⁴The cords of death encompassed me,
the torrents of perdition assailed me;
⁵the cords of Sheol entangled me,
the snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called upon Yahweh;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹He bowed the heavens, and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰He rode on a cherub, and flew;
he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
¹¹He made darkness his covering around him,
his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
¹²Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds
hailstones and coals of fire.
¹³Yahweh also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.
¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at your rebuke, O Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶He reached from on high, he took me,
he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸They came upon me in the day of my calamity;
but Yahweh was my stay.
¹⁹He brought me forth into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.
²¹For I have kept the ways of Yahweh,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²²For all his ordinances were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
²³I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
²⁴Therefore Yahweh has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
²⁶with the pure you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
²⁷For you deliver a humble people;
but the haughty eyes you bring down.
²⁸Yea, you light my lamp;
Yahweh my God lightens my darkness.
²⁹Yea, by you I can crush a troop;
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
³⁰This God - his way is perfect;
the promise of Yahweh proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³¹For who is God, but Yahweh?
And who is a rock, except our God? -
³²the God who girded me with strength,
and made my way safe.
³³He made my feet like hinds' feet,
and set me secure on the heights.
³⁴He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand supported me, and your help made me great.
³⁶You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
³⁸I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
³⁹For you girded me with strength for the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.
⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
⁴¹They cried for help, but there was none to save,
they cried to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.
⁴²I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

⁴³You delivered me from strife with the peoples;
you made me the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁴As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
⁴⁵Foreigners lost heart,
and came trembling out of their fastnesses.

⁴⁶Yahweh lives; and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation,
⁴⁷the God who gave me vengeance
and subdued peoples under me;
⁴⁸who delivered me from my enemies;
yea, you exalted me above my adversaries;
you delivered me from men of violence.

⁴⁹For this I will extol you, O Yahweh, among the nations,
and sing praises to your name.
⁵⁰Great triumphs he gives to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his descendents for ever.