 Samuel 22:46 Ps 18.45: Heb girded themselves
- 2 Samuel 22:51 Another reading is He is a tower of salvation
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.