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Psalm 13
New English Translation

Psalm 13[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

13 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me?[b]
How long will you pay no attention to me?[c]
2 How long must I worry,[d]
and suffer in broad daylight?[e]
How long will my enemy gloat over me?[f]
3 Look at me![g] Answer me, O Lord my God!
Revive me,[h] or else I will die.[i]
4 Then[j] my enemy will say, “I have defeated him.”
Then[k] my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I[l] trust in your faithfulness.
May I rejoice because of your deliverance.[m]
6 I will sing praises[n] to the Lord
when he vindicates me.[o]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 13:1 sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.
  2. Psalm 13:1 tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”
  3. Psalm 13:1 tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”
  4. Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”
  5. Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”
  6. Psalm 13:2 tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”
  7. Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “see.”
  8. Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (ʾur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.
  9. Psalm 13:3 tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”
  10. Psalm 13:4 tn Heb “or else.”
  11. Psalm 13:4 tn Heb “or else.”
  12. Psalm 13:5 tn The grammatical construction used here (conjunction with independent pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s defeated condition envisioned in v. 4 and confident attitude he displays in v. 5.
  13. Psalm 13:5 tn Heb “may my heart rejoice in your deliverance.” The verb form is jussive. Having expressed his trust in God’s faithful character and promises, the psalmist prays that his confidence will prove to be well-placed. “Heart” is used here of the seat of the emotions.
  14. Psalm 13:6 tn The verb form is cohortative, indicating the psalmist’s resolve (or vow) to praise the Lord when deliverance arrives.
  15. Psalm 13:6 tn Or “for he will have vindicated me.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here. The idiom גָמַל עַל (gamal ʿal) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.
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Psalm 14
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Psalm 17
New English Translation

Psalm 17[a]

A prayer of David.

17 Lord, consider my just cause.[b]
Pay attention to my cry for help.
Listen to the prayer
I sincerely offer.[c]
2 Make a just decision on my behalf.[d]
Decide what is right.[e]
3 You have scrutinized my inner motives;[f]
you have examined me during the night.[g]
You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.
I am determined I will say nothing sinful.[h]
4 As for the actions of people[i]—
just as you have commanded,
I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men.[j]
5 I carefully obey your commands;[k]
I do not deviate from them.[l]
6 I call to you because you will answer me, O God.
Listen to me![m]
Hear what I say![n]
7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds,[o]
you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies.[p]
8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye.[q]
Hide me in the shadow of your wings.[r]
9 Protect me from[s] the wicked men who attack[t] me,
my enemies who crowd around me for the kill.[u]
10 They are calloused;[v]
they speak arrogantly.[w]
11 They attack me, now they surround me;[x]
they intend to throw me to the ground.[y]
12 He[z] is like a lion[aa] that wants to tear its prey to bits,[ab]
like a young lion crouching[ac] in hidden places.
13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him.[ad] Knock him down.[ae]
Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man.[af]
14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers,[ag]
from the murderers of this world.[ah]
They enjoy prosperity;[ai]
you overwhelm them with the riches they desire.[aj]
They have many children,
and leave their wealth to their offspring.[ak]
15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face;[al]
when I awake you will reveal yourself to me.[am]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 17:1 sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.
  2. Psalm 17:1 tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”
  3. Psalm 17:1 tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”
  4. Psalm 17:2 tn Heb “From before you may my justice come out.” The prefixed verbal form יָצָא (yatsaʾ) could be taken as an imperfect, but following the imperatives in v. 1, it is better understood as a jussive of prayer.
  5. Psalm 17:2 tn Heb “May your eyes look at what is right.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as jussive. (See also the preceding note on the word “behalf.”)
  6. Psalm 17:3 tn Heb “you tested my heart.”
  7. Psalm 17:3 tn Heb “you visited [at] night.”
  8. Psalm 17:3 tc Heb “you tested me, you do not find, I plan, my mouth will not cross over.” The Hebrew verbal form זַמֹּתִי (zammoti) is a Qal perfect, first person singular from the root זָמַם (zamam, “plan, plan evil”). Some emend the form to a suffixed form of the noun, זִמָּתִי (zimmati, “my plan/evil plan”), and take it as the object of the preceding verb “find.” However, the suffix seems odd, since the psalmist is denying that he has any wrong thoughts. If one takes the form with what precedes, it might make better sense to read זִמּוֹת (zimmot, “evil plans”). However, this emendation leaves an unclear connection with the next line. The present translation maintains the verbal form found in the MT and understands it in a neutral sense, “I have decided” (see Jer 4:28). The words “my mouth will not cross over” (i.e., “transgress, sin”) can then be taken as a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb.
  9. Psalm 17:4 tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”
  10. Psalm 17:4 tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).
  11. Psalm 17:5 tn Heb “my steps stay firm in your tracks.” The infinitive absolute functions here as a finite verb (see GKC 347 §113.gg). God’s “tracks” are his commands, i.e., the moral pathways he has prescribed for the psalmist.
  12. Psalm 17:5 tn Heb “my footsteps do not stagger.”
  13. Psalm 17:6 tn Heb “Turn your ear toward me.”
  14. Psalm 17:6 tn Heb “my word.”
  15. Psalm 17:7 tn Heb “Set apart faithful acts.”
  16. Psalm 17:7 tn Heb “[O] one who delivers those who seek shelter from the ones raising themselves up, by your right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver.sn Those who look to you for protection from their enemies. “Seeking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).
  17. Psalm 17:8 tc Heb “Protect me like the pupil, a daughter of an eye.” The noun בַּת (bat, “daughter”) should probably be emended to בָּבַת (bavat, “pupil”). See Zech 2:12 HT (2:8 ET) and HALOT 107 s.v. *בָּבָה.
  18. Psalm 17:8 sn Your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.
  19. Psalm 17:9 tn Heb “from before”; or “because.” In the Hebrew text v. 9 is subordinated to v. 8. The words “protect me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  20. Psalm 17:9 tn Heb “destroy.” The psalmist uses the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of danger. He describes the wicked as being already in the process of destroying him.
  21. Psalm 17:9 tn Heb “my enemies, at the risk of life they surround me.” The Hebrew phrase בְּנֶפֶשׁ (benefesh) sometimes has the nuance “at the risk of [one’s] life” (see 1 Kgs 2:23; Prov 7:23; Lam 5:9).
  22. Psalm 17:10 tn Heb “their fat they close.” The Hebrew term חֵלֶב (khelev, “fat”) appears to stand by metonymy for their calloused hearts. They attack the psalmist without feeling any pity or remorse. Some propose emending the text to חֵלֶב לִבָּמוֹ (khelev libbamo, “fat of their heart[s]; cf. Ps 119:70, “their heart is insensitive like fat”). This assumes haplography of the לב (lamed-bet) consonantal sequence.
  23. Psalm 17:10 tn Heb “[with] their mouth they speak with arrogance.”
  24. Psalm 17:11 tc Heb “our steps, now they surround me.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “surround me,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has “surround us,” harmonizing the pronoun to the preceding “our steps.” The first person plural pronoun does not fit the context, where the psalmist speaks as an individual. In the preceding verses the psalmist uses a first person singular verbal or pronominal form twenty times. For this reason it is preferable to emend “our steps” to אִשְּׁרוּנִי (ʾisheruni, “they attack me”) from the verbal root אָשַׁר (ʾashar, “march, stride, track”).
  25. Psalm 17:11 tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”
  26. Psalm 17:12 tn Here the psalmist switches to the singular pronoun; he views his enemies collectively, or singles out a representative of the group, perhaps its leader.
  27. Psalm 17:12 tn Heb “his likeness [is] like a lion.”
  28. Psalm 17:12 tn Heb “[that] longs to tear.”
  29. Psalm 17:12 tn Heb “sitting.”
  30. Psalm 17:13 tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”
  31. Psalm 17:13 tn Or “bring him to his knees.”
  32. Psalm 17:13 tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”
  33. Psalm 17:14 tc Heb “from men [by] your hand, Lord.” The translation assumes an emendation (both here and in the following line) of מִמְתִים (mimetim, “from men”) to מִמְּמִתִים (mimmemitim, “from those who kill”). For other uses of the plural form of the Hiphil participle of מוּת (mut, “die”), see 2 Kgs 17:26 (used with lions as subject), Job 33:22 (apparently referring to the agents of death), and Jer 26:15 (used of those seeking Jeremiah’s life).
  34. Psalm 17:14 tn Heb “from men, from [the] world.” On the emendation of “men” to “murderers,” see the preceding note on the word “murderers.”
  35. Psalm 17:14 tn Heb “their portion, in life.”
  36. Psalm 17:14 tn Heb “and [with] your treasures you fill their belly.”sn You overwhelm them with the riches they desire. The psalmist is not accusing God of being unjust; he is simply observing that the wicked often prosper and that God is the ultimate source of all blessings that human beings enjoy (see Matt 5:45). When the wicked are ungrateful for God’s blessings, they become even more culpable and deserving of judgment. So this description of the wicked actually supports the psalmist’s appeal for deliverance. God should rescue him because he is innocent (see vv. 3-5) and because the wicked, though blessed abundantly by God, still have the audacity to attack God’s people.
  37. Psalm 17:14 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] sons and leave their abundance to their children.”
  38. Psalm 17:15 tn Heb “I, in innocence, I will see your face.” To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 11:7; see also Job 33:26 [where רָאָה (ra’ah), not חָזַה (khazah), is used]). Here, however, the psalmist may be anticipating a mystical experience. See the following note on the word “me.”
  39. Psalm 17:15 tn Heb “I will be satisfied, when I awake, [with] your form.” The noun תְּמוּנָה (temunah) normally carries the nuance “likeness” or “form.” In Job 4:16 it refers to a ghostlike spiritual entity (see Job 4:15) that revealed itself to Eliphaz during the night. The psalmist may anticipate a mystical encounter with God in which he expects to see a manifestation of God’s presence (i.e., a theophany), perhaps in conjunction with an oracle of deliverance. During the quiet darkness of the night, God examines the psalmist’s inner motives and finds them to be pure (see v. 3). The psalmist is confident that when he awakens, perhaps sometime during the night or in the morning, he will be visited by God and assured of vindication.sn When I awake you will reveal yourself to me. Some see in this verse an allusion to resurrection. According to this view, when the psalmist awakens from the sleep of death, he will see God. It is unlikely that the psalmist had such a highly developed personal eschatology. As noted above, it is more likely that he is anticipating a divine visitation and mystical encounter as a prelude to his deliverance from his enemies.
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Psalm 18
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Psalm 22
New English Translation

Psalm 22[a]

For the music director, according to the tune “Morning Doe”;[b] a psalm of David.

22 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?[c]
I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.[d]
2 My God, I cry out during the day,
but you do not answer,
and during the night my prayers do not let up.[e]
3 You are holy;
you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel.[f]
4 In you our ancestors[g] trusted;
they trusted in you[h] and you rescued them.
5 To you they cried out, and they were saved;
in you they trusted and they were not disappointed.[i]
6 But I[j] am a worm,[k] not a man;[l]
people insult me and despise me.[m]
7 All who see me taunt[n] me;
they mock me[o] and shake their heads.[p]
8 They say,[q]
“Commit yourself[r] to the Lord!
Let the Lord[s] rescue him!
Let the Lord[t] deliver him, for he delights in him.”[u]
9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out[v] from the womb
and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.
10 I have been dependent on you since birth;[w]
from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God.[x]
11 Do not remain far away from me,
for trouble is near and I have no one to help me.[y]
12 Many bulls[z] surround me;
powerful bulls of Bashan[aa] hem me in.
13 They[ab] open their mouths to devour me[ac]
like a roaring lion that rips its prey.[ad]
14 My strength drains away like water;[ae]
all my bones are dislocated.
My heart[af] is like wax;
it melts away inside me.
15 The roof of my mouth[ag] is as dry as a piece of pottery;
my tongue sticks to my gums.[ah]
You[ai] set me in the dust of death.[aj]
16 Yes,[ak] wild dogs surround me—
a gang of evil men crowd around me;
like a lion they pin my hands and feet.[al]
17 I can count[am] all my bones;
my enemies[an] are gloating over me in triumph.[ao]
18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;
they are rolling dice[ap] for my garments.
19 But you, O Lord, do not remain far away.
You are my source of strength.[aq] Hurry and help me![ar]
20 Deliver me[as] from the sword.
Save[at] my life[au] from the claws[av] of the wild dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion,[aw]
and from the horns of the wild oxen.[ax]
You have answered me.[ay]
22 I will declare your name to my countrymen.[az]
In the middle of the assembly I will praise you.
23 You loyal followers of the Lord,[ba] praise him.
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.
All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him.[bb]
24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering[bc] of the oppressed.[bd]
He did not ignore him;[be]
when he cried out to him, he responded.[bf]
25 You are the reason I offer praise[bg] in the great assembly;
I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers.[bh]
26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled.[bi]
Let those who seek his help praise the Lord.
May you[bj] live forever!
27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him.[bk]
Let all the nations[bl] worship you.[bm]
28 For the Lord is king[bn]
and rules over the nations.
29 All the thriving people[bo] of the earth will join the celebration and worship;[bp]
all those who are descending into the grave[bq] will bow before him,
including those who cannot preserve their lives.[br]
30 A whole generation[bs] will serve him;
they will tell the next generation about the Lord.[bt]
31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds;[bu]
they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.[bv]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 22:1 sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.
  2. Psalm 22:1 tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.
  3. Psalm 22:1 sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).
  4. Psalm 22:1 tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (sheʾagah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (shaʾag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.
  5. Psalm 22:2 tn Heb “there is no silence to me.”
  6. Psalm 22:3 tn Heb “[O] one who sits [on] the praises of Israel.” The verb “receiving” is supplied in the translation for clarity. The metaphorical language pictures the Lord as sitting enthroned as king in his temple, receiving the praises that his people Israel offer up to him.
  7. Psalm 22:4 tn Heb “fathers.”
  8. Psalm 22:4 tn The words “in you” are supplied in the translation. They are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
  9. Psalm 22:5 tn Or “were not ashamed.”
  10. Psalm 22:6 tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.
  11. Psalm 22:6 tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).
  12. Psalm 22:6 tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.
  13. Psalm 22:6 tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”
  14. Psalm 22:7 tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”
  15. Psalm 22:7 tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.
  16. Psalm 22:7 sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.
  17. Psalm 22:8 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.
  18. Psalm 22:8 tn Heb “roll [yourself].” The Hebrew verb גָּלַל (galal) here has the sense of “commit” (see Prov 16:3). The imperatival form in the Hebrew text indicates the enemies here address the psalmist. Since they refer to him in the third person in the rest of the verse, some prefer to emend the verb to a perfect, “he commits himself to the Lord.”
  19. Psalm 22:8 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  20. Psalm 22:8 tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  21. Psalm 22:8 tn That is, “for he [the Lord] delights in him [the psalmist].” For other cases where the expression “delight in” refers to God’s delight in a person, see Num 14:8; 1 Kgs 10:9; Pss 18:19; 40:8.sn This statement does not necessarily reflect the enemies’ actual belief, but it does reflect the psalmist’s confession. The psalmist’s enemies sarcastically appeal to God to help him, because he claims to be an object of divine favor. However, they probably doubted the reality of his claim.
  22. Psalm 22:9 tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָּחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”
  23. Psalm 22:10 tn Heb “upon you I was cast from [the] womb.”
  24. Psalm 22:10 tn Heb “from the womb of my mother you [have been] my God.”sn Despite the enemies’ taunts, the psalmist is certain of his relationship with God, which began from the time of his birth (from the time I came out of my mother’s womb).
  25. Psalm 22:11 tn Heb “and there is no helper.”
  26. Psalm 22:12 sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.
  27. Psalm 22:12 sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.
  28. Psalm 22:13 tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”
  29. Psalm 22:13 tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).
  30. Psalm 22:13 tn Heb “a lion ripping and roaring.”
  31. Psalm 22:14 tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”
  32. Psalm 22:14 sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.
  33. Psalm 22:15 tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhi), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khiki, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.
  34. Psalm 22:15 tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”
  35. Psalm 22:15 sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).
  36. Psalm 22:15 sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.
  37. Psalm 22:16 tn Or “for.”
  38. Psalm 22:16 tc The Masoretic text reads “like a lion, my hands and my feet.” The reading is difficult and the ancient versions vary, so the textual difficulty is probably very early. Without a verb, the syntax appears broken and the role of “hands and feet” unclear. One option is to understand the verb of the previous line to apply again, a poetic technique called ellipsis and double duty. But “my hands and feet” would be an odd object for a verb meaning “they encircled.” Otherwise, the broken syntax may represent the emotional outcry of the Psalmist, first mentioning the lion as part of the third person description, but suddenly shifting to the first person perspective and crying out as the lion attacks, pinning down his hands and feet (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art). But this development seems late textually. All the other witnesses have a verb instead of “like a lion.” The LXX says “they dug my hands and feet; the verb ὀρύσσω (orussō) means “to burrow in the ground, to dig.” A Qumran witness seems to read similarly, “they dug.” Instead of the MT’s כארי (kᵉʾariy; like a lion”), the scroll from Nahal Hever has a verb form כארו (kaʾaru) ending with vav instead of yod. Supposing that the א (ʾaleph) is a superfluous spelling variant, the form would be understood as כרו (karu) from the root כרה (karah), meaning “they dug.” In that case, the Qumran scroll and the LXX agree because כרה is one of the two verbs translated in the LXX by ὀρύσσω. But as both these verbs mean “to dig [in the dirt]” this has not helped us understand the context. Assuming that the enemies are still the subject, we might expect “they dug a pit for my hands and feet.” In fact the Hebrew words behind “they dug a pit” look similar (כרו בור) so it is not hard to imagine that one of these two would be overlooked by a scribed and dropped from the text. Some suppose that “to dig [in the ground]” means “to pierce” in reference to hands and feet (possibly from the root כור). Other variants and suggestions include “they bound,” or “they picked clean” (from אָרָה, ʾarah, “to pluck”) my hands and feet. Or “my hands and feet are consumed,” or “worn out.” The latter two assume a copying error of resh for lamed, making the verb come from כלה. P. Craigie (Psalms [WBC], 1:196) opts for this last but also cites Syriac and Akkadian for additional root K-R-H meaning “to be shrunken, shriveled.” The Akkadian verb (karu) is said of body parts and can refer to paralysis, which is the kind of metaphor which occurs in battle contexts elsewhere (e.g. Ps 76:5). It would be very natural to read “my hands and my feet” as the subject of the verb because verb-subject is typical word order. There is no decisive answer to the problem and the NET translation includes the lion imagery (cf. v. 13) and supposes a verb that conveys an attack.
  39. Psalm 22:17 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.
  40. Psalm 22:17 tn Heb “they.” The masculine form indicates the enemies are in view. The referent (the psalmist’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  41. Psalm 22:17 tn Heb “they gaze, they look upon me.”
  42. Psalm 22:18 tn Heb “casting lots.” The precise way in which this would have been done is not certain.
  43. Psalm 22:19 tn Heb “O my strength.”
  44. Psalm 22:19 tn Heb “hurry to my help.”
  45. Psalm 22:20 tn Or “my life.”
  46. Psalm 22:20 tn The verb “save” is supplied in the translation; it is understood by ellipsis (see “deliver” in the preceding line).
  47. Psalm 22:20 tn Heb “my only one.” The psalmist may mean that his life is precious, or that he feels isolated and alone.
  48. Psalm 22:20 tn Heb “from the hand.” Here “hand” is understood by metonymy as a reference to the “paw” and thus the “claws” of the wild dogs.
  49. Psalm 22:21 sn The psalmist again compares his enemies to vicious dogs and ferocious lions (see vv. 13, 16).
  50. Psalm 22:21 tn The Hebrew term רֵמִים (remim) appears to be an alternate spelling of רְאֵמִים (reʾemim, “wild oxen”; see BDB 910 s.v. רְאֵם).
  51. Psalm 22:21 tn Heb “and from the horns of the wild oxen you answer me.” Most take the final verb with the preceding prepositional phrase. Some understand the verb form as a relatively rare precative perfect, expressing a wish or request (see IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew. (See the discussion at Ps 3:7.) Others prefer to take the perfect in its usual indicative sense. The psalmist, perhaps in response to an oracle of salvation, affirms confidently that God has answered him, assuring him that deliverance is on the way. The present translation takes the prepositional phrase as parallel to the preceding “from the mouth of the lion” and as collocated with the verb “rescue” at the beginning of the verse. “You have answered me” is understood as a triumphant shout which marks a sudden shift in tone and introduces the next major section of the psalm. By isolating the statement syntactically, the psalmist highlights the declaration.
  52. Psalm 22:22 tn Or “brothers,” but here the term does not carry a literal familial sense. It refers to the psalmist’s fellow members of the Israelite covenant community (see v. 23).
  53. Psalm 22:23 tn Heb “[you] fearers of the Lord.” See Ps 15:4.
  54. Psalm 22:23 tn Heb “fear him.”
  55. Psalm 22:24 tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”
  56. Psalm 22:24 sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.
  57. Psalm 22:24 tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).
  58. Psalm 22:24 tn Heb “heard.”
  59. Psalm 22:25 tn Heb “from with you [is] my praise.”
  60. Psalm 22:25 tn Heb “my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.” When asking the Lord for help, the psalmists would typically promise to praise the Lord publicly if he intervened and delivered them.
  61. Psalm 22:26 sn Eat and be filled. In addition to praising the Lord, the psalmist also offers a thank offering to the Lord and invites others to share in a communal meal.
  62. Psalm 22:26 tn Heb “may your heart[s].”
  63. Psalm 22:27 tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27 are understood as jussives (cf. NEB). Another option (cf. NIV, NRSV) is to take the forms as imperfects and translate, “all the people of the earth will acknowledge and turn…and worship.” See vv. 29-32.
  64. Psalm 22:27 tn Heb “families of the nations.”
  65. Psalm 22:27 tn Heb “before you.”
  66. Psalm 22:28 tn Heb “for to the Lord [is] dominion.”
  67. Psalm 22:29 tn Heb “fat [ones].” This apparently refers to those who are healthy and robust, i.e., thriving. In light of the parallelism, some prefer to emend the form to יְשֵׁנֵי (yeshene, “those who sleep [in the earth]”; cf. NAB, NRSV), but דִּשְׁנֵי (dishne, “fat [ones]”) seems to form a merism with “all who descend into the grave” in the following line. The psalmist envisions all people, whether healthy or dying, joining in worship of the Lord.
  68. Psalm 22:29 tn Heb “eat and worship.” The verb forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) are normally used in narrative to relate completed actions. Here the psalmist uses the forms rhetorically as he envisions a time when the Lord will receive universal worship. The mood is one of wishful thinking and anticipation; this is not prophecy in the strict sense.
  69. Psalm 22:29 tn Heb “all of the ones going down [into] the dust.” This group stands in contrast to those mentioned in the previous line. Together the two form a merism encompassing all human beings—the healthy, the dying, and everyone in between.
  70. Psalm 22:29 tn Heb “and his life he does not revive.”
  71. Psalm 22:30 tn Heb “offspring.”
  72. Psalm 22:30 tn Heb “it will be told concerning the Lord to the generation.” The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
  73. Psalm 22:31 tn Heb “his righteousness.” Here the noun צִדָקָה (tsidaqah) refers to the Lord’s saving deeds whereby he vindicates the oppressed.
  74. Psalm 22:31 tn Heb “to a people [to be] born that he has acted.” The words “they will tell” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
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Psalm 21
Psalm 23
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Psalm 54
New English Translation

Psalm 54[a]

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.”[c]

54 O God, deliver me by your name.[d]
Vindicate me[e] by your power.
2 O God, listen to my prayer.
Pay attention to what I say.[f]
3 For foreigners[g] attack me;[h]
ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life.[i] (Selah)
4 Look, God is my deliverer.[j]
The Lord is among those who support me.[k]
5 May those who wait to ambush me[l] be repaid for their evil.[m]
As a demonstration of your faithfulness,[n] destroy them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice[o] to you.
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 Surely[p] he rescues me from all trouble,[q]
and I triumph over my enemies.[r]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 54:1 sn Psalm 54. The psalmist asks God for protection against his enemies, confidently affirms that God will vindicate him, and promises to give thanks to God for his saving intervention.
  2. Psalm 54:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.
  3. Psalm 54:1 tn Heb “Is not David hiding with us?”sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm during the period when Saul was seeking his life. On one occasion the Ziphites informed Saul that David was hiding in their territory (see 1 Sam 23:19-20).
  4. Psalm 54:1 tn God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character, which would instill fear in the psalmist’s enemies (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:17).
  5. Psalm 54:1 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.
  6. Psalm 54:2 tn Heb “to the words of my mouth.”
  7. Psalm 54:3 tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). This is a case of confusing ד (dalet) and ר (resh). The term זֵדִים (zedim) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (ʿaritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim) is parallel to עָרִיצִים in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.
  8. Psalm 54:3 tn Heb “rise against me.”
  9. Psalm 54:3 tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”
  10. Psalm 54:4 tn Or “my helper.”
  11. Psalm 54:4 tn Or “sustain my life.”
  12. Psalm 54:5 tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.
  13. Psalm 54:5 tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form יָשֹׁב (yashov, “let it [the evil] return”) here.
  14. Psalm 54:5 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
  15. Psalm 54:6 tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve/vow to praise.
  16. Psalm 54:7 tn Or “for,” indicating a more specific reason why he will praise the Lord’s name (cf. v. 6).
  17. Psalm 54:7 tn The perfects in v. 7 are probably rhetorical, indicating the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance and his own vindication as if they were occurring or had already occurred.
  18. Psalm 54:7 tn Heb “and on my enemies my eyes look.”
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Psalm 53
Psalm 55
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1 Samuel 24
New English Translation

David Spares Saul’s Life

24 (24:2) When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “Look, David is in the desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took 3,000 select men from all Israel and went to find[a] David and his men in the region of[b] the rocks of the mountain goats.[c] 3 He came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave. Saul went into it to relieve himself.[d]

Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave. 4 David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him whatever seems appropriate to you.’”[e] So David got up and quietly cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. 5 Afterward David’s conscience bothered him[f] because he had cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “May the Lord keep me far away from doing such a thing to my lord, who is the Lord’s chosen one,[g] by extending my hand against him. After all,[h] he is the Lord’s chosen one.” 7 David restrained his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and started down[i] the road.

8 Afterward David got up and went out of the cave. He called out to Saul, “My lord, O king!” When Saul looked behind him, David kneeled down and bowed with his face to the ground. 9 David said to Saul, “Why do you pay attention when men say, ‘David is seeking to do you harm’? 10 Today your own eyes see how the Lord delivered you—this very day—into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I had pity[j] on you and said, ‘I will not extend my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s chosen one.’[k] 11 Look, my father, and see the edge of your robe in my hand! When I cut off the edge of your robe, I didn’t kill you. So realize and understand that I am not planning[l] evil or rebellion. Even though I have not sinned against you, you are waiting in ambush to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between the two of us, and may the Lord vindicate me over you, but my hand will not be against you. 13 It’s like the old proverb says: ‘From evil people evil proceeds.’ But my hand will not be against you. 14 Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea? 15 May the Lord be our judge and arbiter. May he see and arbitrate my case and deliver me from your hands.”

16 When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” Then Saul wept loudly.[m] 17 He said to David, “You are more innocent[n] than I, for you have treated me well, even though I have tried to harm you. 18 You have explained today how you have treated me well. The Lord delivered me into your hand, but you did not kill me. 19 Now if a man finds his enemy, does he send him on his way in good shape? May the Lord repay you with good this day for what you have done to me. 20 Now look, I realize that you will in fact be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 So now swear to me in the Lord’s name[o] that you will not kill[p] my descendants after me or destroy my name from the house of my father.”

22 David promised Saul this on oath.[q] Then Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 24:2 tn Heb “to search [for].”
  2. 1 Samuel 24:2 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
  3. 1 Samuel 24:2 tn Or “the region of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats,” if this expression is understood as a place name (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV).
  4. 1 Samuel 24:3 tn Heb “to cover his feet,” an idiom (euphemism) for relieving oneself (cf. NAB “to ease nature”).
  5. 1 Samuel 24:4 tn Heb “is good in your eyes.”
  6. 1 Samuel 24:5 tn Heb “the heart of David struck him.”
  7. 1 Samuel 24:6 tn Heb “anointed.” Also at the end of this verse.
  8. 1 Samuel 24:6 tn Or “for.”
  9. 1 Samuel 24:7 tn Heb “went on.”
  10. 1 Samuel 24:10 tn Heb “it had pity,” apparently with the understood subject being “my eye,” in accordance with a common expression.
  11. 1 Samuel 24:10 tn Heb “anointed.”
  12. 1 Samuel 24:11 tn Heb “there is not in my hand.”
  13. 1 Samuel 24:16 tn Heb “lifted his voice and wept.”
  14. 1 Samuel 24:17 tn Or “righteous” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “you are in the right”; NLT “are a better man than I am.”
  15. 1 Samuel 24:21 tn Heb “by the Lord.”
  16. 1 Samuel 24:21 tn Heb “cut off.”
  17. 1 Samuel 24:22 tn Heb “and David swore an oath to Saul.”
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1 Samuel 23
1 Samuel 25
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