¹I love you, Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and I have been saved from my enemies.

⁴The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁵The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

⁷The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

⁹He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

¹⁰He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him –

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

¹²Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

¹⁵The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I am not guilty of turning from my God.

²²All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

²³I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

²⁴The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

²⁶to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

²⁷You save the humble

but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

²⁸You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

²⁹With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

³⁰As for God, his way is perfect:

the Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

³¹For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God?

³²It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

³³He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You make your saving help my shield,

and your right hand sustains me;

your help has made me great.

³⁶You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

³⁸I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

³⁹You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no-one to save them –

to the Lord, but he did not answer.

⁴²I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

I trampled them like mud in the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

⁴⁴foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

⁴⁵They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁶The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Saviour!

⁴⁷He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

⁴⁸who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

⁴⁹Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing the praises of your name.

⁵⁰He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing love to his anointed,

to David and to his descendants for ever.

Sayings of King Lemuel

¹The sayings of King Lemuel – an inspired utterance his mother taught him.

²Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb!

Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!

³Do not spend your strength on women,

your vigour on those who ruin kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel –

it is not for kings to drink wine,

not for rulers to crave beer,

⁵lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,

and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

⁶Let beer be for those who are perishing,

wine for those who are in anguish!

⁷Let them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.

⁸Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

⁹Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Epilogue: the wife of noble character

¹⁰  A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

¹¹Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

¹²She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

¹³She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

¹⁴She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

¹⁵She gets up while it is still night;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her female servants.

¹⁶She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

¹⁸She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

²⁰She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.

²¹When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

²²She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

²⁵She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

²⁶She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

²⁷She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

²⁹‘Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all.’

³⁰Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

³¹Honour her for all that her hands have done,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.