Mazmur 143:2-3

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ¹  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ² 

143:3 Certainly ³  my enemies ⁴  chase me.

They smash me into the ground. ⁵ 

They force me to live ⁶  in dark regions, ⁷ 

like those who have been dead for ages.

[143:2]  ¹ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ² tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”

[143:3]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[143:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).

[143:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”

[143:3]  ⁶ tn Or “sit.”

[143:3]  ⁷ sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).