22:1
David addressed the words of this song to Yahweh, when Yahweh had delivered him from the clutches of all his enemies and from the clutches of Saul.
22:2
He said: Yahweh is my rock and my fortress,
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my deliverer is my God. I take refuge in him, my rock, my shield, my saving strength, my stronghold, my place of refuge. My Saviour, you have saved me from violence;
22:4
I call to Yahweh, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my foes.
22:5
With Death's breakers closing in on me, Belial's torrents ready to swallow me,
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Sheol's snares on every side of me, Death's traps lying ahead of me,
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I called to Yahweh in my anguish, I cried for help to my God, from his Temple he heard my voice, my cry came to his ears!
22:8
Then the earth quaked and rocked, the heavens' foundations shuddered, they quaked at his blazing anger.
22:9
Smoke rose from his nostrils, from his mouth devouring fire (coals were kindled at it).
22:10
He parted the heavens and came down, a storm-cloud underneath his feet;
22:11
riding one of the winged creatures, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.
22:12
He wrapped himself in darkness, his pavilion dark waters and dense cloud.
22:13
A brightness lit up before him, hail and blazing fire.
22:14
Yahweh thundered from the heavens, the Most High made his voice heard.
22:15
He shot his arrows and scattered them, his lightning flashed and routed them.
22:16
The very springs of ocean were exposed, the world's foundations were laid bare, at the roaring of Yahweh, at the blast of breath from his nostrils!
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He reached down from on high, snatched me up, pulled me from the watery depths,
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rescued me from my mighty foe, from my enemies who were stronger than I.
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They assailed me on my day of disaster, but Yahweh was there to support me,
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he freed me, set me at large, he rescued me, because he loves me.
22:21
Yahweh rewards me for my uprightness, as my hands are pure so he repays me,
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since I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and not fallen away from my God.
22:23
His judgements are all before me, his statutes I have not put away from me;
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I am blameless before him, I keep myself clear of evil.
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Hence Yahweh repaid me for acting uprightly because he could see I was pure.
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Faithful you are to the faithful, blameless with the blameless,
22:27
sincere to the sincere but cunning to the crafty,
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you save a people that is humble and humiliate those with haughty looks.
22:29
Yahweh, you yourself are my lamp, my God lights up my darkness;
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with you I storm the rampart with my God I can scale any wall.
22:31
This God, his way is blameless; the word of Yahweh is refined in the furnace, for he alone is the shield of all who take refuge in him.
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For who is God but Yahweh, who is a rock but our God:
22:33
this God who girds me with strength, who makes my way free from blame,
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who makes me as swift as a deer and sets me firmly on the heights,
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who trains my hands for battle my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
22:36
You give me your invincible shield, you never cease to listen to me,
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you give me the strides of a giant, give me ankles that never weaken-
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I pursue my enemies and exterminate them, not turning back till they are annihilated;
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I strike them down, and they cannot rise, they fall, they are under my feet.
22:40
You have girded me with strength for the fight, bent down my assailants beneath me,
22:41
made my enemies retreat before me; and those who hate me I destroy.
22:42
They cry out, there is no one to save, to Yahweh, but no answer comes.
22:43
I crumble them like the dust of the squares, trample them like the mud of the streets.
22:44
You free me from the quarrels of my people, you place me at the head of the nations, a people I did not know are now my servants,
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foreigners come wooing my favour, no sooner do they hear than they obey me,
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foreigners grow faint of heart, they come trembling out of their fastnesses.
22:47
Life to Yahweh! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be the God of my salvation,
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the God who gives me vengeance and crushes the peoples under me,
22:49
who takes me away from my enemies. You lift me high above those who attack me, you deliver me from the man of violence.
22:50
For this I will praise you, Yahweh, among the nations, and sing praise to your name.
22:51
He saves his king, time after time, displays faithful love for his anointed, for David and his heirs for ever.
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