18 I love thee, O Jehovah, my strength.
² Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge;
My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
³ I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised:
So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
⁴ The cords of death compassed me,
And the floods of ^[b]ungodliness made me afraid.
⁵ The cords of Sheol were round about me;
The snares of death came upon me.
⁶ In my distress I called upon Jehovah,
And cried unto my God:
He heard my voice out of his temple,
And my cry before him came into his ears.
⁷ Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations also of the mountains quaked
And were shaken, because he was wroth.
⁸ There went up a smoke ^[c]out of his nostrils,
And fire out of his mouth devoured:
Coals were kindled by it.
⁹ He bowed the heavens also, and came down;
And thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰ And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly;
Yea, he soared upon the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion round about him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
¹² At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹³ Jehovah also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered his voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
^[d]Yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them.
¹⁵ Then the channels of waters appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare,
At thy rebuke, O Jehovah,
At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
¹⁶ He sent from on high, he took me;
He drew me out of ^[e]many waters.
¹⁷ He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸ They came upon me in the day of my calamity;
But Jehovah was my stay.
¹⁹ He brought me forth also into a large place;
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
²⁰ Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of Jehovah,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
²² For all his ordinances were before me,
And I put not away his statutes from me.
²³ I was also perfect with him,
And I kept myself from mine iniquity.
²⁴ Therefore hath Jehovah recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
²⁵ With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful;
With the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect;
²⁶ With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure;
And with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward.
²⁷ For thou wilt save the afflicted people;
But the haughty eyes thou wilt bring down.
²⁸ For thou wilt light my lamp:
Jehovah my God will lighten my darkness.
²⁹ For by thee I run ^[f]upon a troop;
And by my God do I leap over a wall.
³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect:
The word of Jehovah is tried;
He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God, save Jehovah?
And who is a rock, besides our God,
³² The God that girdeth me with strength,
And maketh my way perfect?
³³ He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet:
And setteth me upon my high places.
³⁴ He teacheth my hands to war;
So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.
³⁵ Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation;
And thy right hand hath holden me up,
And thy ^[g]gentleness hath made me great.
³⁶ Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,
And my ^[h]feet have not slipped.
³⁷ I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them;
Neither will I turn again till they are consumed.
³⁸ I will smite them through, so that they shall not be able to rise:
They shall fall under my feet.
³⁹ For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle:
Thou hast ^[i]subdued under me those that rose up against me.
⁴⁰ Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me,
That I might cut off them that hate me.
⁴¹ They cried, but there was none to save;
Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not.
⁴² Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind;
I did ^[j]cast them out as the mire of the streets.
⁴³ Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people;
Thou ^[k]hast made me the head of the nations:
A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me;
The foreigners shall ^[l]submit themselves unto me.
⁴⁵ The foreigners shall fade away,
And shall come trembling out of their close places.
⁴⁶ Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of my salvation,
⁴⁷ Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,
And subdueth peoples under me.
⁴⁸ He rescueth me from mine enemies;
Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me;
Thou deliverest me from the violent man.
⁴⁹ Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the nations,
And will sing praises unto thy name.
⁵⁰ Great ^[m]deliverance giveth he to his king,
And showeth lovingkindness to his anointed,
To David and to his seed, for evermore.