2 Samuel 22
Wycliffe's Bible
1Soothly David spake to the Lord the words of this song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

2And David said, The Lord is my stone, and my strength/and my stronghold, and my saviour;

3my God, my strength, I shall hope into him; my shield, and the horn of mine health, my raiser (up), and my refuge; my saviour, thou shalt deliver me from wickedness, that is, (thou) hast delivered (me from violence). (my God, my strength/my stronghold, yea, I have hope in him; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, or of my victory, my raiser-up, and my refuge; my saviour, thou hast delivered me from all violence.)

4I shall inwardly call (upon) the Lord, worthy to be praised; and I shall be safe from mine enemies. (I shall call to the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; and I shall be saved from my enemies.)

5For the sorrows of death compassed me; the strands of Belial made me afeared.

6The cords of hell (en)compassed me; the snares of death have gone before me. (The cords of hell surrounded me; the snares of death were set to catch me.)

7In tribulation I shall call thee, Lord, that is, I have called thee, Lord, and I shall cry to my God; and he heard from his holy temple my voice, and my cry shall come to his ears. (In tribulation I called on thee, Lord, yea, I cried to my God; and he heard my voice in his holy Temple, and my cry came to his ears.)

8The earth was moved, and trembled; the foundaments of hills were smitten and shaken together, for the Lord was wroth to them. (The earth was moved, and trembled; the foundations of heaven were altogether shaken, for the Lord was angry.)

9Smoke went up from his nostrils, and fire of his mouth shall devour; coals were kindled of it. (Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire came out of his mouth; coals were kindled by it.)

10And he bowed (the) heavens, and came down; and mist (was) under his feet.

11And he went upon cherubim, and flew; and he slid on the pens/on the feathers of the wind (and he went upon the wings of the wind).

12He put darkness (a) hiding place in his compass, and riddled, or winnowed, waters from the clouds of heavens; (He hid himself in darkness, and the clouds of the heavens, which were filled with water, encompassed, or surrounded, him;)

13for brightness in his sight coals of fire were kindled. (coals of fire were kindled from the brightness going out before him.)

14The Lord shall thunder from (the) heaven(s); and [the] high God shall give his voice.

15He sent his arrows, and scattered them; and sent lightnings, and wasted them.

16And the sheddings out of the sea appeared, and the foundaments of the world were showed; from the blaming of the Lord, from the breathing of the spirit of his strong vengeance. (And the seabed appeared, and the foundations of the world were uncovered; at the Lord’s rebuke, and at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.)

17He sent from heaven, and took (hold of) me; and drew me out of many waters.

18He delivered me from my mightiest enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were stronger than I.

19They came before me in the day of my tormenting; and the Lord was made my steadfastness.

20And he led me out into largeness, and he delivered me; for I pleased him. (And he led me out into a large place, and he saved me; because he delighted in me.)

21The Lord shall yield to me after my rightwiseness; and he shall yield to me after the cleanness of mine hands.

22For I [have] kept the ways of the Lord; and I did not (turn) wickedly from my God. (For I have followed the Lord’s ways; and I have not wickedly turned from my God.)

23For all his dooms were in my sight; and I did not away from me his behests. (For all his laws were before me; and I did not turn away from his commands.)

24And I shall be perfect with him (And I shall be upright before him); and I shall keep me from my wickedness.

25And the Lord shall restore to me after my rightwiseness; and after the cleanness of mine hands in the sight of his eyes.

26With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with the strong, that is, to suffer adversities patiently, thou shalt be perfect; (With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with the upright, thou shalt be upright;)

27and with a chosen man thou shalt be chosen, and with a wayward man thou shalt be made wayward . (and with the pure, thou shalt be pure, but to the wicked, thou shalt be hostile to them.)

28And thou shalt make safe a poor people; and with thine eyes thou shalt make low them that be high. (And thou shalt save the poor; and thou shalt humble those who be high in their own eyes/and thou shalt look with contempt upon the proud.)

29For thou, Lord, art my lantern, and thou, Lord, shalt lighten my darkness.

30For I girded, that is, made ready to battle, shall run in thee, that is, in thy strength; and in my God I shall skip over the wall. (For when I am girded, that is, made ready for battle, I shall run by thy strength; and so, with God’s help, I shall leap over the wall.)

31God, his way is without wem; the speech of the Lord is examined with fire, that is, is (as) pure and clean as metal proved in the furnace; he is a shield of all men hoping in him. (As for God, his way is without fault; the word of the Lord is examined with fire, that is, is as pure and clean as metal proved in the furnace; he is a shield for all men hoping in him.)

32For who is God, except the Lord; and who is strong, except our God?

33God, that hath girded me with strength, and hath made plane my perfect way; (Yea, God, who hath girded me with strength, and hath made my way perfect, or without blame;)

34and he hath made even my feet with harts’ (feet), and hath set me upon mine high things; (and he hath made my feet like the feet of a hart, or of a deer, and hath set me on high places, that is, on the mountains;)

35and he taught mine hands to battle, and a brassen bow was granted to mine arm(s). (and he taught my hands in battle, and now my arms can break a bronze bow.)

36Thou hast given to me the shield of thine health; and thy mildness hath multiplied me. (Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation; and thy gentleness hath made me great.)

37Thou shalt alarge my steps under me; and mine heels shall not fail. (Thou hast broadened my steps under me; and my feet have not slipped.)

38I shall pursue mine enemies, and I shall all-brake them; and I shall not turn again, till I waste them (and I shall not return, until I destroy them).

39I shall waste them, and I shall break them, that they rise not; they shall fall under my feet. (I shall break them, and I shall destroy them, so that they shall not rise again; they shall all fall under my feet.)

40Thou hast girded me with strength to battle; thou hast bowed under me them that stood against me. (Thou hast girded me with strength for the battle; thou hast put those who stood against me under me.)

41Thou hast given mine enemies’ aback to me, men hating me; and I shall destroy them. (Thou hast given me the backs of my enemies; and I destroy those who hate me.)

42They shall cry, that is, to idols either to men’s help, and none shall be that shall save them; they shall cry to the Lord, and he shall not hear them. (They cry to their idols, or to men, for help, but no one can save them; they cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them.)

43I shall do away them as the dust of [the] earth; I shall pound them, and I shall do [them] away as the clay, or the fen, of streets. (I shall do them away like the dust of the earth; I shall pound them, and I shall do them away like the fen, or the clay, of the streets.)

44Thou shalt save me from [the] against-sayings of my people; thou shalt keep me into the head of folks (thou shalt make me the head of the nations/thou shalt keep me the head of the nations); the people, whom I know not, shall serve me.

45Alien sons shall (not) against-stand me; by hearing of [the] ear, they shall obey to me. (The sons of foreigners shall bow low to me; and after hearing me, they shall obey me.)

46Alien sons floated away; and they shall be drawn together in their enclosings. (The courage of the sons of foreigners shall fade away; and they shall slink out of their strongholds together.)

47The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed; and the strong God of mine health shall be enhanced. (The Lord liveth, and blessed is my God; yea, the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted.)

48God, that givest vengeances to me, and hast cast down peoples under me. (The God, who grantest me vengeance, and hast thrown down peoples, or nations, under me.)

49Which leadest me out from mine enemies, and raisest me from men against-standing me; thou shalt deliver me from the wicked man. (Who leadest me out from my enemies, and raisest me up from those who stand against me; yea, thou shalt deliver me from violent people.)

50Therefore, Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee in heathen men; and I shall sing to thy name. (And so, Lord, I shall praise thee before the heathen; and I shall sing praises to thy name.)

51That he maketh great the healths of his king; and doeth mercy to his christ, David, and to his seed till into without end. (Yea, he who maketh the great victories of his king; and who doeth mercy to his anointed, yea, to David, and to his descendants forevermore.)

WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE

Comprising of
Wycliffe’s Old Testament

and

Wycliffe’s New Testament
(Revised Edition)


Translated by

JOHN WYCLIFFE
and JOHN PURVEY


A modern-spelling edition of their
14TH century Middle English translation,
the first complete English vernacular version,
with an Introduction by

TERENCE P. NOBLE

Used by Permission

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