Mazmur 59:10-17

59:10 The God who loves me will help me; ¹ 

God will enable me to triumph over ²  my enemies. ³ 

59:11 Do not strike them dead suddenly,

because then my people might forget the lesson. ⁴ 

Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down,

O Lord who shields us! ⁵ 

59:12 They speak sinful words. ⁶ 

So let them be trapped by their own pride

and by the curses and lies they speak!

59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!

Let them know that God rules

in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)

59:14 They return in the evening;

they growl ⁷  like a dog

and prowl around outside ⁸  the city.

59:15 They wander around looking for something to eat;

they refuse to sleep until they are full. ⁹ 

59:16 As for me, I will sing about your strength;

I will praise your loyal love in the morning.

For you are my refuge ¹⁰ 

and my place of shelter when I face trouble. ¹¹ 

59:17 You are my source of strength! I will sing praises to you! ¹² 

For God is my refuge, ¹³  the God who loves me. ¹⁴ 

[59:10]  ¹ tn Heb “the God of my [Qere (marginal reading); the Kethib (consonantal text) has “his”] loyal love will meet me.”

[59:10]  ² tn Heb “will cause me to look upon.”

[59:10]  ³ tn Heb “those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2.

[59:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”

[59:11]  sn My people might forget the lesson. Swift, sudden destruction might be quickly forgotten. The psalmist wants God’s judgment to be prolonged so that it might be a continual reminder of divine justice.

[59:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”

[59:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”

[59:14]  ⁷ tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”

[59:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “go around.”

[59:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “if they are not full, they stay through the night.”

[59:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[59:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and my shelter in the day of my distress.”

[59:17]  ¹² tn Heb “my strength, to you I will sing praises.”

[59:17]  ¹³ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[59:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the God of my loyal love.”