Mazmur 15:5

15:5 He does not charge interest when he lends his money. ¹ 

He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent. ² 

The one who lives like this ³  will never be upended.

Mazmur 57:6

57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me; ⁴ 

I am discouraged. ⁵ 

They have dug a pit for me. ⁶ 

They will fall ⁷  into it! (Selah)

[15:5]  ¹ sn He does not charge interest. Such an individual is truly generous, and not simply concerned with making a profit.

[15:5]  ² tn Heb “a bribe against the innocent he does not take.” For other texts condemning the practice of a judge or witness taking a bribe, see Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19; 27:25; 1 Sam 8:3; Ezek 22:12; Prov 17:23.

[15:5]  ³ tn Heb “does these things.”

[57:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “for my feet.”

[57:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “my life bends low.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[57:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “before me.”

[57:6]  ⁷ tn The perfect form is used rhetorically here to express the psalmist’s certitude. The demise of the enemies is so certain that he can speak of it as already accomplished.