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A Prayer of Blessing

For the music director, with stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.[a]

67 May God be gracious to us and bless us.
May he cause his face to shine toward us, Selah
that your way may be known on the earth,
your salvation among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all of the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
because you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations on the earth. Selah
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its produce.
God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 67:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one

Psalm 67[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm, a song.

67 May God show us his favor[b] and bless us.[c]
May he smile on us.[d] (Selah)
Then those living on earth will know what you are like;
all nations will know how you deliver your people.[e]
Let the nations thank you, O God.
Let all the nations thank you.[f]
Let foreigners[g] rejoice and celebrate.
For you execute justice among the nations,
and govern the people living on earth.[h] (Selah)
Let the nations thank you, O God.
Let all the nations thank you.[i]
The earth yields its crops.
May God, our God, bless us.
May God bless us.[j]
Then all the ends of the earth will give him the honor he deserves.[k]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 67:1 sn Psalm 67. The psalmist prays for God’s blessing upon his people and urges the nations to praise him for he is the just ruler of the world.
  2. Psalm 67:1 tn Or “have mercy on us.”
  3. Psalm 67:1 tn The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. Note the jussive form יָאֵר (yaʾer) in the next line.
  4. Psalm 67:1 tn Heb “may he cause his face to shine with us.”
  5. Psalm 67:2 tn Heb “to know in the earth your way, among all nations your deliverance.” The infinitive with ל (lamed) expresses purpose/result. When God demonstrates his favor to his people, all nations will recognize his character as a God who delivers. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) refers here to God’s characteristic behavior, more specifically, to the way he typically saves his people.
  6. Psalm 67:3 tn Heb “let the nations, all of them, thank you.” The prefixed verbal forms in vv. 3-4a are understood as jussives in this call to praise.
  7. Psalm 67:4 tn Or “peoples.”
  8. Psalm 67:4 tn Heb “for you judge nations fairly, and [as for the] peoples in the earth, you lead them.” The imperfects are translated with the present tense because the statement is understood as a generalization about God’s providential control of the world. Another option is to understand the statement as anticipating God’s future rule (“for you will rule…and govern”).
  9. Psalm 67:5 tn Heb “let the nations, all of them, thank you.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 5 are understood as jussives in this call to praise.
  10. Psalm 67:7 tn The prefixed verb forms in vv. 6b-7a are understood as jussives.
  11. Psalm 67:7 tn Heb “will fear him.” After the jussive of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive is understood as indicating purpose/result. (Note how v. 3 anticipates the universal impact of God showing his people blessing.) Another option is to take the verb as a jussive and translate, “Let all the ends of the earth fear him.”