Psalm 18
New Living Translation
Psalm 18
For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:
1 I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death entangled me;
floods of destruction swept over me.
5 The grave[a] wrapped its ropes around me;
death laid a trap in my path.
6 But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.
8 Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.
9 He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
10 Mounted on a mighty angelic being,[b] he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.
12 Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him
and rained down hail and burning coals.[c]
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused.
15 Then at your command, O Lord,
at the blast of your breath,
the bottom of the sea could be seen,
and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.
16 He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
but the Lord supported me.
19 He led me to a place of safety;
he rescued me because he delights in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me for doing right;
he restored me because of my innocence.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
22 I have followed all his regulations;
I have never abandoned his decrees.
23 I am blameless before God;
I have kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord rewarded me for doing right.
He has seen my innocence.
25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
26 To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
27 You rescue the humble,
but you humiliate the proud.
28 You light a lamp for me.
The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.
30 God’s way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
31 For who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is a solid rock?
32 God arms me with strength,
and he makes my way perfect.
33 He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.
35 You have given me your shield of victory.
Your right hand supports me;
your help[d] has made me great.
36 You have made a wide path for my feet
to keep them from slipping.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them;
I did not stop until they were conquered.
38 I struck them down so they could not get up;
they fell beneath my feet.
39 You have armed me with strength for the battle;
you have subdued my enemies under my feet.
40 You placed my foot on their necks.
I have destroyed all who hated me.
41 They called for help, but no one came to their rescue.
They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.
42 I ground them as fine as dust in the wind.
I swept them into the gutter like dirt.
43 You gave me victory over my accusers.
You appointed me ruler over nations;
people I don’t even know now serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they submit;
foreign nations cringe before me.
45 They all lose their courage
and come trembling from their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!
47 He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me
48 and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.
49 For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.
50 You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.
Psalm 18
Complete Jewish Bible
18 (0) For the leader. By David the servant of Adonai, who addressed the words of this song to Adonai on the day when Adonai delivered him from the power of all his enemies, including from the power of Sha’ul. 2 He said:
(1) “I love you, Adonai, my strength!
3 (2) “Adonai is my Rock, my fortress and deliverer,
my God, my Rock, in whom I find shelter,
my shield, the power that saves me,
my stronghold.
4 (3) I call on Adonai, who is worthy of praise;
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 (4) “For the cords of death surrounded me,
the floods of B’liya‘al terrified me,
6 (5) the ropes of Sh’ol were wrapped around me,
the snares of death lay there before me.
7 (6) In my distress I called to Adonai;
I cried out to my God.
Out of his temple he heard my voice;
my cry reached his ears.
8 (7) “Then the earth quaked and shook,
the foundations of the mountains trembled.
They were shaken because he was angry.
9 (8) Smoke arose in his nostrils;
out of his mouth came devouring fire;
sparks blazed forth from him.
10 (9) He lowered heaven and came down
with thick darkness under his feet.
11 (10) He rode on a keruv; he flew,
swooping down on the wings of the wind.
12 (11) He made darkness his hiding-place,
his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
13 (12) From the brightness before him,
there broke through his thick clouds
hailstones and fiery coals.
14 (13) “Adonai also thundered in heaven,
Ha‘Elyon sounded his voice —
hailstones and fiery coals.
15 (14) He sent out arrows and scattered them,
shot out lightning and routed them.
16 (15) The channels of water appeared,
the foundations of the world were exposed
at your rebuke, Adonai,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
17 (16) “He sent from on high, he took me
and pulled me out of deep water;
18 (17) he rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were stronger than I.
19 (18) They came against me on my day of disaster,
but Adonai was my support.
20 (19) He brought me out to an open place;
he rescued me, because he took pleasure in me.
21 (20) Adonai rewarded me for my uprightness,
he repaid me because my hands were clean.
22 (21) “For I have kept the ways of Adonai,
I have not done evil by leaving my God;
23 (22) for all his rulings were before me,
I did not distance his regulations from me.
24 (23) I was pure-hearted with him
and kept myself from my sin.
25 (24) “Hence Adonai repaid me for my uprightness,
according to the purity of my hands in his view.
26 (25) With the merciful, you are merciful;
with a man who is sincere, you are sincere;
27 (26) with the pure, you are pure;
but with the crooked you are cunning.
28 (27) People afflicted, you save;
but haughty eyes, you humble.
29 (28) “For you, Adonai, light my lamp;
Adonai, my God, lights up my darkness.
30 (29) With you I can run through a whole troop of men,
with my God I can leap a wall.
31 (30) “As for God, his way is perfect,
the word of Adonai has been tested by fire;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
32 (31) “For who is God but Adonai?
Who is a Rock but our God?
33 (32) “It is God who girds me with strength;
he makes my way go straight.
34 (33) He makes me swift, sure-footed as a deer,
and enables me to stand on my high places.
35 (34) He trains my hands for war
until my arms can bend a bow of bronze;
36 (35) “You give me your shield, which is salvation,
your right hand holds me up,
your humility makes me great.
37 (36) You lengthen the steps I can take,
yet my ankles do not turn.
38 (37) “I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
without turning back until they were destroyed.
39 (38) I crushed them, so that they can’t get up;
they have fallen under my feet.
40 (39) “For you braced me with strength for the battle
and bent down my adversaries beneath me.
41 (40) You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed those who hated me.
42 (41) “They cried out, but there was no one to help,
even to Adonai, but he didn’t answer.
43 (42) I pulverized them like dust in the wind,
threw them out like mud in the streets.
44 (43) “You also freed me from the quarrels of my people.
You made me head of the nations;
a people I did not know now serve me —
45 (44) the moment they hear of me, they obey me,
foreigners come cringing to me.
46 (45) Foreigners lose heart
as they come trembling from their fortresses.
47 (46) “Adonai is alive! Blessed is my Rock!
Exalted be the God of my salvation,
48 (47) the God who avenges me
and subdues peoples under me.
49 (48) He delivers me from my enemies.
You lift me high above my enemies,
you rescue me from violent men.
50 (49) “So I give thanks to you, Adonai, among the nations;
I sing praises to your name.
51 (50) Great salvation he gives to his king;
he displays grace to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.