诗篇 143
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
心灵枯竭仰望 神慈爱
大卫的诗。
143 耶和华啊！求你听我的祷告，
留心听我的恳求，
凭你的信实和公义应允我。（本节在《马索拉文本》包括细字标题）
2 求你不要审判你的仆人，
因为凡活着的人，在你面前没有一个是义的。
3 仇敌逼迫我，
把我压倒在地，
使我住在黑暗之处，
像死了很久的人一样。
4 因此我的灵在我里面软弱，
我的心在我里面战栗。
5 我追念以往的日子，
默想你的一切作为，
沉思你手所作的。
6 我向你伸出双手，
我的心渴想你，好象干旱的地盼望雨水一样。（细拉）
7 耶和华啊！求你快快应允我，
我的心灵已经衰竭，
求你不要向我掩面，
免得我像那些下坑的人一样。
8 求你使我清晨得闻你的慈爱，
因为我倚靠你。
求你指示我当走的路，
因为我的心仰望你。
9 耶和华啊！求你救我脱离我的仇敌，
我往你那里藏身。
10 求你教我遵行你的旨意，
因为你是我的 神；
愿你至善的灵引导我到平坦的地。
11 耶和华啊！求你为你名的缘故使我存活，
按着你的公义把我从患难中领出来。
12 求你因你的慈爱使我的仇敌灭绝，
求你消灭所有苦害我的人，
因为我是你的仆人。
詩篇 143
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
求上帝拯救
大衛的詩。
143 耶和華啊，求你垂聽我的禱告，
傾聽我的呼求，
求你憑你的信實和公義應允我的祈求。
2 求你不要審判你的僕人，
因為在你眼中沒有一個義人。
3 敵人迫害我，打垮我，
使我生活在黑暗中，
像死去很久的人。
4 我心力交瘁，驚恐萬分。
5 我想起遙遠的過去，
我思想你的一切作為，
回想你所做的事。
6 我舉手向你呼求，
我的心渴慕你如同乾旱之地渴慕甘霖。（細拉）
7 耶和華啊，求你快快應允我！
我已絕望，求你不要掩面不顧我，
不然我必和下墳墓的人無異。
8 求你讓我在清晨就聽見你的慈言愛語，
因為我信靠你；
求你指示我當走的路，
因為我的心仰望你。
9 耶和華啊，求你救我脫離仇敵，
我要到你那裡尋求庇護。
10 求你教導我遵行你的旨意，
因為你是我的上帝，
願你良善的靈引導我走平坦的路。
11 耶和華啊，
求你為自己名的緣故拯救我，
憑你的公義救我脫離患難。
12 求你剷除我的仇敵，
因為你愛我。
求你消滅一切迫害我的人，
因為我是你的僕人。
Psalm 143
New English Translation
Psalm 143[a]
A psalm of David.
143 O Lord, hear my prayer.
Pay attention to my plea for help.
Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me.
2 Do not sit in judgment on[b] your servant,
for no one alive is innocent before you.[c]
3 Certainly[d] my enemies[e] chase me.
They smash me into the ground.[f]
They force me to live[g] in dark regions,[h]
like those who have been dead for ages.
4 My strength leaves me;[i]
I am absolutely shocked.[j]
5 I recall the old days.[k]
I meditate on all you have done;
I reflect on your accomplishments.[l]
6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer;[m]
my soul thirsts for you in a parched[n] land.[o] (Selah)
7 Answer me quickly, Lord.
My strength is fading.[p]
Do not reject me,[q]
or I will join[r] those descending into the grave.[s]
8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning,[t]
for I trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,[u]
because I long for you.[v]
9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord.
I run to you for protection.[w]
10 Teach me to do what pleases you,[x]
for you are my God.
May your kind presence[y]
lead me[z] into a level land.[aa]
11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation,[ab] revive me.[ac]
Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble.[ad]
12 As a demonstration of your loyal love,[ae] destroy my enemies.
Annihilate[af] all who threaten my life,[ag]
for I am your servant.
Footnotes
- Psalm 143:1 sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.
- Psalm 143:2 tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”
- Psalm 143:2 tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”
- Psalm 143:3 tn Or “for.”
- Psalm 143:3 tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).
- Psalm 143:3 tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”
- Psalm 143:3 tn Or “sit.”
- Psalm 143:3 sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).
- Psalm 143:4 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
- Psalm 143:4 tn Heb “in my midst my heart is shocked.” For a similar use of the Hitpolel of שָׁמֵם (shamem), see Isa 59:16; 63:5.
- Psalm 143:5 tn Or “ancient times”; Heb “days from before.”
- Psalm 143:5 tn Heb “the work of your hands.”
- Psalm 143:6 tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.
- Psalm 143:6 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.
- Psalm 143:6 tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition כ (kaf, “like”) to ב (bet, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
- Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”
- Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” (1) can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
- Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
- Psalm 143:7 tn Heb “the pit.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit; cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.
- Psalm 143:8 tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.sn The morning is sometimes viewed as the time of divine intervention (see Pss 30:5; 59:16; 90:14).
- Psalm 143:8 sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).
- Psalm 143:8 tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (naʾas nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).
- Psalm 143:9 tn Heb “to you I cover,” which makes no sense. The translation assumes an emendation to נַסְתִּי (nasti, “I flee,” a Qal perfect, first singular form from נוּס, nos). Confusion of כ (kaf) and נ (nun) is attested elsewhere (see P. K. McCarter, Textual Criticism [GBS], 48). The collocation of נוּס (“flee”) with אֶל (ʾel, “to”) is well-attested.
- Psalm 143:10 tn Or “your will.” See Ps 40:8.
- Psalm 143:10 tn Heb “your good spirit.” God’s “spirit” may refer here to his presence (see the note on the word “presence” in Ps 139:7) or to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).
- Psalm 143:10 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. Taking the statement as a prayer fits well with the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.
- Psalm 143:10 sn A level land (where one can walk free of obstacles) here symbolizes divine blessing and protection. See Pss 26:12 and 27:11 for similar imagery.
- Psalm 143:11 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
- Psalm 143:11 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist’s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.
- Psalm 143:11 tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”
- Psalm 143:12 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
- Psalm 143:12 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.
- Psalm 143:12 tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”
Psalm 143
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 143[a]
Prayer of a Penitent in Distress
1 [b]A psalm of David.
O Lord, hear my prayer,
incline your ear to my supplications.
In your faithfulness respond to me
with your righteousness.
2 Do not subject your servant to your judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.[c]
3 [d]An enemy has stalked me unrelentingly
and crushed me into the ground;
he has left me to live in darkness[e]
like those long dead.
4 My spirit is faint within me,
and my heart[f] has succumbed to fear.
5 I remember the days of old,
reflecting on all your actions
and meditating on the works of your hands.[g]
6 I stretch out my hands[h] to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 [i]Answer me quickly, O Lord,
for my spirit grows faint.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.[j]
8 At dawn[k] let me experience your kindness,
for in you I place my trust.
Show me the path I must walk,
for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord,
for in you I seek refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.[l]
Let your gracious Spirit lead me
along a level path.
11 For your name’s sake,[m] O Lord, preserve my life;
in your righteousness deliver me from distress.
12 In your kindness, destroy my enemies,
and annihilate all those who oppress me,
for I am your servant.[n]
Footnotes
- Psalm 143:1 This is the seventh and last of the Penitential Psalms (Pss 6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143), probably because of verse 2, with its admission of universal guilt, the only reference to sin and forgiveness in it. Throughout the Psalter, amid praise and joy, there is the lament of the poor person who is dependent on God for everything. Here is the last pressing supplication of the sufferer who cannot despair of God, of his love and his righteousness. The true Israel, the community of the poor of the Lord, understood it even unto suffering. As Paul indicates (Rom 3:20ff), no one merits to be delivered from evil, not even the person who observes the law; one can only rely on the Lord’s unfailing love for human beings. Those who truly pray will experience the Lord’s deliverance.
There are many occasions on which we, too, can pray this simple and ardent psalm to implore divine aid. The demons and all those whom they incite never cease to threaten us, either in our material sustenance or in our physical and spiritual life. - Psalm 143:1 The psalmist cries out to God to have mercy because of his faithfulness and righteousness, for he knows that God’s judgment could find him guilty of sin and condemn him to remain afflicted (see 130:3).
- Psalm 143:2 For no one living is righteous before you: this text is used in Rom 3:20 (see Pss 51:7; 130:3; Job 9:2; 14:3f; 15:14; Eccl 7:20).
- Psalm 143:3 The psalmist sketches the distress he suffers and is encouraged by the memory of God’s past acts of deliverance.
- Psalm 143:3 The same images are found in Ps 7:6; Lam 3:6; Mic 7:8. Darkness: see note on Ps 27:1.
- Psalm 143:4 Heart: see note on Ps 4:8.
- Psalm 143:5 See Pss 42:5; 77:6, 12f.
- Psalm 143:6 Stretch out my hands: in supplication (see Pss 44:21; 88:10; Ex 9:29). Soul: see note on Ps 6:4. Thirsts for you: see Ps 63:2.
- Psalm 143:7 The psalmist here appends a mosaic of prayers for deliverance, guidance, and commitment to the Lord.
- Psalm 143:7 See similar phrases in Pss 10:1; 28:1; 69:18; 84:3; 88:5; 102:3; 141:1.
- Psalm 143:8 At dawn: see notes on Pss 57; 57:9; see also Pss 17:15; 90:14; 101:8; 108:3. Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5. I lift up my soul: see Pss 25:1; 27:8; 32:6; 33:22; 86:4.
- Psalm 143:10 Teach me . . . my God: see Pss 25:4f; 118:28. Spirit: the divine Spirit was regarded as a force and not yet as a person (see Ps 51:13; Neh 9:20; Ezek 36:27). Lead . . . path: see note on Ps 26:12 (see also Pss 27:11; 139:24).
- Psalm 143:11 For your name’s sake: see Ps 25:11. Deliver me from distress: see Pss 31:5; 119:25, 88; 142:8.
- Psalm 143:12 The psalmist calls upon the Lord to deal righteously with his adversaries, reflecting a hope that is expressed in the imprecatory psalms (see notes on Pss 5:11; 35; see also Ps 54:5). Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
