Mazmur 5:2

5:2 Pay attention to my cry for help,

my king and my God,

for I am praying to you!

Mazmur 8:8

8:8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea

and everything that moves through the currents ¹  of the seas.

Mazmur 10:12

10:12 Rise up, Lord! ² 

O God, strike him down! ³ 

Do not forget the oppressed!

Mazmur 15:2

15:2 Whoever lives a blameless life, ⁴ 

does what is right,

and speaks honestly. ⁵ 

Mazmur 20:9

20:9 The Lord will deliver the king; ⁶ 

he will answer us ⁷  when we call to him for help! ⁸ 

Mazmur 22:19

22:19 But you, O Lord, do not remain far away!

You are my source of strength! ⁹  Hurry and help me! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 25:4

25:4 Make me understand your ways, O Lord!

Teach me your paths! ¹¹ 

Mazmur 26:9

26:9 Do not sweep me away ¹²  with sinners,

or execute me along with violent people, ¹³ 

Mazmur 33:1

Psalm 33 ¹⁴ 

33:1 You godly ones, shout for joy because of the Lord!

It is appropriate for the morally upright to offer him praise.

Mazmur 34:12

34:12 Do you want to really live? ¹⁵ 

Would you love to live a long, happy life? ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 35:11

35:11 Violent men perjure themselves, ¹⁷ 

and falsely accuse me. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 37:5

37:5 Commit your future to the Lord! ¹⁹ 

Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 41:7

41:7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another; ²¹ 

they plan ways to harm me.

Mazmur 46:8

46:8 Come! Witness the exploits ²²  of the Lord,

who brings devastation to the earth! ²³ 

Mazmur 50:11

50:11 I keep track of ²⁴  every bird in the hills,

and the insects ²⁵  of the field are mine.

Mazmur 51:6

51:6 Look, ²⁶  you desire ²⁷  integrity in the inner man; ²⁸ 

you want me to possess wisdom. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 56:3

56:3 When ³⁰  I am afraid,

I trust in you.

Mazmur 56:5

56:5 All day long they cause me trouble; ³¹ 

they make a habit of plotting my demise. ³² 

Mazmur 58:5

58:5 that does not respond to ³³  the magicians,

or to a skilled snake-charmer.

Mazmur 61:1

Psalm 61 ³⁴ 

For the music director; to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.

61:1 O God, hear my cry for help!

Pay attention to my prayer!

Mazmur 73:13

73:13 I concluded, ³⁵  “Surely in vain I have kept my motives ³⁶  pure

and maintained a pure lifestyle. ³⁷ 

Mazmur 73:22

73:22 I was ignorant ³⁸  and lacked insight; ³⁹ 

I was as senseless as an animal before you. ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 78:19

78:19 They insulted God, saying, ⁴¹ 

“Is God really able to give us food ⁴²  in the wilderness?

Mazmur 83:17

83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! ⁴³ 

May they die in shame! ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 85:5-6

85:5 Will you stay mad at us forever?

Will you remain angry throughout future generations? ⁴⁵ 

85:6 Will you not revive us once more?

Then your people will rejoice in you!

Mazmur 86:4

86:4 Make your servant ⁴⁶  glad,

for to you, O Lord, I pray! ⁴⁷ 

Mazmur 88:2

88:2 Listen to my prayer! ⁴⁸ 

Pay attention ⁴⁹  to my cry for help!

Mazmur 90:12

90:12 So teach us to consider our mortality, ⁵⁰ 

so that we might live wisely. ⁵¹ 

Mazmur 94:21

94:21 They conspire against ⁵²  the blameless, ⁵³ 

and condemn to death the innocent. ⁵⁴ 

Mazmur 106:39

106:39 They were defiled by their deeds,

and unfaithful in their actions. ⁵⁵ 

Mazmur 107:2

107:2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out, ⁵⁶ 

those whom he delivered ⁵⁷  from the power ⁵⁸  of the enemy,

Mazmur 112:7

112:7 He does not fear bad news.

He ⁵⁹  is confident; he trusts ⁶⁰  in the Lord.

Mazmur 119:8

119:8 I will keep your statutes.

Do not completely abandon me! ⁶¹ 

Mazmur 119:19

119:19 I am like a foreigner in this land. ⁶² 

Do not hide your commands from me!

Mazmur 119:27

119:27 Help me to understand what your precepts mean! ⁶³ 

Then I can meditate ⁶⁴  on your marvelous teachings. ⁶⁵ 

Mazmur 119:33

ה (He)

119:33 Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes, ⁶⁶ 

so that I might observe it continually. ⁶⁷ 

Mazmur 119:102

119:102 I do not turn aside from your regulations,

for you teach me.

Mazmur 119:107

119:107 I am suffering terribly.

O Lord, revive me with your word! ⁶⁸ 

Mazmur 119:121

ע (Ayin)

119:121 I do what is fair and right. ⁶⁹ 

Do not abandon me to my oppressors!

Mazmur 119:146

119:146 I cried out to you, “Deliver me,

so that I can keep ⁷⁰  your rules.”

Mazmur 119:175

119:175 May I ⁷¹  live and praise you!

May your regulations help me! ⁷² 

Mazmur 133:1

Psalm 133 ⁷³ 

A song of ascents, ⁷⁴  by David.

133:1 Look! How good and how pleasant it is

when brothers live together! ⁷⁵ 

Mazmur 140:8

140:8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! ⁷⁶ 

Do not allow their ⁷⁷  plan to succeed when they attack! ⁷⁸  (Selah)

Mazmur 144:13

144:13 Our storehouses ⁷⁹  will be full,

providing all kinds of food. ⁸⁰ 

Our sheep will multiply by the thousands

and fill ⁸¹  our pastures. ⁸² 

[8:8]  ¹ tn Heb “paths.”

[10:12]  ² sn Rise up, O Lord! The psalmist’s mood changes from lament to petition and confidence.

[10:12]  ³ tn Heb “lift up your hand.” Usually the expression “lifting the hand” refers to praying (Pss 28:2; 134:2) or making an oath (Ps 106:26), but here it probably refers to “striking a blow” (see 2 Sam 18:28; 20:21). Note v. 15, where the psalmist asks the Lord to “break the arm of the wicked.” A less likely option is that the psalmist is requesting that the Lord declare by oath his intention to intervene.

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “one who walks blamelessly.”

[15:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “one who speaks truth in his heart”; or “one who speaks truth [that is] in his heart.” This apparently refers to formulating a truthful statement in one’s mind and then honestly revealing that statement in one’s speech.

[20:9]  ⁶ tc This translation assumes an emendation of the verbal form הוֹשִׁיעָה (hoshi’ah). As it stands, the form is an imperative. In this case the people return to the petitionary mood with which the psalm begins (“O Lord, deliver”). But the immediate context is one of confidence (vv. 6-8), not petition (vv. 1-5). If one takes the final he on the verb “deliver” as dittographic (note the initial he (ה) on the following phrase, “the king”), one can repoint the verbal form as a perfect and understand it as expressing the people’s confidence, “the Lord will deliver the king” (see v. 6). The Hebrew scribal tradition takes “the king” with the following line, in which case it would be best interpreted as a divine title, “may the King answer us” or “the king will answer us” (see Pss 98:6; 145:1). However, the poetic parallelism is better balanced if “the king” is taken with the first line. In this case the referent is the Davidic king, who is earlier called the Lord’s “anointed one” (cf. note on “chosen king” in v. 6; see Pss 21:7; 45:5, 11; 63:11).

[20:9]  ⁷ tn If the imperative is retained in the preceding line, then the prefixed verbal form is best taken as a jussive of prayer, “may he answer us.” However, if the imperative in the previous line is emended to a perfect, the prefixed form is best taken as imperfect, “he will answer us” (see the note on the word “king” at the end of the previous line).

[20:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the day we call.”

[22:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “O my strength.”

[22:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “hurry to my help.”

[25:4]  ¹¹ sn Teach me your paths. In this context the Lord’s “ways” and “paths” refer to the moral principles which the Lord prescribes for his followers. See vv. 8-10.

[26:9]  ¹² tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”

[26:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[33:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 33. In this hymn the psalmist praises the Lord as the sovereign creator and just ruler of the world who protects and vindicates those who fear him.

[34:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Who is the man who desires life?” The rhetorical question is used to grab the audience’s attention. “Life” probably refers here to quality of life, not just physical existence or even duration of life. See the following line.

[34:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[Who] loves days to see good?”

[35:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “witnesses of violence rise up.”

[35:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[that] which I do not know they ask me.”

[37:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “roll your way upon the Lord.” The noun “way” may refer here to one’s activities or course of life.

[37:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he will act.” Verse 6 explains what is meant; the Lord will vindicate those who trust in him.

[41:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “together against me they whisper, all those who hate me.” The Hitpael of לָחַשׁ (lakhash) refers here to whispering to one another (see 2 Sam 12:19).

[46:8]  ²² sn In this context the Lord’s exploits are military in nature (see vv. 8b-9).

[46:8]  ²³ tn Heb “who sets desolations in the earth” (see Isa 13:9). The active participle describes God’s characteristic activity as a warrior.

[50:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I know.”

[50:11]  ²⁵ tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word, which occurs only here and in Ps 80:13, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.

[51:6]  ²⁶ sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.

[51:6]  ²⁷ tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.

[51:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.

[51:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).

[51:6]  sn You want me to possess wisdom. Here “wisdom” does not mean “intelligence” or “learning,” but refers to moral insight and skill.

[56:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “[in] a day.”

[56:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of דָּבָר (davar) meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183 s.v.. The Piel of עָצַב (’atsav, “to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”

[56:5]  ³² tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”

[58:5]  ³³ tn Heb “does not listen to the voice of.”

[61:1]  ³⁴ sn Psalm 61. The psalmist cries out for help and expresses his confidence that God will protect him.

[73:13]  ³⁵ tn The words “I concluded” are supplied in the translation. It is apparent that vv. 13-14 reflect the psalmist’s thoughts at an earlier time (see vv. 2-3), prior to the spiritual awakening he describes in vv. 17-28.

[73:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “heart,” viewed here as the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.

[73:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and washed my hands in innocence.” The psalmist uses an image from cultic ritual to picture his moral lifestyle. The reference to “hands” suggests actions.

[73:22]  ³⁸ tn Or “brutish, stupid.”

[73:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and I was not knowing.”

[73:22]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “an animal I was with you.”

[78:19]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “they spoke against God, they said.”

[78:19]  ⁴² tn Heb “to arrange a table [for food].”

[83:17]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.

[83:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.

[85:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a generation?”

[86:4]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the soul of your servant.”

[86:4]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “I lift up my soul.”

[88:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “may my prayer come before you.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating the psalmist’s desire or prayer.

[88:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[90:12]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “to number our days,” that is, to be aware of how few they really are.

[90:12]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and we will bring a heart of wisdom.” After the imperative of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates purpose/result. The Hebrew term “heart” here refers to the center of one’s thoughts, volition, and moral character.

[94:21]  ⁵² tn Or “attack.”

[94:21]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”

[94:21]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”

[106:39]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and they committed adultery in their actions.” This means that they were unfaithful to the Lord (see Ps 73:27).

[107:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “let the redeemed of the Lord say [so].”

[107:2]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “redeemed.”

[107:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

[112:7]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).

[112:7]  ⁶⁰ tn The passive participle בָּטֻחַ [בָּטוּחַ] (batuakh [batuakh]) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action. See Isa 26:3.

[119:8]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “do not abandon me to excess.” For other uses of the phrase עַד מְאֹד (’ad mÿ’od, “to excess”), see Ps 38:6, 8.

[119:19]  ⁶² tn Heb “I am a resident alien in the land.” Resident aliens were especially vulnerable and in need of help. They needed to know the social and legal customs of the land to avoid getting into trouble. The translation (note the addition of “like”) assumes the psalmist is speaking metaphorically, not literally.

[119:27]  ⁶³ tn Heb “the way of your precepts make me understand.”

[119:27]  ⁶⁴ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:27]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “your amazing things,” which refers here to the teachings of the law (see v. 18).

[119:33]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “the way of your statutes.”

[119:33]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and I will keep it to the end.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (’eqev) is understood to mean “end” here. Another option is to take עֵקֶב (’eqev) as meaning “reward” here (see Ps 19:11) and to translate, “so that I might observe it and be rewarded.”

[119:107]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “according to your word.”

[119:121]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “do justice and righteousness.”

[119:146]  ⁷⁰ tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:175]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “my life.”

[119:175]  ⁷² tn God’s regulations will “help” the psalmist by giving him moral and ethical guidance.

[133:1]  ⁷³ sn Psalm 133. The psalmist affirms the benefits of family unity.

[133:1]  ⁷⁴ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[133:1]  ⁷⁵ sn This statement refers to the extended family structure of ancient Israel, where brothers would often live in proximity to one another (Deut 25:5), giving the family greater social prominence and security. However, in its later application in the Israelite cult it probably envisions unity within the covenant community. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 212-15.

[140:8]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”

[140:8]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).

[140:8]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).

[144:13]  ⁷⁹ tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.

[144:13]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “from kind to kind.” Some prefer to emend the text to מָזוֹן עַל מָזוֹן (mazon ’al mazon, “food upon food”).

[144:13]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “they are innumerable.”

[144:13]  ⁸² tn Heb “in outside places.” Here the term refers to pastures and fields (see Job 5:10; Prov 8:26).