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Psalm 116[a]

Thanksgiving to God Who Saves from Death

I

I love the Lord, who listened
    to my voice in supplication,
Who turned an ear to me
    on the day I called.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 116 A thanksgiving in which the psalmist responds to divine rescue from mortal danger (Ps 116:3–4) and from near despair (Ps 116:10–11) with vows and Temple sacrifices (Ps 116:13–14, 17–19). The Greek and Latin versions divide the Psalm into two parts: Ps 116:1–9 and Ps 116:10–19, corresponding to its two major divisions.

I was caught by the cords of death;[a](A)
    the snares of Sheol had seized me;
    I felt agony and dread.
Then I called on the name of the Lord,
    “O Lord, save my life!”

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Footnotes

  1. 116:3 The cords of death: death is personified here; it attempts to capture the psalmist with snares and nets, cf. Ps 18:6.

II

Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
    yes, our God is merciful.(A)
The Lord protects the simple;
    I was helpless, but he saved me.

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For my soul has been freed from death,
    my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.(A)
I shall walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.[a](B)

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Footnotes

  1. 116:9 The land of the living: the phrase elsewhere is an epithet of the Jerusalem Temple (cf. Ps 27:13; 52:5; Is 38:11). Hence the psalmist probably refers to being present to God in the Temple.