Mazmur 71:15-19

71:15 I will tell about your justice,

and all day long proclaim your salvation, ¹ 

though I cannot fathom its full extent. ² 

71:16 I will come and tell about ³  the mighty acts of the sovereign Lord.

I will proclaim your justice – yours alone.

71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,

and I am still declaring ⁴  your amazing deeds.

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ⁵ 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ⁶ 

71:19 Your justice, O God, extends to the skies above; ⁷ 

you have done great things. ⁸ 

O God, who can compare to you? ⁹ 

[71:15]  ¹ tn Heb “my mouth declares your vindication, all the day your deliverance.”

[71:15]  ² tn Heb “though I do not know [the] numbers,” that is, the tally of God’s just and saving acts. HALOT 768 s.v. סְפֹרוֹת understands the plural noun to mean “the art of writing.”

[71:16]  ³ tn Heb “I will come with.”

[71:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”

[71:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[71:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “your justice, O God, [is] unto the height.” The Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) is here a title for the sky/heavens.

[71:19]  sn Extends to the skies above. Similar statements are made in Pss 36:5 and 57:10.

[71:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “you who have done great things.”

[71:19]  ⁹ tn Or “Who is like you?”