Mazmur 102:1--104:35
KonteksThe prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.
102:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!
Pay attention to my cry for help! 2
102:2 Do not ignore me in my time of trouble! 3
Listen to me! 4
When I call out to you, quickly answer me!
102:3 For my days go up in smoke, 5
and my bones are charred like a fireplace. 6
102:4 My heart is parched 7 and withered like grass,
for I am unable 8 to eat food. 9
102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,
my bones protrude from my skin. 10
102:6 I am like an owl 11 in the wilderness;
I am like a screech owl 12 among the ruins. 13
I am like a solitary bird on a roof.
102:8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who mock me use my name in their curses. 15
102:9 For I eat ashes as if they were bread, 16
and mix my drink with my tears, 17
102:10 because of your anger and raging fury.
Indeed, 18 you pick me up and throw me away.
102:11 My days are coming to an end, 19
and I am withered like grass.
102:12 But you, O Lord, rule forever, 20
and your reputation endures. 21
102:13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion. 22
For it is time to have mercy on her,
for the appointed time has come.
102:14 Indeed, 23 your servants take delight in her stones,
and feel compassion for 24 the dust of her ruins. 25
102:15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord, 26
and all the kings of the earth will respect 27 his splendor,
102:16 when the Lord rebuilds Zion,
and reveals his splendor,
102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, 28
and does not reject 29 their request. 30
102:18 The account of his intervention 31 will be recorded for future generations;
people yet to be born will praise the Lord.
102:19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above; 32
from heaven the Lord will look toward earth, 33
102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,
and to set free those condemned to die, 34
102:21 so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion,
and praise him 35 in Jerusalem, 36
102:22 when the nations gather together,
and the kingdoms pay tribute to the Lord. 37
102:23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life; 38
he has cut short my days.
102:24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! 39
You endure through all generations. 40
102:25 In earlier times you established the earth;
the skies are your handiwork.
102:26 They will perish,
but you will endure. 41
They will wear out like a garment;
like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. 42
your years do not come to an end.
102:28 The children of your servants will settle down here,
and their descendants 44 will live securely in your presence.” 45
By David.
103:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul!
With all that is within me, praise 47 his holy name!
103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Do not forget all his kind deeds! 48
103:3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases, 49
103:4 who delivers 50 your life from the Pit, 51
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
103:5 who satisfies your life with good things, 52
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s. 53
103:6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed. 54
103:7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts 55 to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient 56 and demonstrates great loyal love. 57
103:9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry. 58
103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; 59
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. 60
103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers 61 over his faithful followers. 62
103:12 As far as the eastern horizon 63 is from the west, 64
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions 65 from us.
103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, 66
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. 67
103:14 For he knows what we are made of; 68
he realizes 69 we are made of clay. 70
103:15 A person’s life is like grass. 71
Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
103:16 but when the hot wind 72 blows by, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
103:17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, 73
and is faithful to their descendants, 74
103:18 to those who keep his covenant,
who are careful to obey his commands. 75
103:19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom extends over everything. 76
103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,
you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees
and obey his orders! 77
103:21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, 78
you servants of his who carry out his desires! 79
103:22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made, 80
in all the regions 81 of his kingdom!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
104:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are magnificent. 83
You are robed in splendor and majesty.
104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. 84
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels along on the wings of the wind. 85
104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,
and the flaming fire his attendant. 86
104:5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be upended.
104:6 The watery deep covered it 87 like a garment;
the waters reached 88 above the mountains. 89
104:7 Your shout made the waters retreat;
at the sound of your thunderous voice they hurried off –
104:8 as the mountains rose up,
and the valleys went down –
to the place you appointed for them. 90
104:9 You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,
so that they would not cover the earth again. 91
104:10 He turns springs into streams; 92
they flow between the mountains.
104:11 They provide water for all the animals in the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
104:12 The birds of the sky live beside them;
they chirp among the bushes. 93
104:13 He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace; 94
the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow. 95
104:14 He provides grass 96 for the cattle,
and crops for people to cultivate, 97
so they can produce food from the ground, 98
104:15 as well as wine that makes people feel so good, 99
and so they can have oil to make their faces shine, 100
as well as food that sustains people’s lives. 101
104:16 The trees of the Lord 102 receive all the rain they need, 103
the cedars of Lebanon which he planted,
104:17 where the birds make nests,
near the evergreens in which the herons live. 104
104:18 The wild goats live in the high mountains; 105
the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.
104:19 He made the moon to mark the months, 106
and the sun sets according to a regular schedule. 107
104:20 You make it dark and night comes, 108
during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.
104:21 The lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God. 109
104:22 When the sun rises, they withdraw
and sleep 110 in their dens.
104:23 Men then go out to do their work,
and labor away until evening. 111
104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! 112
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; 113
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, 114
which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, 115
living things both small and large.
104:26 The ships travel there,
and over here swims the whale 116 you made to play in it.
104:27 All of your creatures 117 wait for you
to provide them with food on a regular basis. 118
104:28 You give food to them and they receive it;
you open your hand and they are filled with food. 119
104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. 120
When you take away their life’s breath, they die
and return to dust.
104:30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
104:31 May the splendor of the Lord endure! 121
May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made! 122
104:32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.
104:33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist! 123
104:34 May my thoughts 124 be pleasing to him!
I will rejoice in the Lord.
104:35 May sinners disappear 125 from the earth,
and the wicked vanish!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!
[102:1] 1 sn Psalm 102. The psalmist laments his oppressed state, but longs for a day when the Lord will restore Jerusalem and vindicate his suffering people.
[102:1] 2 tn Heb “and may my cry for help come to you.”
[102:2] 3 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble.” The idiom “to hide the face” can mean “to ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “to reject” (see Pss 29:7; 30:7; 88:14).
[102:2] 4 tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”
[102:3] 5 tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”
[102:3] 6 tn The Hebrew noun מוֹ־קֵד (mo-qed, “fireplace”) occurs only here, in Isa 33:14 (where it refers to the fire itself), and perhaps in Lev 6:2.
[102:4] 7 tn Heb “struck, attacked.”
[102:4] 9 sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.
[102:5] 10 tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.
[102:6] 11 tn The Hebrew term קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). Modern translations have frequently rendered this as some type of owl (NIV, REB “desert owl”; NRSV “owl”).
[102:6] 12 tn The Hebrew term כוֹס (khos) refers to a bird (see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16), probably a type of owl (cf. NIV, REB “owl”; NRSV “little owl”).
[102:6] 13 sn By comparing himself to a screech owl among the ruins, the psalmist may be highlighting his loneliness (see v. 7), though he may also be comparing his cries for help to the owl’s screech.
[102:7] 14 tn This probably refers to the psalmist’s inability to sleep. Another option is to translate, “I keep watch,” in which case it might refer to watching for a response from the
[102:8] 15 tn Heb “by me they swear.” When the psalmist’s enemies call judgment down on others, they hold the psalmist up as a prime example of what they desire their enemies to become.
[102:9] 16 sn Mourners would sometimes put ashes on their head or roll in ashes as a sign of mourning (see 2 Sam 13:19; Job 2:8; Isa 58:5).
[102:11] 19 tn Heb “my days [are] like an extended [or “lengthening”] shadow,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness.
[102:12] 20 tn Heb “sit” (i.e., sit enthroned, see Ps 9:7). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.
[102:12] 21 tn Heb “and your remembrance [is] for a generation and a generation.”
[102:13] 22 tn The imperfect verbal forms are understood as expressing the psalmist’s confidence in God’s intervention. Another option is to take them as expressing the psalmist’s request or wish, “You, rise up and have compassion!”
[102:14] 24 tn The Poel of חָנַן (khanan) occurs only here and in Prov 14:21, where it refers to having compassion on the poor.
[102:14] 25 tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.
[102:15] 26 tn Heb “will fear the name of the
[102:15] 27 tn The verb “will fear” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).
[102:17] 28 tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).
[102:17] 30 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.
[102:18] 31 tn The Hebrew text has simply “this,” referring to the anticipated divine intervention on behalf of Zion (vv. 13, 16-17). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[102:19] 32 tn Heb “from the height of his sanctuary.”
[102:19] 33 tn The perfect verbal forms in v. 19 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 18.
[102:20] 34 tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
[102:21] 35 tn Heb “his praise.”
[102:21] 36 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[102:22] 37 tn “and the kingdoms to serve the
[102:23] 38 tn Heb “he has afflicted my strength in the way.” The term “way” refers here to the course of the psalmist’s life, which appears to be ending prematurely (vv. 23b-24).
[102:24] 39 tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”
[102:24] 40 tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”
[102:26] 42 tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.
[102:27] 43 tn Heb “you [are] he,” or “you [are] the one.” The statement may echo the
[102:28] 44 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
[102:28] 45 tn Heb “before you will be established.”
[103:1] 46 sn Psalm 103. The psalmist praises God for his mercy and willingness to forgive his people.
[103:1] 47 tn The verb “praise” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).
[103:2] 48 tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the
[103:3] 49 tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).
[103:4] 51 tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.
[103:5] 52 tc Heb “who satisfies with the good of your ornaments.” The text as it stands makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes an emendation of עֶדְיֵךְ (’ed’ekh, “your ornaments”) to עֹדֵכִי (’odekhiy, “your duration; your continuance”) that is, “your life” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 18).
[103:5] 53 sn The expression your youth is renewed like an eagle’s may allude to the phenomenon of molting, whereby the eagle grows new feathers.
[103:6] 54 tn Heb “the
[103:7] 55 tn Heb “made known his ways.” God’s “ways” in this context are his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 18:30; 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 138:5; 145:17).
[103:8] 56 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
[103:8] 57 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
[103:9] 58 tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).
[103:10] 59 tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”
[103:10] 60 tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”
[103:11] 61 tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
[103:11] 62 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
[103:12] 65 tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
[103:13] 66 tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
[103:13] 67 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
[103:14] 68 tn Heb “our form.”
[103:14] 69 tn Heb “remembers.”
[103:14] 70 tn Heb “we [are] clay.”
[103:15] 71 tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.
[103:16] 72 tn Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[103:17] 73 tn Heb “but the loyal love of the
[103:17] 74 tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”
[103:18] 75 tn Heb “to those who remember his precepts to do them.”
[103:19] 76 tn Heb “his kingdom rules over all.”
[103:20] 77 tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”
[103:21] 78 tn Heb “all his hosts.”
[103:21] 79 tn Heb “his attendants, doers of his desire.”
[103:22] 80 tn Heb “all his works,” which includes mankind.
[104:1] 82 sn Psalm 104. The psalmist praises God as the ruler of the world who sustains all life.
[104:1] 83 tn Heb “very great.”
[104:3] 84 tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.
[104:3] 85 sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.
[104:4] 86 tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).
[104:4] sn In Ugaritic mythology Yam’s messengers appear as flaming fire before the assembly of the gods. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 42.
[104:6] 87 tc Heb “you covered it.” The masculine suffix is problematic if the grammatically feminine noun “earth” is the antecedent. For this reason some emend the form to a feminine verb with feminine suffix, כִּסַּתָּה (kisattah, “[the watery deep] covered it [i.e., the earth]”), a reading assumed by the present translation.
[104:6] 89 sn Verse 6 refers to the condition described in Gen 1:2 (note the use of the Hebrew term תְּהוֹם [tÿhom, “watery deep”] in both texts).
[104:8] 90 tn Heb “from your shout they fled, from the sound of your thunder they hurried off.”
[104:8] sn Verses 7-8 poetically depict Gen 1:9-10.
[104:9] 91 tn Heb “a boundary you set up, they will not cross, they will not return to cover the earth.”
[104:10] 92 tn Heb “[the] one who sends springs into streams.” Another option is to translate, “he sends streams [i.e., streams that originate from springs] into the valleys” (cf. NIV).
[104:12] 93 tn Heb “among the thick foliage they give a sound.”
[104:13] 94 tn Heb “from his upper rooms.”
[104:13] 95 tn Heb “from the fruit of your works the earth is full.” The translation assumes that “fruit” is literal here. If “fruit” is understood more abstractly as “product; result,” then one could translate, “the earth flourishes as a result of your deeds” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB).
[104:14] 96 tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”
[104:14] 97 tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).
[104:14] 98 tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”
[104:15] 99 tn Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”
[104:15] 100 tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).
[104:15] 101 tn Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”
[104:16] 102 sn The trees of the
[104:16] 103 tn Heb “are satisfied,” which means here that they receive abundant rain (see v. 13).
[104:17] 104 tn Heb “[the] heron [in the] evergreens [is] its home.”
[104:17] sn The cedars and evergreens of the Lebanon forest are frequently associated (see, for example, 2 Chr 2:8; Isa 14:8; 37:24; Ezek 31:8).
[104:18] 105 tn Heb “the high mountains [are] for the goats.”
[104:19] 106 tn Heb “he made [the] moon for appointed times.” The phrase “appointed times” probably refers to the months of the Hebrew lunar calendar.
[104:19] 107 tn Heb more metaphorically, “knows its setting.”
[104:20] 108 tn Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”
[104:21] 109 sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.
[104:22] 110 tn Heb “lie down.”
[104:23] 111 tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”
[104:24] 112 tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O
[104:24] 113 tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”
[104:25] 114 tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”
[104:25] 115 tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”
[104:26] 116 tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.
[104:27] 117 tn Heb “All of them.” The pronoun “them” refers not just to the sea creatures mentioned in vv. 25-26, but to all living things (see v. 24). This has been specified in the translation as “all of your creatures” for clarity.
[104:27] 118 tn Heb “to give their food in its time.”
[104:28] 119 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] good.”
[104:29] 120 tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”
[104:31] 121 tn Heb “be forever.”
[104:31] 122 tn Or “rejoice in his works.”
[104:33] 123 tn Heb “in my duration.”
[104:34] 124 tn That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.
