Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 David spoke the words of this song to the LORD after the LORD delivered him from the power of all his enemies and from Saul.
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David prayed to God the words of this song after God saved him from all his enemies and from Saul.
2 He said: The LORD is my solid rock, my fortress, my rescuer.
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God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight.
3 My God is my rock—I take refuge in him!— he's my shield and my salvation's strength, my place of safety and my shelter. My savior! Save me from violence!
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My God - the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout; My mountaintop refuge, he saves me from ruthless men.
4 Because he is praiseworthy, I cried out to the LORD, and I was saved from my enemies.
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I sing to God the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved.
5 Death's waves were all around me; rivers of wickedness terrified me.
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The waves of death crashed over me, devil waters rushed over me.
6 The cords of the grave surrounded me; death's traps held me tight.
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Hell's ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit.
7 In my distress I cried out to the LORD; I cried out to my God. God heard my voice from his temple; my cry for help reached his ears.
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A hostile world! I called to God, to my God I cried out. From his palace he heard me call; my cry brought me right into his presence - a private audience!
8 The earth rocked and shook; the sky's foundations trembled and reeled because of God's anger.
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Earth wobbled and lurched; the very heavens shook like leaves, Quaked like aspen leaves because of his rage.
9 Smoke went up from God's nostrils; out of his mouth came a devouring fire; flaming coals blazed out in front of him!
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His nostrils flared, billowing smoke; his mouth spit fire. Tongues of fire darted in and out;
10 God parted the skies and came down; thick darkness was beneath his feet.
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he lowered the sky. He stepped down; under his feet an abyss opened up.
11 God mounted the heavenly creatures and flew; he was seen on the wind's wings.
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He rode a winged creature, swift on wind-wings.
12 God made darkness his covering; water gathered in dense clouds!
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He wrapped himself in a trenchcoat of black rain-cloud darkness.
13 Coals of fire blazed out of the brightness before him.
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But his cloud-brightness burst through, a grand comet of fireworks.
14 The LORD thundered from heaven; the Most High made his voice heard.
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Then God thundered out of heaven; the High God gave a great shout.
15 God shot arrows, scattering the enemy; he sent the lightning and whipped them into confusion.
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God shot his arrows - pandemonium! He hurled his lightnings - a rout!
16 The seabeds were exposed; the earth's foundations were laid bare at the LORD's rebuke, at the angry blast of air coming from his nostrils.
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The secret sources of ocean were exposed, the hidden depths of earth lay uncovered The moment God roared in protest, let loose his hurricane anger.
17 From on high God reached down and grabbed me; he took me out of deep waters.
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But me he caught - reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out
18 God saved me from my powerful enemy, saved me from my foes, who were too much for me.
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Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning.
19 They came at me on the very day of my distress, but the LORD was my support.
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They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me.
20 He brought me out to wide-open spaces; he pulled me out, because he is pleased with me.
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He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved - surprised to be loved!
21 The LORD rewarded me for my righteousness; he restored me because my hands are clean,
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God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I cleaned up my act, he gave me a fresh start.
22 because I have kept the LORD's ways. I haven't acted wickedly against my God.
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Indeed, I've kept alert to God's ways; I haven't taken God for granted.
23 All his rules are right in front of me; I haven't turned away from any of his laws.
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Every day I review the ways he works, I try not to miss a trick.
24 I have lived with integrity before him; I've kept myself from wrongdoing.
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I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step.
25 And so the LORD restored me for my righteousness, because I am clean in his eyes.
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God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.
26 You deal faithfully with the faithful; you show integrity toward the one who has integrity.
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You stick by people who stick with you, you're straight with people who're straight with you,
27 You are pure toward the pure, but toward the crooked, you are tricky.
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You're good to good people, you shrewdly work around the bad ones.
28 You are the one who saves people who suffer, but your eyes are against the proud. You bring them down!
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You take the side of the down-and-out, but the stuck-up you take down a peg.
29 You are my lamp, LORD; the LORD illumines my darkness.
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Suddenly, God, your light floods my path, God drives out the darkness.
30 With you I can charge into battle; with my God I can leap over a wall.
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I smash the bands of marauders, I vault the high fences.
31 God! His way is perfect; the LORD's word is tried and true. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
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What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him Makes it.
32 Now really, who is divine except the LORD? And who is a rock except our God?
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Is there any god like God? Are we not at bedrock?
33 Only God! My mighty fortress, who makes my way perfect,
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Is not this the God who armed me well, then aimed me in the right direction?
34 who makes my step as sure as the deer's, who lets me stand securely on the heights,
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Now I run like a deer; I'm king of the mountain.
35 who trains my hands for war so my arms can bend a bronze bow.
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He shows me how to fight; I can bend a bronze bow!
36 You've given me the shield of your salvation; your help has made me great.
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You protect me with salvation-armor; you touch me and I feel ten feet tall.
37 You've let me walk fast and safe, without even twisting an ankle.
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You cleared the ground under me so my footing was firm.
38 I chased my enemies and destroyed them! I didn't come home until I finished them off.
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When I chased my enemies I caught them; I didn't let go till they were dead men.
39 I ate them up! I struck them down! They couldn't get up; they fell under my feet.
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I nailed them; they were down for good; then I walked all over them.
40 You equipped me with strength for war; you brought my adversaries down underneath me.
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You armed me well for this fight; you smashed the upstarts.
41 You made my enemies turn tail from me; I destroyed my foes.
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You made my enemies turn tail, and I wiped out the haters.
42 They looked around, but there was no one to save them. They looked to the LORD, but he wouldn't answer them.
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They cried "uncle" but Uncle didn't come; They yelled for God and got no for an answer.
43 I crushed them like dust on the ground; I stomped on them, trampled them like mud dumped in the streets.
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I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind. I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.
44 You delivered me from struggles with many people; you appointed me the leader of many nations. Strangers come to serve me.
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You rescued me from a squabbling people; you made me a leader of nations. People I'd never heard of served me;
45 Foreigners grovel before me; after hearing about me, they obey me.
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the moment they got wind of me they submitted.
46 Foreigners lose their nerve; they come trembling out of their fortresses.
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They gave up; they came trembling from their hideouts.
47 The LORD lives! Bless God, my rock! Let my God, the rock of my salvation, be lifted high!
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Live, God! Blessing to my Rock, my towering Salvation-God!
48 This is the God who avenges on my behalf, who subdues peoples before me,
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This God set things right for me and shut up the people who talked back.
49 who rescues me from my enemies. You lifted me high above my adversaries; you delivered me from violent people.
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He rescued me from enemy anger. You pulled me from the grip of upstarts, You saved me from the bullies.
50 That's why I thank you, LORD, in the presence of the nations. That's why I sing praises to your name.
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That's why I'm thanking you, God, all over the world. That's why I'm singing songs that rhyme your name.
51 You are the one who gives great victories to your king, who shows faithful love to your anointed one— to David and to his descendants forever.
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God's king takes the trophy; God's chosen is beloved. I mean David and all his children - always.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.