Psalms 18:1-17

¹To the chief music-maker. Of the servant of the Lord, of David, who said the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord made him free from the hand of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul; and he said, I will give you my love, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour; my God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

³I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me.

⁴The cords of death were round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear.

⁵The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me.

⁶In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came before him, even into his ears.

⁷Then trouble and shock came on the earth; and the bases of the mountains were moved and shaking, because he was angry.

⁸There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: flames were lighted by it.

⁹The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.

¹⁰And he went in flight through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made the dark his secret place; his tent round him was the dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

¹²Before his shining light his dark clouds went past, raining ice and fire.

¹³The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out: a rain of ice and fire.

¹⁴He sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled.

¹⁵Then the deep beds of the waters were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of your words of wrath, O Lord, because of the breath from your mouth.

¹⁶He sent from on high, he took me, pulling me out of great waters.

¹⁷He made me free from my strong hater, and from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I.