N. Grebnev. PSALM 17

N. Grebnev

PSALM 17

O Lord, I have loved Thee.

Thou art my fortress, Thou art my shield and my stronghold;

Thou hast saved me before; and now

He protected him from causeless revenge.

O Lord, my enemies have branded me,

With a flood of iniquity they frightened,

And the snares of death, which I fear,

Entangled me and twisted me,

And the chains of hell squeezed my throat.

But still I believed that I would be saved,

When at the last moment, already powerless,

I will pray to Thee for deliverance.

And now I have a little left,

Oppressed by death, I called on God,

At the last moment he cried out to the Lord,

And he is from heaven, from His palace

My voice, my heart-rending cry has been heard.

The Lord stretched out His hand in wrath,

And the whole expanse of the earth shuddered,

And the foothills of the mountains have shifted heavily,

And the peaks of the mountains shook menacingly,

And fire and smoke went up from the wrath of God.

And the heavens bent over the waters,

Over the lands where there are so many torments and evils,

From His throne the Lord descended,

And darkness stretched out under his feet.

He, having made the wind wings, soared

On the cherubim, obedient to the Lord,

And He turned into His shadow, into His protection

The darkness of land, waters, and clouds of the air.

And red-hot coals, and hail

Flew ahead of Him from afar,