Mazmur 68:24-25

68:24 They ¹  see your processions, O God –

the processions of my God, my king, who marches along in holy splendor. ² 

68:25 Singers walk in front;

musicians follow playing their stringed instruments, ³ 

in the midst of young women playing tambourines. ⁴ 

Mazmur 68:1

Psalm 68 ⁵ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ⁶ 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ⁷  run from him. ⁸ 

Mazmur 15:1

Psalm 15 ⁹ 

A psalm of David.

15:1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home? ¹⁰ 

Who may live on your holy hill? ¹¹ 

Mazmur 23:5

23:5 You prepare a feast before me ¹² 

in plain sight of my enemies.

You refresh ¹³  my head with oil;

my cup is completely full. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 25:1-6

Psalm 25 ¹⁵ 

By David.

25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. ¹⁶ 

25:2 My God, I trust in you.

Please do not let me be humiliated;

do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me!

25:3 Certainly none who rely on you will be humiliated.

Those who deal in treachery will be thwarted ¹⁷  and humiliated.

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

Teach me your paths! ¹⁸ 

25:5 Guide me into your truth ¹⁹  and teach me.

For you are the God who delivers me;

on you I rely all day long.

25:6 Remember ²⁰  your compassionate and faithful deeds, O Lord,

for you have always acted in this manner. ²¹ 

Wahyu 14:1-3

An Interlude: The Song of the 144,000

14:1 Then ²²  I looked, and here was ²³  the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 14:2 I also heard a sound ²⁴  coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. Now ²⁵  the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps, 14:3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No ²⁶  one was able to learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

[68:24]  ¹ tn The subject is probably indefinite, referring to bystanders in general who witness the procession.

[68:24]  ² tn The Hebrew text has simply “in holiness.” The words “who marches along” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[68:25]  ³ tn Heb “after [are] the stringed instrument players.”

[68:25]  ⁴ sn To celebrate a military victory, women would play tambourines (see Exod 15:20; Judg 11:34; 1 Sam 18:6).

[68:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ⁶ tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ⁸ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”

[15:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 15. This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.

[15:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Who may live as a resident alien in your tent?”

[15:1]  ¹¹ sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill probably refers to Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.

[23:5]  ¹² sn In v. 5 the metaphor switches. (It would be very odd for a sheep to have its head anointed and be served wine.) The background for the imagery is probably the royal banquet. Ancient Near Eastern texts describe such banquets in similar terms to those employed by the psalmist. (See M. L. Barre and J. S. Kselman, “New Exodus, Covenant, and Restoration in Psalm 23,” The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth, 97-127.) The reality behind the imagery is the Lord’s favor. Through his blessings and protection he demonstrates to everyone, including dangerous enemies, that the psalmist has a special relationship with him.

[23:5]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verbal form in v. 5a carries on the generalizing mood of vv. 1-4. However, in v. 5b the psalmist switches to a perfect (דִּשַּׁנְתָּ, dishanta), which may have a generalizing force as well. But then again the perfect is conspicuous here and may be present perfect in sense, indicating that the divine host typically pours oil on his head prior to seating him at the banquet table. The verb דָשַׁן (dashan; the Piel is factitive) is often translated “anoint,” but this is misleading, for it might suggest a symbolic act of initiation into royal status. One would expect the verb מָשָׁח (mashan) in this case; דָשַׁן here describes an act of hospitality extended to guests and carries the nuance “refresh.” In Prov 15:30 it stands parallel to “make happy” and refers to the effect that good news has on the inner being of its recipient.

[23:5]  ¹⁴ tn The rare noun רְַָויָה (rÿvayah) is derived from the well-attested verb רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated, drink one’s fill”). In this context, where it describes a cup, it must mean “filled up,” but not necessarily to overflowing.

[25:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.

[25:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to you, O Lord, my life I lift up.” To “lift up” one’s “life” to the Lord means to express one’s trust in him through prayer. See Pss 86:4; 143:8.

[25:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “those who deal in treachery in vain.” The adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “in vain”) probably refers to the failure (or futility) of their efforts. Another option is to understand it as meaning “without cause” (cf. NIV “without excuse”; NRSV “wantonly treacherous”).

[25:4]  ¹⁸ 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.

[25:5]  ¹⁹ sn The Lord’s commandments are referred to as truth here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will.

[25:6]  ²⁰ tn That is, “remember” with the intention of repeating.

[25:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “for from antiquity [are] they.”

[14:1]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:1]  ²³ tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).

[14:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “a voice” (cf. Rev 1:15), but since in this context nothing is mentioned as the content of the voice, it is preferable to translate φωνή (fwnh) as “sound” here.

[14:2]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a new topic.

[14:3]  ²⁶ tn Grk “elders, and no one.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but because of the length and complexity of the sentence a new sentence was started here in the translation.