Mazmur 19:14

19:14 May my words and my thoughts

be acceptable in your sight, ¹ 

O Lord, my sheltering rock ²  and my redeemer. ³ 

Mazmur 31:16

31:16 Smile ⁴  on your servant!

Deliver me because of your faithfulness!

Mazmur 31:18

31:18 May lying lips be silenced –

lips ⁵  that speak defiantly against the innocent ⁶ 

with arrogance and contempt!

Mazmur 40:11

40:11 O Lord, you do not withhold ⁷  your compassion from me.

May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me! ⁸ 

Mazmur 57:5

57:5 Rise up ⁹  above the sky, O God!

May your splendor cover the whole earth! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 69:32

69:32 The oppressed look on – let them rejoice!

You who seek God, ¹¹  may you be encouraged! ¹² 

Mazmur 72:19

72:19 His glorious name deserves praise ¹³  forevermore!

May his majestic splendor ¹⁴  fill the whole earth!

We agree! We agree! ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 79:8

79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! ¹⁶ 

Quickly send your compassion our way, ¹⁷ 

for we are in serious trouble! ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 81:12

81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; ¹⁹ 

they did what seemed right to them. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 90:17

90:17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! ²¹ 

Make our endeavors successful!

Yes, make them successful! ²² 

Mazmur 97:7

97:7 All who worship idols are ashamed,

those who boast about worthless idols.

All the gods bow down before him. ²³ 

Mazmur 107:8

107:8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ²⁴ 

Mazmur 107:15

107:15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ²⁵ 

Mazmur 107:21

107:21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ²⁶ 

Mazmur 107:31

107:31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ²⁷ 

Mazmur 108:5

108:5 Rise up ²⁸  above the sky, O God!

May your splendor cover the whole earth! ²⁹ 

Mazmur 109:12

109:12 May no one show him kindness! ³⁰ 

May no one have compassion ³¹  on his fatherless children!

Mazmur 109:18

109:18 He made cursing a way of life, ³² 

so curses poured into his stomach like water

and seeped into his bones like oil. ³³ 

Mazmur 125:5

125:5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path, ³⁴ 

may the Lord remove them, ³⁵  along with those who behave wickedly! ³⁶ 

May Israel experience peace! ³⁷ 

Mazmur 149:4

149:4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;

he exalts the oppressed by delivering them. ³⁸ 

[19:14]  ¹ tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”

[19:14]  ² tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[19:14]  ³ tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.

[31:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “cause your face to shine.”

[31:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “the [ones which].”

[31:18]  ⁶ tn Or “godly.”

[40:11]  ⁷ tn Some (cf. NIV, NRSV) translate the verb as a request (“do not withhold”), but elsewhere in the psalms the second masculine singular prefixed form, when addressed to God and preceded by לֹא (lo’), is always indicative in mood and never has the force of a prayer (see Pss 16:10; 22:2; 44:9 51:16-17; 60:10; 108:11; cf. NEB, NASB).

[40:11]  ⁸ tn In this line the psalmist makes the transition from confidence to petition (see v. 13). Since the prefixed verbal form in the preceding line is imperfect/indicative, one could take the verb in this line as imperfect as well and translate, “your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me” (cf. NEB). However, the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the next verse, if causal (“because”), is best understood as introducing a motivating argument in support of a petition. For this reason v. 11b is best taken as a prayer with the prefixed form being understood as jussive (cf. NIV, NRSV). For parallels to the proposed construction (jussive followed by כִּי + perfect introducing motivating argument), see Ps 25:21, as well as Pss 10:2-3; 22:8.

[57:5]  ⁹ tn Or “be exalted.”

[57:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “over all the earth [be] your splendor.” Though no verb appears, the tone of the statement is a prayer or wish. (Note the imperative form in the preceding line.)

[69:32]  ¹¹ sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).

[69:32]  ¹² tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.

[72:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “[be] blessed.”

[72:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “glory.”

[72:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “Amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response of agreement to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.

[79:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.

[79:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.

[79:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for we are very low.”

[81:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”

[81:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).

[90:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (no’am, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653 s.v.) or kindness (HALOT 706 s.v.).

[90:17]  ²² tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”

[97:7]  ²³ tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verbal form in the first line is an imperfect (“are ashamed”) and that the ambiguous form in the third line is a perfect (“bow down”) because the psalmist appears to be describing the effect of the Lord’s mighty theophany on those who witness it (see vv. 5, 8). Another option is to take the prefixed form in the first line as a jussive (“let all who worship idols be ashamed”) and the ambiguous form in the third line as an imperative (“All you gods, bow down before him!”; cf. NIV).

[107:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.”

[107:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

[107:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

[107:31]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

[108:5]  ²⁸ tn Or “be exalted.”

[108:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “over all the earth [be] your splendor.” Though no verb appears, the tone of the statement is a prayer or wish. (Note the imperative form in the preceding line.)

[109:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”

[109:12]  ³¹ tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).

[109:18]  ³² tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”

[109:18]  ³³ tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”

[125:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and the ones making their paths twisted.” A sinful lifestyle is compared to a twisting, winding road.

[125:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “lead them away.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer here (note the prayers directly before and after this). Another option is to translate, “the Lord will remove them” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[125:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.”

[125:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 122:8 for a similar prayer for peace).

[149:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “he honors the oppressed [with] deliverance.”