Psalm 68

God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

¹God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;

and those who hate him shall flee before him!

²As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;

as wax melts before fire,

so the wicked shall perish before God!

³But the righteous shall be glad;

they shall exult before God;

they shall be jubilant with joy!

⁴Sing to God, sing praises to his name;

lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;

his name is the Lord;

exult before him!

⁵Father of the fatherless and protector of widows

is God in his holy habitation.

⁶God settles the solitary in a home;

he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,

but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

⁷O God, when you went out before your people,

when you marched through the wilderness, Selah

⁸the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

⁹Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;

you restored your inheritance as it languished;

¹⁰your flock found a dwelling in it;

in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

¹¹The Lord gives the word;

the women who announce the news are a great host:

¹²“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”

The women at home divide the spoil—

¹³though you men lie among the sheepfolds—

the wings of a dove covered with silver,

its pinions with shimmering gold.

¹⁴When the Almighty scatters kings there,

let snow fall on Zalmon.

¹⁵O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;

O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!

¹⁶Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,

at the mount that God desired for his abode,

yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

¹⁷The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,

thousands upon thousands;

the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.

¹⁸You ascended on high,

leading a host of captives in your train

and receiving gifts among men,

even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

¹⁹Blessed be the Lord,

who daily bears us up;

God is our salvation. Selah

²⁰Our God is a God of salvation,

and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

²¹But God will strike the heads of his enemies,

the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.

²²The Lord said,

“I will bring them back from Bashan,

I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

²³that you may strike your feet in their blood,

that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

²⁴Your procession is seen, O God,

the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—

²⁵the singers in front, the musicians last,

between them virgins playing tambourines:

²⁶“Bless God in the great congregation,

the Lord, O you who are of Israel's fountain!”

²⁷There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,

the princes of Judah in their throng,

the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸Summon your power, O God,

the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem

kings shall bear gifts to you.

³⁰Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,

the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.

Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;

scatter the peoples who delight in war.

³¹Nobles shall come from Egypt;

Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.

³²O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;

sing praises to the Lord, Selah

³³to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;

behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.

³⁴Ascribe power to God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

and whose power is in the skies.

³⁵Awesome is God from his sanctuary;

the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.

Blessed be God!