The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ¹  The God of Jacob ²  is our protector! ³  (Selah)

You are my source of strength! I will wait for you! ¹  For God is my refuge. ² 

Into his right hand ¹  comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal ²  for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, ³  to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.

For the fortress is neglected; the once-crowded ¹  city is abandoned. Hill ²  and watchtower are permanently uninhabited. ³  Wild donkeys love to go there, and flocks graze there. ⁴ 

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height,

He built a hedge around it, ¹  removed its stones, and planted a vine. He built a tower in the middle of it, and constructed a winepress. He waited for it to produce edible grapes, but it produced sour ones instead. ² 

My God ¹  is my rocky summit where I take shelter, ²  my shield, the horn that saves me, ³  my stronghold, my refuge, my savior. You save me from violence! ⁴ 

The Lord is my high ridge, ¹  my stronghold, ²  my deliverer. My God is my rocky summit where ³  I take shelter, ⁴  my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁵  and my refuge. ⁶ 

David lived in the fortress; for this reason it is called the City of David.

Many are appalled when they see me, ¹  but you are my secure shelter.

The Lord is elevated ¹  in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.

The way of the Lord ¹  is like ²  a stronghold for the upright, ³  but it is destruction ⁴  to evildoers. ⁵ 

for all the tall mountains, for all the high hills, ¹ 

When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants ¹  and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way. ² 

The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. ¹  They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. ² 

As for me, I will sing about your strength; I will praise your loyal love in the morning. For you are my refuge ¹  and my place of shelter when I face trouble. ² 

You are my source of strength! I will sing praises to you! ¹  For God is my refuge, ²  the God who loves me. ³ 

Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns; thickets and weeds will grow ¹  in her fortified cities. Jackals will settle there; ostriches will live there. ² 

Consider Assyria, ¹  a cedar in Lebanon, ²  with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade, and extremely tall; its top reached into the clouds.

The commander ¹  orders ²  his officers; they stumble ³  as they advance; ⁴  they rush to the city wall ⁵  and they set up ⁶  the covered siege tower. ⁷