Mazmur 65:9-13

65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain; ¹ 

you make it rich and fertile ² 

with overflowing streams full of water. ³ 

You provide grain for them, ⁴ 

for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. ⁵ 

65:10 You saturate ⁶  its furrows,

and soak ⁷  its plowed ground. ⁸ 

With rain showers you soften its soil, ⁹ 

and make its crops grow. ¹⁰ 

65:11 You crown the year with your good blessings, ¹¹ 

and you leave abundance in your wake. ¹² 

65:12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture, ¹³ 

and the hills are clothed with joy. ¹⁴ 

65:13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,

and the valleys are covered with grain.

They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.

Mazmur 77:16-17

77:16 The waters ¹⁵  saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and trembled. ¹⁶ 

Yes, the depths of the sea ¹⁷  shook with fear. ¹⁸ 

77:17 The clouds poured down rain; ¹⁹ 

the skies thundered. ²⁰ 

Yes, your arrows ²¹  flashed about.

Mazmur 78:24-27

78:24 He rained down manna for them to eat;

he gave them the grain of heaven. ²² 

78:25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones. ²³ 

He sent them more than enough to eat. ²⁴ 

78:26 He brought the east wind through the sky,

and by his strength led forth the south wind.

78:27 He rained down meat on them like dust,

birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores. ²⁵ 

[65:9]  ¹ tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”

[65:9]  ² tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”

[65:9]  ³ tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).

[65:9]  ⁴ tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.

[65:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.

[65:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “saturating” [the form is an infinitive absolute].

[65:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “flatten, cause to sink.”

[65:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “trenches,” or “furrows.”

[65:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “soften it,” that is, the earth.

[65:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “its vegetation you bless.” Divine “blessing” often involves endowing an object with special power or capacity.

[65:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your good,” which refers here to agricultural blessings.

[65:11]  ¹² tn Heb “and your paths drip with abundance.”

[65:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “drip.”

[65:12]  ¹⁴ tn That is, with rich vegetation that brings joy to those who see it.

[77:16]  ¹⁵ tn The waters of the Red Sea are here personified; they are portrayed as seeing God and fearing him.

[77:16]  ¹⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:16]  ¹⁷ tn The words “of the sea” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[77:16]  ¹⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[77:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “water.”

[77:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a sound the clouds gave.”

[77:17]  ²¹ tn The lightning accompanying the storm is portrayed as the Lord’s “arrows” (see v. 18).

[78:24]  ²² sn Manna was apparently shaped like a seed (Exod 16:31), perhaps explaining why it is here compared to grain.

[78:25]  ²³ sn Because of the reference to “heaven” in the preceding verse, it is likely that mighty ones refers here to the angels of heaven. The LXX translates “angels” here, as do a number of modern translations (NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[78:25]  ²⁴ tn Heb “provision he sent to them to satisfaction.”

[78:27]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and like the sand of the seas winged birds.”