Psalm 68:18-20
New English Translation
18 You ascend on high;[a]
you have taken many captives.[b]
You receive tribute[c] from[d] men,
including even sinful rebels.
Indeed, the Lord God lives there.[e]
19 The Lord deserves praise.[f]
Day after day[g] he carries our burden,
the God who delivers us. (Selah)
20 Our God is a God who delivers;
the Lord, the Sovereign Lord, can rescue from death.[h]
Footnotes
- Psalm 68:18 tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.
- Psalm 68:18 tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”
- Psalm 68:18 tn Or “gifts.”
- Psalm 68:18 tn Or “among.”
- Psalm 68:18 tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with ל (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.
- Psalm 68:19 tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”
- Psalm 68:19 tn It is possible to take this phrase with what precedes (“The Lord deserves praise day after day”) rather than with what follows.
- Psalm 68:20 tn Heb “and to the Lord, the Lord, to death, goings out.”
Psalm 68:18-20
English Standard Version
18 (A)You ascended on high,
(B)leading a host of captives in your train
and (C)receiving gifts among men,
even among (D)the rebellious, (E)that the Lord God may dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord,
who daily (F)bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
(G)and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
Psalm 68:18-20
New International Version
Footnotes
- Psalm 68:18 Or gifts for people, / even
- Psalm 68:18 Or they
Psalm 68:18-20
King James Version
18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.
20 He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.
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