Psalms 17-20

Psalm 17

¹A Prayer of David. Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry; give ear unto my prayer, which is not out of feigned lips.

²Let my judgment come forth from thy presence, let thine eyes regard equity.

³Thou hast proved my heart, thou hast visited me by night; thou hast tried me, thou hast found nothing: my thought goeth not beyond my word.

⁴Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept from the paths of the violent man.

⁵When thou holdest my goings in thy paths, my footsteps slip not.

⁶I have called upon thee, for thou answerest me, O God. Incline thine ear unto me, hear my speech.

⁷Shew wondrously thy loving-kindnesses, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

⁸Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

⁹From the wicked that destroy me, my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

¹⁰They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly.

¹¹They have now encompassed us in our steps; their eyes have they set, bowing down to the earth.

¹²He is like a lion that is greedy of its prey, and as a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³Arise, Jehovah, anticipate him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, thy sword;

¹⁴From men who are thy hand, O Jehovah, from men of this age: their portion is in this life, and their belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure; they have their fill of sons, and leave the rest of their substance to their children.

¹⁵As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

Psalm 18

¹To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. And he said, I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength.

²Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.

³I will call upon Jehovah, who is to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

⁴The bands of death encompassed me, and torrents of Belial made me afraid.

⁵The bands of Sheol surrounded me, the cords of death encountered me.

⁶In my distress I called upon Jehovah, and I cried out to my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, into his ears.

⁷Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook, because he was wroth.

⁸There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals burned forth from it.

⁹And he bowed the heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰And he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, he flew fast upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his secret place, his tent round about him: darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

¹²From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed forth: hail and coals of fire.

¹³And Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire.

¹⁴And he sent his arrows, and scattered mine enemies; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.

¹⁵And the beds of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at thy rebuke, Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

¹⁶He reached forth from above, he took me, he drew me out of great waters:

¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were mightier than I.

¹⁸They encountered me in the day of my calamity, but Jehovah was my stay.

¹⁹And he brought me forth into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all his ordinances were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me;

²³And I was upright with him, and kept myself from mine iniquity.

²⁴And Jehovah hath recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵With the gracious thou dost shew thyself gracious; with the upright man thou dost shew thyself upright;

²⁶With the pure thou dost shew thyself pure; and with the perverse thou dost shew thyself contrary.

²⁷For it is thou that savest the afflicted people; but the haughty eyes wilt thou bring down.

²⁸For it is thou that makest my lamp to shine: Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness.

²⁹For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

³⁰As for God, his way is perfect; the word of Jehovah is tried: he is a shield to all that trust in him.

³¹For who is +God save Jehovah? and who is a rock if not our God?

³²The God who girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect,

³³Who maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places;

³⁴Who teacheth my hands to war, and mine arms bend a bow of brass;

³⁵And thou didst give me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand held me up; and thy condescending gentleness hath made me great.

³⁶Thou didst enlarge my steps under me, and mine ankles have not wavered.

³⁷I pursued mine enemies, and overtook them; and I turned not again till they were consumed.

³⁸I crushed them, and they were not able to rise: they fell under my feet.

³⁹And thou girdedst me with strength to battle; thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me.

⁴⁰And mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, and those that hated me I destroyed.

⁴¹They cried, and there was none to save; -- unto Jehovah, and he answered them not.

⁴²And I did beat them small as dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.

⁴³Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; thou hast made me the head of the nations: a people I knew not doth serve me.

⁴⁴At the hearing of the ear, they obey me: strangers come cringing unto me.

⁴⁵Strangers have faded away, and they come trembling forth from their close places.

⁴⁶Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation,

⁴⁷The God who hath avenged me, and hath subjected the peoples to me;

⁴⁸Who hath delivered me from mine enemies: yea, thou hast lifted me up above them that rose up against me; from the man of violence hast thou delivered me.

⁴⁹Therefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations, and will sing psalms to thy name.

⁵⁰It is he who giveth great deliverances to his king, and sheweth loving-kindness to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Psalm 19

¹To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse sheweth the work of his hands.

²Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

³There is no speech and there are no words, yet their voice is heard.

⁴Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their language to the extremity of the world. In them hath he set a tent for the sun,

⁵And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; he rejoiceth as a strong man to run the race.

⁶His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

⁷The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple;

⁸The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes;

⁹The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring for ever; the judgments of Jehovah are truth, they are righteous altogether:

¹⁰They are more precious than gold, yea, than much fine gold; and sweeter than honey and the dropping of the honeycomb.

¹¹Moreover, by them is thy servant enlightened; in keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who understandeth his errors? Purify me from secret faults.

¹³Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be perfect, and I shall be innocent from great transgression.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer.

Psalm 20

¹To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Jehovah answer thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob protect thee;

²May he send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;

³Remember all thine oblations, and accept thy burnt-offering; Selah.

⁴Grant thee according to thy heart, and fulfil all thy counsels.

⁵We will triumph in thy salvation, and in the name of our God will we set up our banners. Jehovah fulfil all thy petitions!

⁶Now know I that Jehovah saveth his anointed; he answereth him from the heavens of his holiness, with the saving strength of his right hand.

⁷Some make mention of chariots, and some of horses, but we of the name of Jehovah our God.

⁸They are bowed down and fallen; but we are risen and stand upright.

⁹Save, Jehovah! Let the king answer us in the day we call.