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Jeremiah 52:1-30
New English Translation

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 [a] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal[b] daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 2 He did what displeased the Lord[c] just as Jehoiakim had done.

3 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight.[d] Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it.[e] They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.[f] 5 The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 6 By the ninth day of the fourth month[g] the famine in the city was so severe the residents[h] had no food. 7 They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden.[i] (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the rift valley.[j] 8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains[k] of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him. 9 They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah[l] in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. 10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. 11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains.[m] Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

12 On the tenth[n] day of the fifth month,[o] in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard[p] who served[q] the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor,[r] the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But he[s] left behind some of the poor[t] and gave them fields and vineyards.

17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called “The Sea.”[u] They took all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took the pots, shovels,[v] trimming shears,[w] basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.[x] 19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers,[y] basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels.[z] 20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands[aa]) was too heavy to be weighed. 21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet[ab] high, about 18 feet[ac] in circumference, three inches[ad] thick, and hollow. 22 The bronze top of one pillar was about 7½ feet[ae] high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. 23 There were 96 pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were 100 pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.

24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.[af] 25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens[ag] for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. 26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed[ah] at Riblah in the territory of Hamath.

So Judah was taken into exile away from its land. 28 Here is the official record of the number of people[ai] Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year,[aj] 3,023 Jews; 29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,[ak] 832 people from Jerusalem; 30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year,[al] Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all, 4,600 people went into exile.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 52:1 sn This final chapter does not mention Jeremiah, but its description of the downfall of Jerusalem and exile of the people validates the prophet’s ministry.
  2. Jeremiah 52:1 tn Some textual witnesses support the Kethib (consonantal text) in reading “Hamital.”
  3. Jeremiah 52:2 tn Heb “what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
  4. Jeremiah 52:3 tn Heb “Surely (or “for”) because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he drove them out from upon his face.” For the phrase “drive out of his sight,” see 7:15.
  5. Jeremiah 52:4 tn Or “against it.”
  6. Jeremiah 52:4 sn This would have been January 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).
  7. Jeremiah 52:6 sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.
  8. Jeremiah 52:6 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
  9. Jeremiah 52:7 sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the City of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley, which agrees with the reference to the “two walls,” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
  10. Jeremiah 52:7 sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. In this context the portion that they head to is the Jordan Valley near Jericho, intending to escape across the river to Moab or Ammon. It appears from 40:14 and 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.
  11. Jeremiah 52:8 tn See the note at Jer 39:5.
  12. Jeremiah 52:9 sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
  13. Jeremiah 52:11 tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.
  14. Jeremiah 52:12 tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:8 has “seventh.”
  15. Jeremiah 52:12 sn The tenth day of the month would have been August 17, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  16. Jeremiah 52:12 tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.
  17. Jeremiah 52:12 tn Heb “stood before.”
  18. Jeremiah 52:15 tn Heb “poor of the people.”
  19. Jeremiah 52:16 tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding, and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.
  20. Jeremiah 52:16 tn Heb “poor of the land.”
  21. Jeremiah 52:17 sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19.
  22. Jeremiah 52:18 sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.
  23. Jeremiah 52:18 sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.
  24. Jeremiah 52:18 tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”
  25. Jeremiah 52:19 sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.
  26. Jeremiah 52:19 sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.
  27. Jeremiah 52:20 tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammekhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.
  28. Jeremiah 52:21 tn Heb “18 cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
  29. Jeremiah 52:21 tn Heb “12 cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
  30. Jeremiah 52:21 tn Heb “four fingers.”
  31. Jeremiah 52:22 tn Heb “5 cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
  32. Jeremiah 52:24 sn See the note at Jer 35:4.
  33. Jeremiah 52:25 tn Heb “men, from the people of the land” (also later in this verse).
  34. Jeremiah 52:27 tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”
  35. Jeremiah 52:28 tn Heb “these are the people.”
  36. Jeremiah 52:28 sn This would be 597 b.c.
  37. Jeremiah 52:29 sn This would be 586 b.c.
  38. Jeremiah 52:30 sn This would be 581 b.c.
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Jeremiah 51
Lamentations 1
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Psalm 74
New English Translation

Psalm 74[a]

A well-written song[b] by Asaph.

74 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us?[c]
Why does your anger burn[d] against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your people[e] whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued[f] so they could be your very own nation,[g]
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 Hurry[h] to the permanent ruins,
and to all the damage the enemy has done to the temple.[i]
4 Your enemies roar[j] in the middle of your sanctuary;[k]
they set up their battle flags.[l]
5 They invade like lumberjacks
swinging their axes in a thick forest.[m]
6 And now[n] they are tearing down[o] all its engravings[p]
with axes[q] and crowbars.[r]
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.[s]
8 They say to themselves,[t]
“We will oppress all of them.”[u]
They burn down all the places in the land where people worship God.[v]
9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence;[w]
there are no longer any prophets,[x]
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.[y]
10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you remain inactive?
Intervene and destroy him.[z]
12 But God has been my[aa] king from ancient times,
performing acts of deliverance on the earth.[ab]
13 You destroyed[ac] the sea by your strength;
you shattered the heads of the sea monster[ad] in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;[ae]
you fed[af] him to the people who live along the coast.[ag]
15 You broke open the spring and the stream;[ah]
you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.[ai]
16 You established the cycle of day and night;[aj]
you put the moon[ak] and sun in place.[al]
17 You set up all the boundaries[am] of the earth;
you created the cycle of summer and winter.[an]
18 Remember how[ao] the enemy hurls insults, O Lord,[ap]
and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name.
19 Do not hand the life of your dove[aq] over to a wild animal.
Do not continue to disregard[ar] the lives of your oppressed people.
20 Remember your covenant promises,[as]
for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules.[at]
21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame.
Let the oppressed and poor praise your name.[au]
22 Rise up, O God. Defend your honor.[av]
Remember how fools insult you all day long.[aw]
23 Do not disregard[ax] what your enemies say,[ay]
or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you.[az]

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 74:1 sn Psalm 74. The psalmist, who has just experienced the devastation of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., asks God to consider Israel’s sufferings and intervene on behalf of his people. He describes the ruined temple, recalls God’s mighty deeds in the past, begs for mercy, and calls for judgment upon God’s enemies.
  2. Psalm 74:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
  3. Psalm 74:1 sn The psalmist does not really believe God has permanently rejected his people or he would not pray as he does in this psalm. But this initial question reflects his emotional response to what he sees and is overstated for the sake of emphasis. The severity of divine judgment gives the appearance that God has permanently abandoned his people.
  4. Psalm 74:1 tn Heb “smoke.” The picture is that of a fire that continues to smolder.
  5. Psalm 74:2 tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.
  6. Psalm 74:2 tn Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).
  7. Psalm 74:2 tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).
  8. Psalm 74:3 tn Heb “lift up your steps to,” which may mean “run, hurry.”
  9. Psalm 74:3 tn Heb “everything [the] enemy has damaged in the holy place.”
  10. Psalm 74:4 tn This verb is often used of a lion’s roar, so the psalmist may be comparing the enemy to a raging, devouring lion.
  11. Psalm 74:4 tn Heb “your meeting place.”
  12. Psalm 74:4 tn Heb “they set up their banners [as] banners.” The Hebrew noun אוֹת (ʾot, “sign”) here refers to the enemy army’s battle flags and banners (see Num 2:12).
  13. Psalm 74:5 tn Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.
  14. Psalm 74:6 tn This is the reading of the Qere (marginal reading). The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and a time.”
  15. Psalm 74:6 tn The imperfect verbal form vividly describes the act as underway.
  16. Psalm 74:6 tn Heb “its engravings together.”
  17. Psalm 74:6 tn This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49-50).
  18. Psalm 74:6 tn This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. An Akkadian cognate refers to a “pickaxe” (cf. NEB “hatchet and pick”; NIV “axes and hatchets”; NRSV “hatchets and hammers”).
  19. Psalm 74:7 tn Heb “to the ground they desecrate the dwelling place of your name.”
  20. Psalm 74:8 tn Heb “in their heart.”
  21. Psalm 74:8 tc Heb “[?] altogether.” The Hebrew form נִינָם (ninam) is problematic. It could be understood as the noun נִין (nin, “offspring”) but the statement “their offspring altogether” would make no sense here. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:159) emends יָחַד (yakhad, “altogether”) to יָחִיד (yakhid, “alone”) and translate “let their offspring be solitary” (i.e., exiled). Another option is to understand the form as a Qal imperfect first common plural from יָנָה (yanah, “to oppress”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, “we will oppress them.” However, this verb, when used in the finite form, always appears in the Hiphil. Therefore, it is preferable to emend the form to the Hiphil נוֹנֵם (nonem, “we will oppress them”).
  22. Psalm 74:8 tn Heb “they burn down all the meeting places of God in the land.”
  23. Psalm 74:9 tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).
  24. Psalm 74:9 tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”
  25. Psalm 74:9 tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”
  26. Psalm 74:11 tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.
  27. Psalm 74:12 tn The psalmist speaks as Israel’s representative here.
  28. Psalm 74:12 tn Heb “in the midst of the earth.”
  29. Psalm 74:13 tn The derivation and meaning of the Polel verb form פּוֹרַרְתָּ (porarta) are uncertain. The form may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “break, shatter,” though the biblical Hebrew cognate of this verb always appears in the Hiphil or Hophal stem. BDB 830 s.v. II פָּרַר suggests a homonym here, meaning “to split; to divide.” A Hitpolel form of a root פָּרַר (parar) appears in Isa 24:19 with the meaning “to shake violently.”
  30. Psalm 74:13 tn The Hebrew text has the plural form, “sea monsters” (cf. NRSV “dragons”), but it is likely that an original enclitic mem has been misunderstood as a plural ending. The imagery of the mythological sea monster is utilized here. See the note on “Leviathan” in v. 14.
  31. Psalm 74:14 sn You crushed the heads of Leviathan. The imagery of vv. 13-14 originates in West Semitic mythology. The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon [Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַּנִין (tanin), translated “sea monster” in v. 13] vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling [Ugaritic ʿqltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן (ʿaqallaton), translated “squirming” in Isa 27:1] serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (note the use of the plural “heads” here and in v. 13). (See CTA 3.iii.38-39 in G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 50.) (2) “For all that you smote Leviathan the slippery [Ugaritic brḥ, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ (bariakh), translated “fast moving” in Isa 27:1] serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5.i.1-3 in G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 68.) In the myths Leviathan is a sea creature that symbolizes the destructive water of the sea and, in turn, the forces of chaos that threaten the established order. In the OT, the battle with the sea motif is applied to Yahweh’s victories over the forces of chaos at creation and in history (see Pss 74:13-14; 77:16-20; 89:9-10; Isa 51:9-10). Yahweh’s subjugation of the waters of chaos is related to his kingship (see Pss 29:3, 10; 93:3-4). Isa 27:1 applies imagery from Canaanite mythology to Yahweh’s eschatological victory over his enemies. Apocalyptic literature employs the imagery as well. The beasts of Dan 7 emerge from the sea, while Rev 13 speaks of a seven-headed beast coming from the sea. Here in Ps 74:13-14 the primary referent is unclear. The psalmist may be describing God’s creation of the world (note vv. 16-17 and see Ps 89:9-12), when he brought order out of a watery mass, or the exodus (see Isa 51:9-10), when he created Israel by destroying the Egyptians in the waters of the sea.
  32. Psalm 74:14 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite in this narrational context.
  33. Psalm 74:14 sn You fed him to the people. This pictures the fragments of Leviathan’s dead corpse washing up on shore and being devoured by those who find them. If the exodus is in view, then it may allude to the bodies of the dead Egyptians which washed up on the shore of the Red Sea (see Exod 14:30).
  34. Psalm 74:15 sn You broke open the spring and the stream. Perhaps this alludes to the way in which God provided water for the Israelites as they traveled in the wilderness following the exodus (see Ps 78:15-16, 20; 105:41).
  35. Psalm 74:15 sn Perpetually flowing rivers are rivers that contain water year round, unlike the seasonal streams that flow only during the rainy season. Perhaps the psalmist here alludes to the drying up of the Jordan River when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan under Joshua (see Josh 3-4).
  36. Psalm 74:16 tn Heb “To you [is] day, also to you [is] night.”
  37. Psalm 74:16 tn Heb “[the] light.” Following the reference to “day and night” and in combination with “sun,” it is likely that the Hebrew term מָאוֹר (maʾor, “light”) refers here to the moon.
  38. Psalm 74:16 tn Heb “you established [the] light and [the] sun.”
  39. Psalm 74:17 tn This would appear to refer to geographical boundaries, such as mountains, rivers, and seacoasts. However, since the day-night cycle has just been mentioned (v. 16) and the next line speaks of the seasons, it is possible that “boundaries” here refers to the divisions of the seasons. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:156.
  40. Psalm 74:17 tn Heb “summer and winter, you, you formed them.”
  41. Psalm 74:18 tn Heb “remember this.”
  42. Psalm 74:18 tn Or “[how] the enemy insults the Lord.”
  43. Psalm 74:19 sn Your dove. The psalmist compares weak and vulnerable Israel to a helpless dove.
  44. Psalm 74:19 tn Heb “do not forget forever.”
  45. Psalm 74:20 tc Heb “look at the covenant.” The LXX reads “your covenant,” which seems to assume a second person pronominal suffix, which would be written with ך (kaf). The suffix may have been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word, כִּי (ki), begins with כ (kaf) .
  46. Psalm 74:20 tn Heb “for the dark places of the earth are full of dwelling places of violence.” The “dark regions” are probably the lands where the people have been exiled (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:157). In some contexts “dark regions” refers to Sheol (Ps 88:6) or to hiding places likened to Sheol (Ps 143:3; Lam 3:6).
  47. Psalm 74:21 sn Let the oppressed and poor praise your name. The statement is metonymic. The point is this: May the oppressed be delivered from their enemies. Then they will have ample reason to praise God’s name.
  48. Psalm 74:22 tn Or “defend your cause.”
  49. Psalm 74:22 tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”
  50. Psalm 74:23 tn Or “forget.”
  51. Psalm 74:23 tn Heb “the voice of your enemies.”
  52. Psalm 74:23 tn Heb “the roar of those who rise up against you, which ascends continually.”
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Psalm 73
Psalm 75
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Psalm 79
New English Translation

Psalm 79[a]

A psalm of Asaph.

79 O God, foreigners[b] have invaded your chosen land;[c]
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky,[d]
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them.[e]
4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.[f]
5 How long will this go on, O Lord?[g]
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage[h] burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you,[i]
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you.[j]
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations.[k]
Quickly send your compassion our way,[l]
for we are in serious trouble.[m]
9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation,[n] rescue us.
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation.[o]
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants
be avenged among the nations.[p]
11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners.[q]
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die.[r]
12 Pay back our neighbors in full.[s]
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord.[t]
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you.[u]
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts.[v]

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 79:1 sn Psalm 79. The author laments how the invading nations have destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem. He asks God to forgive his people and to pour out his vengeance on those who have mistreated them.
  2. Psalm 79:1 tn Or “nations.”
  3. Psalm 79:1 tn Heb “have come into your inheritance.”
  4. Psalm 79:2 tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”
  5. Psalm 79:3 tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”
  6. Psalm 79:4 tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.
  7. Psalm 79:5 tn Heb “How long, O Lord?”
  8. Psalm 79:5 tn Or “jealous anger.”
  9. Psalm 79:6 tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
  10. Psalm 79:6 sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
  11. Psalm 79:8 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that רִאשֹׁנִים (riʾshonim, “former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
  12. Psalm 79:8 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
  13. Psalm 79:8 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
  14. Psalm 79:9 tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
  15. Psalm 79:9 tn Heb “your name.”
  16. Psalm 79:10 tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”
  17. Psalm 79:11 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
  18. Psalm 79:11 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
  19. Psalm 79:12 tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shivʿatayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
  20. Psalm 79:12 tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
  21. Psalm 79:13 tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
  22. Psalm 79:13 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
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Psalm 85
New English Translation

Psalm 85[a]

For the music director, written by the Korahites, a psalm.

85 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;
you restored the well-being of Jacob.[b]
2 You pardoned[c] the wrongdoing of your people;
you forgave[d] all their sin. (Selah)
3 You withdrew all your fury;
you turned back from your raging anger.[e]
4 Restore us, O God our deliverer.
Do not be displeased with us.[f]
5 Will you stay mad at us forever?
Will you remain angry throughout future generations?[g]
6 Will you not revive us once more?
Then your people will rejoice in you.
7 O Lord, show us your loyal love.
Bestow on us your deliverance.
8 I will listen to what God the Lord says.[h]
For he will make[i] peace with his people, his faithful followers.[j]
Yet they must not[k] return to their foolish ways.
9 Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance;[l]
then his splendor will again appear in our land.[m]
10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet;[n]
deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss.[o]
11 Faithfulness grows from the ground,
and deliverance looks down from the sky.[p]
12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings,[q]
and our land will yield[r] its crops.
13 Deliverance goes[s] before him,
and prepares[t] a pathway for him.[u]

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 85:1 sn Psalm 85. God’s people recall how he forgave their sins in the past, pray that he might now restore them to his favor, and anticipate renewed blessings.
  2. Psalm 85:1 tn Heb “you turned with a turning [toward] Jacob.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shevut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv). See Pss 14:7; 53:6.
  3. Psalm 85:2 tn Heb “lifted up.”
  4. Psalm 85:2 tn Heb “covered over.”
  5. Psalm 85:3 tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81. See Pss 69:24; 78:49.
  6. Psalm 85:4 tn Heb “break your displeasure with us.” Some prefer to emend הָפֵר (hafer, “break”) to הָסֵר (haser, “turn aside”).
  7. Psalm 85:5 tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a generation?”
  8. Psalm 85:8 sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.
  9. Psalm 85:8 tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).
  10. Psalm 85:8 tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.
  11. Psalm 85:8 tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (ʾel), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.
  12. Psalm 85:9 tn Heb “certainly his deliverance [is] near to those who fear him.”
  13. Psalm 85:9 tn Heb “to dwell, glory, in our land.” “Glory” is the subject of the infinitive. The infinitive with ל (lamed), “to dwell,” probably indicates result here (“then”). When God delivers his people and renews his relationship with them, he will once more reveal his royal splendor in the land.
  14. Psalm 85:10 tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.
  15. Psalm 85:10 sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.
  16. Psalm 85:11 sn The psalmist already sees undeniable signs of God’s faithfulness and expects deliverance to arrive soon.
  17. Psalm 85:12 tn Heb “what is good.”
  18. Psalm 85:12 tn Both “bestow” and “yield” translate the same Hebrew verb (נָתַן, natan). The repetition of the word emphasizes that agricultural prosperity is the direct result of divine blessing.
  19. Psalm 85:13 tn Or “will go.”
  20. Psalm 85:13 tn Or “will prepare.”
  21. Psalm 85:13 tn Heb “and it prepares for a way his footsteps.” Some suggest emending וְיָשֵׂם (veyasem, “and prepares”) to וְשָׁלוֹם (veshalom, “and peace”) since “deliverance” and “peace” are closely related earlier in v. 13. This could be translated, “and peace [goes ahead, making] a pathway for his footsteps” (cf. NEB).
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