1  Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when ^ebrothers dwell in unity!¹

2  It is like the precious ^foil on ^gthe head,

running down on the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,

running down on ^hthe collar of his robes!

3  It is like ⁱthe dew of ^jHermon,

which falls on ^kthe mountains of Zion!

For there the Lord ^lhas commanded the blessing,

life forevermore.

^b“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

3  ^cmy¹ God, my rock, ^din whom I take refuge,

^emy shield, and ^fthe horn of my salvation,

^gmy stronghold and ^hmy refuge,

my savior; you save me from violence.

4  I call upon the Lord, who is ⁱworthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

5  ^j“For the waves of death encompassed me,

the torrents of destruction assailed me;²

6  ^kthe cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

7  ^l“In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I called.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry ^mcame to his ears.

8  “Then ⁿthe earth reeled and rocked;

^othe foundations of the heavens trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

9  Smoke went up from his nostrils,³

and devouring fire from his mouth;

^pglowing coals flamed forth from him.

10  ^qHe bowed the heavens and ^rcame down;

^sthick darkness was under his feet.

11  He rode on a cherub and flew;

he was seen on ^tthe wings of the wind.

12  He made ^sdarkness around him ^uhis canopy,

thick clouds, a gathering of water.

13  Out of the brightness before him

^vcoals of fire flamed forth.

14  ^wThe Lord thundered from heaven,

and the Most High uttered his voice.

15  And he sent out ^xarrows and scattered them;

lightning, and routed them.

16  Then the channels of the sea were seen;

the foundations of the world were laid bare,

at the rebuke of the Lord,

at the ^yblast of the breath of his nostrils.

17  ^z“He sent from on high, he took me;

he drew me out of many waters.

18  He rescued me from my strong enemy,

from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.

19  They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

20  ^aHe brought me out into a broad place;

he rescued me, because ^bhe delighted in me.

21  “The Lord ^cdealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the ^dcleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

22  ^eFor I have kept the ways of the Lord

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

23  ^fFor all his rules were before me,

and from his statutes I did not turn aside.

24  I was ^gblameless before him,

and I kept myself from guilt.

25  ^dAnd the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to my cleanness in his sight.

26  ^h“With the merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the ^gblameless man you show yourself blameless;

27  with the purified you deal purely,

and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

28  ⁱYou save a humble people,

^jbut your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.

29  ^kFor you are my lamp, O Lord,

and my God lightens my darkness.

30  For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.

31  This God—^lhis way is perfect;

the ^mword of the Lord proves true;

he is ⁿa shield for all those who take refuge in him.

32  “For who is God, but the Lord?

^oAnd who is a rock, except our God?

33  This God is my ^pstrong refuge

and has made my⁴ way blameless.⁵

34  ^qHe made my feet like the feet of a deer

and set me secure ^ron the heights.

35  ^sHe trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36  You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your gentleness made me great.

37  ^tYou gave a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet⁶ did not slip;

38  I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

and did not turn back until they were consumed.

39  I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;

they fell ^uunder my feet.

40  For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

you made ^vthose who rise against me sink under me.

41  You ^wmade my enemies turn their backs to me,⁷

those who hated me, and I destroyed them.

42  They looked, but there was none to save;

they cried to the Lord, but ^xhe did not answer them.

43  I beat them fine ^yas the dust of the earth;

I crushed them and stamped them down ^zlike the mire of the streets.

44  “You delivered me from strife with my people;⁸

you kept me as the head of ^athe nations;

^bpeople whom I had not known served me.

45  Foreigners came cringing to me;

as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.

46  Foreigners lost heart

and came trembling^{9 c}out of their fortresses.

47  “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be ^dmy God, ^ethe rock of my salvation,

48  the God who gave me vengeance

and ^fbrought down peoples under me,

49  who brought me out from my enemies;

you exalted me above ^vthose who rose against me;

you delivered me from ^gmen of violence.

50  ^h“For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and sing praises to your name.

51  ⁱGreat salvation he brings¹⁰ to his king,

and shows steadfast love to ^jhis anointed,

to David and his offspring ^kforever.”