Psalms 18:18-49

¹⁸They came before me in the day of my torment; and the Lord was made my defender.

¹⁹And he led out me into breadth; he made me safe, for he would me. (And he led me out into an open place; he saved me, for he delighted in me.)

²⁰And the Lord shall yield to me by my rightfulness; and he shall yield to me by the cleanness of mine hands. (And the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; he rewarded me according to the cleanness of my hands.)

²¹For I (have) kept the ways of the Lord; and I did not (go away) unfaithfully from my God.

²²For all his dooms be in my sight; and I putted not away from me his rightfulnesses. (For all his laws were before me; and I did not go away from his commands.)

²³And I shall be unwemmed with him; and I shall keep me from my wickedness. (And I was without blemish, or without fault, before him; for I have kept myself from my own wickedness.)

²⁴And the Lord shall yield to me by my rightfulness; and by the cleanness of mine hands in the sight of his eyes. (And so the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; and according to the cleanness of my hands before him.)

²⁵With the holy, thou shalt be holy; and with an innocent man, thou shalt be innocent. (With the holy, O Lord, thou shalt be holy; and with the innocent, thou shalt be innocent.)

²⁶And with a chosen man, thou shalt be chosen; and with a wayward man, thou shalt be wayward. (And with the chosen, thou shalt be chosen; but to the wicked, thou shalt be vengeful, or punishing.)

²⁷For thou shalt make safe a meek people; and thou shalt make meek the eyes of proud men. (And thou shalt save, or help, the poor; but thou shalt humble those who be high in their own eyes or but thou shalt look with contempt upon the proud.)

²⁸For thou, Lord, lightenest my lantern; my God, lighten thou my darknesses. (For thou, Lord, brightenest my lantern; my God, thou lightest up my darknesses.)

²⁹For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; and in my God I shall go over the wall. (For I shall be rescued,or saved, from temptation by thee; and by my God or and with God’s help, I shall go over the wall.)

³⁰My God, his way is undefouled; the speeches of the Lord be examined by fire; he is the defender of all men hoping in him. (My God, his way is undefiled; the words of the Lord be assayed by fire, that is, they be tried and tested, and found to be true; he is the defender of all who put their trust in him.)

³¹For why, who is God, except the Lord? either who is God, except our God? (For who else is God, except the Lord? yea, who else is God, except our God?)

³²God that hath girded me with virtue; and hath set my way unwemmed. (God who hath girded me with strength; and hath made my way without blemish, or without fault.)

³³Which made perfect my feet as the feet of harts; and ordaining me on high things. (Who made my feet like the feet of harts; and hath ordained me upon the high places.)

³⁴Which teacheth mine hands to battle; and thou hast set mine arms as a brazen bow. (Who teacheth my hands in battle; and now my arms can break a bronze bow.)

³⁵And thou hast given to me the covering of thine health; and thy right hand hath up-taken me, (or And thou hast given me the covering of thy salvation, or thy deliverance; and thy right hand hath taken me up). And thy chastising amended me into the end; and that chastising of thee shall teach me.

³⁶Thou alargedest my paces under me; and my steps be not made unsteadfast. (Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet have not slipped, or stumbled.)

³⁷I shall pursue mine enemies, and I shall take (hold of) them; and I shall not turn (again) till they fail (or and I shall not return until they fall).

³⁸I shall all-break them, and they shall not be able to stand; they shall fall under my feet.

³⁹And thou hast girded me with virtue to battle; and thou hast overturned under me men rising against me. (And thou hast girded me with strength for the battle; and thou hast put beneath me those who rose up against me.)

⁴⁰And thou hast given mine enemies aback to me; and thou hast destroyed men hating me/and thou hast destroyed them that hated me. (And thou hast given me the backs of my enemies; and I have destroyed those who hated me.)

⁴¹They cried, and none there was that made them safe; they cried to the Lord, and he heard not them. (They cried, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.)

⁴²And I shall all-break them, as dust before the face of the wind; I shall do them away, as the clay of streets. (And I broke them all in pieces, so that they became like the dust in the wind; I did them away, and trampled them underfoot, like the clay in the streets.)

⁴³Thou shalt deliver me from the against-sayings of the people; thou shalt set me into the head of folks. The people, which I knew not, hath served me; (Thou delivered me from the gainsaying of the people; thou put me as the head of the nations. The people, whom I knew not, now serve me.)

⁴⁴in the hearing of ear it obeyed to me. Alien sons lied (down) to me, (The sons of foreigners, or of strangers, now bow down to me; and after hearing me speak, they obey me.)

⁴⁵alien sons waxed eld; and (went) crooked from thy paths. (The courage of the sons of foreigners, or of strangers, faded away; and they slunk out of their strongholds together.)

⁴⁶The Lord liveth, and my God be blessed; and the God of mine health be enhanced (or let the God of my salvation be exalted!).

⁴⁷God, that givest vengeances to me, and makest subject peoples under me; (O God, who givest vengeance to me, and makest the nations subject under me;)

⁴⁸thou art my deliverer from my wrathful enemies. And thou shalt enhance me from them, that rise against me; thou shalt deliver me from a wicked man. (thou art my deliverer from all my enemies. And thou hast raised me up over those who rose up against me; thou hast rescued me from violent men.)

⁴⁹Therefore, Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee among nations; and I shall say psalm to thy name. (And so, Lord, I shall praise thee before the nations; and I shall sing to thy name.)