2 Samuel 22

Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine;

³God, my rock, in him will I take refuge;

My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge;

My saviour, thou savest me from violence.

⁴I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised:

So shall I be saved from mine enemies.

⁵For the waves of death compassed me;

The floods of ungodliness made me afraid:

⁶The cords of Sheol were round about me;

The snares of death came upon me.

⁷In my distress I called upon Jehovah;

Yea, I called unto my God:

And he heard my voice out of his temple,

And my cry came into his ears.

⁸Then the earth shook and trembled,

The foundations of heaven quaked

And were shaken, because he was wroth.

⁹There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,

And fire out of his mouth devoured:

Coals were kindled by it.

¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down;

And thick darkness was under his feet.

¹¹And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly;

Yea, he was seen upon the wings of the wind.

¹²And he made darkness pavilions round about him,

Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

¹³At the brightness before him

Coals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴Jehovah thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered his voice.

¹⁵And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;

Lightning, and discomfited them.

¹⁶Then the channels of the sea appeared,

The foundations of the world were laid bare,

By the rebuke of Jehovah,

At the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁷He sent from on high, he took me;

He drew me out of many waters;

¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁹They came upon me in the day of my calamity;

But Jehovah was my stay.

²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place;

He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²¹Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

²²For I have kept the ways of Jehovah,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

²³For all his ordinances were before me;

And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

²⁴I was also perfect toward him;

And I kept myself from mine iniquity.

²⁵Therefore hath Jehovah recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to my cleanness in his eyesight.

²⁶With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful;

With the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect;

²⁷With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure;

And with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward.

²⁸And the afflicted people thou wilt save;

But thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.

²⁹For thou art my lamp, O Jehovah;

And Jehovah will lighten my darkness.

³⁰For by thee I run upon a troop;

By my God do I leap over a wall.

³¹As for God, his way is perfect:

The word of Jehovah is tried;

He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in him.

³²For who is God, save Jehovah?

And who is a rock, save our God?

³³God is my strong fortress;

And he guideth the perfect in his way.

³⁴He maketh his feet like hinds’ feet,

And setteth me upon my high places.

³⁵He teacheth my hands to war,

So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.

³⁶Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation;

And thy gentleness hath made me great.

³⁷Thou hast enlarged my steps under me;

And my feet have not slipped.

³⁸I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them;

Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

³⁹And I have consumed them, and smitten them through, so that they cannot arise:

Yea, they are fallen under my feet.

⁴⁰For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle;

Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

⁴¹Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me,

That I might cut off them that hate me.

⁴²They looked, but there was none to save;

Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not.

⁴³Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth,

I did crush them as the mire of the streets, and did spread them abroad.

⁴⁴Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people;

Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations:

A people whom I have not known shall serve me.

⁴⁵The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me:

As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.

⁴⁶The foreigners shall fade away,

And shall come trembling out of their close places.

⁴⁷Jehovah liveth; And blessed be my rock;

And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,

⁴⁸Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,

And that bringeth down peoples under me,

⁴⁹And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies:

Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me;

Thou deliverest me from the violent man.

⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the nations,

And will sing praises unto thy name.

⁵¹Great deliverance giveth he to his king,

And showeth lovingkindness to his anointed,

To David and to his seed, for evermore.