Mazmur 88:2-4

88:2 Listen to my prayer! ¹ 

Pay attention ²  to my cry for help!

88:3 For my life ³  is filled with troubles

and I am ready to enter Sheol. ⁴ 

88:4 They treat me like ⁵  those who descend into the grave. ⁶ 

I am like a helpless man, ⁷ 

[88:2]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[88:3]  ³ tn Or “my soul.”

[88:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”

[88:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”