Beginning
22 Soothly David spake to the Lord the words of this song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
2 And David said, The Lord is my stone, and my strength/and my stronghold, and my saviour;
3 my God, my strength, I shall hope into him; my shield, and the horn of mine health, my raiser (up), and my refuge; my saviour, thou shalt deliver me from wickedness, that is, (thou) hast delivered (me from violence). (my God, my strength/my stronghold, yea, I have hope in him; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, or of my victory, my raiser-up, and my refuge; my saviour, thou hast delivered me from all violence.)
4 I shall inwardly call (upon) the Lord, worthy to be praised (I shall call to the Lord, who is worthy to be praised); and I shall be safe from mine enemies.
5 For the sorrows of death compassed me; the strands of Belial made me afeared.
6 The cords of hell (en)compassed me; the snares of death have gone before me. (The cords of hell surrounded me; the snares of death were set to catch me.)
7 In tribulation I shall call thee, Lord, that is, I have called thee, Lord, and I shall cry to my God; and he heard from his holy temple my voice, and my cry shall come to his ears. (In tribulation I called on thee, Lord, yea, I cried to my God; and he heard my voice in his holy Temple, and my cry came to his ears.)
8 The earth was moved, and trembled; the foundaments of hills were smitten and shaken together, for the Lord was wroth to them. (The earth was moved, and trembled; the foundations of heaven were altogether shaken, for the Lord was angry.)
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and fire of his mouth shall devour; coals were kindled of it. (Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire came out of his mouth; coals were kindled by it.)
10 And he bowed (the) heavens, and came down; and mist (was) under his feet.
11 And he went upon cherubim, and flew; and he slid on the pens/on the feathers of the wind (and he went upon the wings of the wind).
12 He put darkness (a) hiding place in his compass, and riddled, or winnowed, waters from the clouds of heavens; (He hid himself in darkness, and the clouds of the heavens, which were filled with water, encompassed, or surrounded, him;)
13 for brightness in his sight coals of fire were kindled. (coals of fire were kindled from the brightness going out before him.)
14 The Lord shall thunder from (the) heaven(s); and [the] high God shall give his voice.
15 He sent his arrows, and scattered them; and sent lightnings, and wasted them.
16 And the sheddings out of the sea appeared, and the foundaments of the world were showed; from the blaming of the Lord, from the breathing of the spirit of his strong vengeance. (And the seabed appeared, and the foundations of the world were uncovered; at the Lord’s rebuke, and at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.)
17 He sent from heaven, and took (hold of) me; and drew me out of many waters.
18 He delivered me from my mightiest enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were stronger than I.
19 They came before me in the day of my tormenting; and the Lord was made my steadfastness.
20 And he led me out into largeness, and he delivered me; for I pleased him. (And he led me out into a large place, and he saved me; because he delighted in me.)
21 The Lord shall yield to me after my rightwiseness; and he shall yield to me after the cleanness of mine hands.
22 For I [have] kept the ways of the Lord; and I did not (turn) wickedly from my God. (For I have followed the Lord’s ways; and I have not wickedly turned from my God.)
23 For all his dooms were in my sight; and I did not away from me his behests. (For all his laws were before me; and I did not turn away from his commands.)
24 And I shall be perfect with him (And I shall be upright before him); and I shall keep me from my wickedness.
25 And the Lord shall restore to me after my rightwiseness; and after the cleanness of mine hands in the sight of his eyes.
26 With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with the strong, that is, to suffer adversities patiently, thou shalt be perfect; (With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with the upright, thou shalt be upright;)
27 and with a chosen man thou shalt be chosen, and with a wayward man thou shalt be made wayward[a]. (and with the pure, thou shalt be pure, but to the wicked, thou shalt be hostile to them.)
28 And thou shalt make safe a poor people; and with thine eyes thou shalt make low them that be high. (And thou shalt save the poor; and thou shalt humble those who be high in their own eyes/and thou shalt look with contempt upon the proud.)
29 For thou, Lord, art my lantern, and thou, Lord, shalt lighten my darkness.
30 For I girded, that is, made ready to battle, shall run in thee, that is, in thy strength; and in my God I shall skip over the wall. (For when I am girded, that is, made ready for battle, I shall run by thy strength; and so, with God’s help, I shall leap over the wall.)
31 God, his way is without wem; the speech of the Lord is examined with fire, that is, is (as) pure and clean as metal proved in the furnace; he is a shield of all men hoping in him. (As for God, his way is without fault; the word of the Lord is examined with fire, that is, is as pure and clean as metal proved in the furnace; he is a shield for all men hoping in him.)
32 For who is God, except the Lord; and who is strong, except our God?
33 God, that hath girded me with strength, and hath made plane my perfect way; (Yea, God, who hath girded me with strength, and hath made my way perfect, or without blame;)
34 and he hath made even my feet with harts’ (feet), and hath set me upon mine high things; (and he hath made my feet like the feet of a hart, or of a deer, and hath set me on high places, that is, on the mountains;)
35 and he taught mine hands to battle, and a brasen bow was granted to mine arm(s). (and he taught my hands in battle, and now my arms can break a bronze bow.)
36 Thou hast given to me the shield of thine health; and thy mildness hath multiplied me. (Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation; and thy gentleness hath made me great.)
37 Thou shalt alarge my steps under me; and mine heels shall not fail. (Thou hast broadened my steps under me; and my feet have not slipped.)
38 I shall pursue mine enemies, and I shall all-brake them; and I shall not turn again, till I waste them (and I shall not return, until I destroy them).
39 I shall waste them, and I shall break them, that they rise not; they shall fall under my feet. (I shall break them, and I shall destroy them, so that they shall not rise again; they shall all fall under my feet.)
40 Thou hast girded me with strength to battle; thou hast bowed under me them that stood against me. (Thou hast girded me with strength for the battle; thou hast put those who stood against me under me.)
41 Thou hast given mine enemies’ aback to me, men hating me; and I shall destroy them. (Thou hast given me the backs of my enemies; and I destroy those who hate me.)
42 They shall cry, that is, to idols either to men’s help, and none shall be that shall save them; they shall cry to the Lord, and he shall not hear them. (They cry to their idols, or to men, for help, but no one can save them; they cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them.)
43 I shall do away them as the dust of [the] earth; I shall pound them, and I shall do [them] away as the clay, or the fen, of streets. (I shall do them away like the dust of the earth; I shall pound them, and I shall do them away like the fen, or the clay, of the streets.)
44 Thou shalt save me from [the] against-sayings of my people; thou shalt keep me into the head of folks (thou shalt make me the head of the nations/thou shalt keep me the head of the nations); the people, whom I know not, shall serve me.
45 Alien sons shall (not) against-stand me; by hearing of [the] ear, they shall obey to me. (The sons of foreigners shall bow low to me; and after hearing me, they shall obey me.)
46 Alien sons floated away; and they shall be drawn together in their enclosings. (The courage of the sons of foreigners shall fade away; and they shall slink out of their strongholds together.)
47 The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed; and the strong God of mine health shall be enhanced. (The Lord liveth, and blessed is my God; yea, the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted.)
48 God, that givest vengeances to me, and hast cast down peoples under me. (The God, who grantest me vengeance, and hast thrown down peoples, or nations, under me.)
49 Which leadest me out from mine enemies, and raisest me from men against-standing me; thou shalt deliver me from the wicked man. (Who leadest me out from my enemies, and raisest me up from those who stand against me; yea, thou shalt deliver me from violent people.)
50 Therefore, Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee in heathen men; and I shall sing to thy name. (And so, Lord, I shall praise thee before the heathen; and I shall sing praises to thy name.)
51 That he maketh great the healths of his king; and doeth mercy to his christ, David, and to his seed till into without end. (Yea, he who maketh the great victories of his king; and who doeth mercy to his anointed, yea, to David, and to his descendants forevermore.)
23 Forsooth these be the last words, which David, the son of Jesse, said. (The words that) The man said, to whom it is ordained of Christ, of the God of Jacob, the noble psalm-maker of Israel; (These be the last words which David, the son of Jesse, said. The words that the man to whom it was ordained to be the anointed of the God of Jacob, the noble psalm-maker of Israel, yea, the last words that he said;)
2 The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word by my tongue.
3 David said, God of Israel spake to me, the strong help of Israel, the just Lord of men, is Lord in the dread of God. (The God of Israel spoke, the Strong One of Israel said to me, The lord, or the leader, of men should be just, ruling in the fear of God.)
4 As the light of the morrowtide, when the sun riseth early, (and) is bright without clouds; and as an herb cometh forth of the earth by rains. (He is like the morning light, when the sun riseth early, and it is bright without clouds; and like a herb that cometh forth out of the ground after the rain.)
5 And mine house is not so great with God, that he should make with me everlasting covenant, steadfast and made strong in all things; for all mine health is of him, and all my will, that is, all my desire, goeth into him, and nothing is thereof, that maketh not fruit[b]. (And though my house is not so great before God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, steadfast and strong in all things; for all my salvation is from him, and all my desire is for him, and there is nothing of it, that maketh not fruit.)
6 Forsooth all trespassers shall be drawn out as thorns, that be not taken with hands. (And all trespassers shall be drawn out like thorns, which cannot be picked, or touched, by hand.)
7 And if any man will touch those, he shall be armed with iron, and with a (piece of) wood formed into a spear; and (then) the thorns shall be kindled, and shall be burnt till to nought.
8 These be the names of the strong men of David. David sitteth in the chair, the wisest prince among (the) three; he is as a most tender worm of a tree, that killed eight hundred with one fierceness. (These be the names of David’s strong men. The Hachmonite sitteth in the chair, he is the wise leader of The Three/The first, Jashobeam, the son of Hachmoni, was the leader of The Three; he raised up his spear against eight hundred men, and killed all of them at one time.)
9 After him was Eleazar, the son of his father’s brother, (the) Ahohite; (he was) among [the] three strong men, that were with David, when they said shame to the Philistines, and were gathered thither into battle. And when the men of Israel had gone up, (After him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite; he was one of The Three, who were with David, when they said shame to, or taunted, the Philistines, and were gathered there in battle. And when the men of Israel had gone away,)
10 he/Eleazar stood in battle, when his fellows went aback, and smote the Philistines, till that his hand failed, and was stark with the sword. And the Lord made great health in that day; and the people that fled turned again, to draw away the spoils of [the] slain men. (Eleazar stood his ground in the battle, while his fellows fled, and he struck down the Philistines, until his hand failed, and was fixed, or frozen, to the sword. And the Lord gave great victory that day; and the people who had fled returned to take away the spoils from the dead.)
11 And after him was Shammah, the son of Agee, of Hararites. And Philistines were gathered in the station; and there was a field full of lentils, or vetches; and when the people of Israel [had] fled from the face of Philistines, (And the third member of The Three was Shammah, the son of Agee, of the Hararites. And when the Philistines were gathered at Lehi; and there was a field full of lentils; and the people of Israel had fled from before the Philistines,)
12 he stood in the midst of the field, and beheld it, for he defended the field; and he smote the Philistines, and the Lord made there [a] great health. (he stood there in the midst of the field, and held it, and he defended that field; and he struck down the Philistines, and the Lord gave a great victory there.)
13 Also and three men went down before, that were princes among (the) thirty, and came to David in the time of reap(ing) into the den of Adullam. And the tents of Philistines were set in the valley of giants. (And three of The Thirty came down at the beginning of the harvest to join David at the cave of Adullam. And the Philistines’ tents were pitched in the Rephaim Valley.)
14 And David was in a stronghold; and the station of Philistines was then in Bethlehem. (And David was in a stronghold; and a Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.)
15 Then David desired water of the well (Then David desired water out of the cistern), and said, (O!) If any man would give to me (a) drink of the water (out) of the cistern, which is in Bethlehem, beside the gate.
16 Therefore (the) three strong men brake into the tents of Philistines, and drew water of the cistern of Bethlehem, that was beside the gate, and they brought it to David; and he would not drink, but offered it to the Lord, (And so The Three broke into the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, that was beside the gate, and they brought it to David; but he would not drink it, but offered it to the Lord,)
17 and said, The Lord be merciful to me, that I do not this; whether I shall drink the blood of these men, that went forth, and the peril of their lives? Therefore he would not drink. (The) Three full strong men did these things. (and said, May the Lord be merciful to me, so that I do not do this; for should I drink the blood of these men, who went down there, risking their own lives? And so he would not drink it. The Three did these things.)
18 Also Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was prince of [the] three; he it is that raised his spear against three hundred men, which he killed; he was named among [the] three, (And Abishai, Joab’s brother, the son of Zeruiah, was the leader of The Thirty; it was he who raised up his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed; he had the famous name among The Thirty,)
19 and was the nobler among (the) three, and he was the prince of them; but he came not to the three first men. (yea, he was the most famous of The Thirty, and he was their leader; but he did not come up to, or rival, The Three.)
20 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the strongest man of great works, of Kabzeel, he smote [the] two lions of Moab, that is, two knights hardy as lions/two strong hardy knights; and he went down, and smote a lion in the middle (of a) cistern in the days of snow.
21 Also he killed a man of Egypt, a man worthy of beholding, having a spear in his hand; and so when he had gone down with a rod to that man, by might he wrung out the spear from the hand of the man of Egypt, and killed him with his own spear. (And he killed an Egyptian man, a man worthy of beholding, who had a spear in his hand; for he had gone down to that man with a staff, and by might he wrung the spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, and then killed him with his own spear.)
22 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, did these things; and he was named among [the] three strong men (and he had a famous name among The Thirty),
23 that were among the thirty nobler men; nevertheless he came not (up) to the first three. And David made him a counsellor of private to himself. (indeed some said he was the most famous of The Thirty; nevertheless he came not up to, or rivaled, The Three. And David made him his personal counsellor/the head of his bodyguard.)
24 Asahel, the brother of Joah, was among the thirty men; Elhanan, the son of his father’s brother, of Bethlehem; (And other members of The Thirty; Asahel, Joah’s brother; and Elhanan, the son of Dodo, of Bethlehem;)
25 Shammah, of Harodites; Elika, of Harodites;
26 Helez, of Paltites; Ira, the son of Ikkesh, of Tekoa; (Helez, of Pelet; Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite;)
27 Abiezer, of Anathoth (Abiezer the Anethothite); Mebunnai, of Hushathites;
28 Zalmon, of Ahohites; Maharai, of Netophah;
29 Heleb, the son of Baanah, and he was of Netophah; Ittai, the son of Ribai, of Gibeah, of the sons of Benjamin;
30 Benaiah, of Pirathon; Hiddai, of the strand of Gaash;
31 Abialbon, of Arabah; Azmaveth, of Barhumites;
32 Eliahba, of Shaalbonites; the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, and Jashen; (Eliahba, of Shaalbon; the sons of Jashen; Jonathan;/Eliahba, of Shaalbon; Hashem the Gizonite;)
33 Shammah, of Hararites; Ahiam, the son of Sharar, of Hararites; (Jonathan, the son of Shammah the Hararite; Ahiam, the son of Sharar the Hararite;)
34 Eliphelet, the son of Ahasbai, the son of (the) Maachathite; Eliam, the son of Ahithophel, of Giloh;
35 Hezrai, of Carmel; Paarai, of Arbites;
36 Igal, the son of Nathan, of Zobah; Bani, of Gadites;
37 Zelek, of Ammonites; Nahari, of Beeroth, the squire of Joab, the son of Zeruiah;
38 Ira, of Ithrites; Gareb, and he was of Ithrites;
39 Uriah of Hittites; all these were seven and thirty men (in all, there were thirty-seven famous fighting men).
24 And the strong vengeance of the Lord added to be wroth against Israel, and he stirred against them David, saying to Joab, Go thou, and number thou Israel and Judah. (And again the Lord was angry with Israel, and in his strong vengeance he stirred David against them, so that he said to Joab, Go thou, and count the people of Israel and Judah.)
2 And the king said to Joab, the prince of his host, Go thou by all the lineages of Israel, from Dan till to Beersheba, and number thou the people, that I know the number thereof. (And the king said to Joab, the leader of his army, Go thou through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan unto Beersheba, and count the people, so that I can know their number.)
3 And Joab said to the king, Thy Lord God increase to this people, how great it is now, and again multiply he it an hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king; but what will my lord the king to himself in such a thing? (And Joab said to the king, May the Lord thy God increase this people to be more numerous than they be now, and may he multiply them a hundredfold before my lord the king; but why would my lord the king desire to do such a thing as to count the people?)
4 But the word of the king overcame the words of Joab, and of the princes of the host; and Joab went out, and the princes of the knights, from the face of the king, that they should number the people of Israel. (But the king’s word overruled what Joab and the other leaders of the army said; and so Joab, and the leaders of the horsemen, went out from before the king, to count the people of Israel.)
5 And when they had passed [over] Jordan (And when they had crossed over the Jordan River), they came into Aroer, to the right side of the city that is in the valley of Gad; and they passed forth by Jazer
6 into Gilead, and into the lower land of Hodshi, and they came into the woody places of Dan; and they went about beside Sidon, (to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi, and they came to Danjaan; and they went about beside Sidon,)
7 and passed nigh the walls of Tyre, and nigh all the land of Hivites, and of Canaanites; and they came to the south of Judah, in[to] Beersheba.
8 And when all the land was compassed, they came after nine months and twenty days into Jerusalem. (And when they had gone throughout all the land, they came back to Jerusalem after nine months and twenty days.)
9 And so Joab gave the number of [the] describing of the people to the king. And of Israel were found nine hundred thousand of strong men, that drew out sword; and of Judah five hundred thousand of fighters. (And so Joab gave the census count to the king. And there were found in Israel eight hundred thousand strong men who drew out the sword; and in Judah five hundred thousand fighting men.)
10 And the heart of David smote him, that is, his conscience reproved him, after that the people was numbered; and David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in this deed; but, Lord, I pray, that thou turn away the wickedness of thy servant, for I have done full follily. (And then David’s heart struck him, that is, his conscience rebuked him, after that the people were counted; and David said to the Lord, I have greatly sinned by doing this deed; but, Lord, I pray thee, that thou turn away thy servant’s wickedness, yea, what I have done so foolishly.)
11 Therefore David rose (up) early; and the word of the Lord was made to Gad, the prophet and seer, and said,
12 Go thou, and speak to David (Go thou, and say to David), The Lord saith these things, The choice of three things is given to thee; choose thou one, which thou wilt of these, that I do to thee.
13 And when Gad had come to David, he told to him, and said, Either hunger shall come to thee in thy land seven years; either three months thou shalt flee thine adversaries, and they shall pursue thee; either certainly three days pestilence shall be in thy land; now therefore deliver thou, either advise thou/examine thou, and see, what word I shall answer to him that sent me. (And so when Gad had come to David, he told him, and said, Either seven years of hunger, or of famine, shall come upon thee in thy land; or for three months thou shalt flee thy adversaries, and yet they shall pursue thee; or for three days a pestilence shall be in thy land; and so now thou deliberate, and examine thou it, and see, what I shall answer to him who sent me.)
14 And David said to Gad, I am constrained on each side greatly (I am greatly constrained on every side); but it is better that I fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies be many, than into the hands of men.
15 And (so) the Lord sent (a) pestilence into Israel from the morrowtide till to the time ordained; and seventy thousand of men were dead of the people from Dan till to Beersheba.
16 And when the angel of the Lord had held forth his hand over Jerusalem, that he should destroy it, the Lord had mercy on the tormenting; and said to the angel smiting the people, It sufficeth now; withhold thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was beside the cornfloor of Araunah (the) Jebusite. (And when the angel of the Lord had put forth his hand over Jerusalem, to destroy it, the Lord had mercy on the tormenting; and he said to the angel striking the people, That is enough; withdraw thy hand. And the angel of the Lord was beside the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)
17 And David said to the Lord, when he had seen the angel slaying the people, I am he that have sinned, and I have done wickedly; what have these done, that be sheep? I beseech, thine hand be turned against me, and against the house of my father. (And David said to the Lord, when he had seen the angel killing the people, I am the one who hath sinned, and I have done wickedly; what have these people done, yea, they who be but sheep? I beseech thee, let thy hand be turned against me, and against the house of my father.)
18 Forsooth Gad, the prophet, came to David in that day, and said to him, Go thou up, and ordain an altar to the Lord in the cornfloor of Araunah (the) Jebusite. (And that same day, the prophet Gad came to David, and said to him, Go thou up, and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)
19 And David went up, after the word of Gad, which the Lord had commanded to him.
20 And Araunah beheld, and perceived, that the king and his servants passed over to him; and he went out, and worshipped the king with low cheer to the earth; (And Araunah looked up, and saw the king and his servants coming over to him; and he went over, and bowed before the king, with his face low to the ground;)
21 and said, What is the cause, that my lord the king cometh to his servant? To whom David said, That I buy of thee the cornfloor, and build an altar to the Lord, and the slaying cease, that is cruel in the people. (and he said, What is the reason that my lord the king cometh to his servant? To whom David said, To buy the threshing floor from thee, and to build on it an altar to the Lord, so that the slaughter that is so cruel upon the people will cease.)
22 And Araunah said to David, My lord the king take, and offer, as it pleaseth to him; thou hast oxen into burnt sacrifice, and a wain and yokes of oxen into uses of wood. (And Araunah said to David, My lord the king take it, and offer, as it pleaseth thee; lo! thou hast here oxen for a burnt sacrifice, and a wagon, and the yokes of the oxen for wood.)
23 Araunah gave, that is, would give, all (these) things to the king. And Araunah said to the king, Thy Lord God receive thy vow. (And so Araunah would gladly have given all these things to the king. And Araunah said to the king, May the Lord thy God receive thy vow.)
24 To whom the king answered, and said, Not as thou wilt, but I shall buy it of thee for (a) price, and I shall not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices given freely. Therefore David bought the cornfloor for six hundred shekels of gold[c], and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (To whom the king answered, No, not as thou wilt, but I shall buy it from thee for a price; for I shall not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices that cost nothing. And then David bought the threshing floor for six hundred shekels of gold, and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.)
25 And David builded there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt sacrifices and peaceable sacrifices; and the Lord did mercy to the land, and the vengeance was refrained from Israel. (And David built an altar there to the Lord, and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings; and then the Lord gave mercy to the land, and the plague in Israel was stopped.)
2001 by Terence P. Noble