2 Samuel 12:1-31 
Context12:1 So the Lord sent Nathan 1 to David. When he came to David, 2 Nathan 3 said, 4 “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 12:2 The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. 12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. 5 It used to 6 eat his food, 7 drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. 8 It was just like a daughter to him.
12:4 “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, 9 he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed 10 the traveler who had come to visit him. 11 Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked 12 it for the man who had come to visit him.”
12:5 Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 13 12:6 Because he committed this cold-hearted crime, he must pay for the lamb four times over!” 14
12:7 Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose 15 you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul. 12:8 I gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your arms. 16 I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all that somehow seems insignificant, I would have given you so much more as well! 12:9 Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my 17 sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife as your own! 18 You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 12:10 So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!’ 12:11 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on you 19 from inside your own household! 20 Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. 21 He will have sexual relations with 22 your wives in broad daylight! 23 12:12 Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.’” 24
12:13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven 25 your sin. You are not going to die. 12:14 Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt 26 in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.”
12:15 Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill. 27 12:16 Then David prayed to 28 God for the child and fasted. 29 He would even 30 go and spend the night lying on the ground. 12:17 The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.
12:18 On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us 31 when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” 32
12:19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he 33 realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.” 12:20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.
12:21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While 34 the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!” 12:22 He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, 35 ‘Perhaps 36 the Lord will show pity and the child will live. 12:23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!’”
12:24 So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. 37 She gave birth to a son, and David 38 named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child 39 12:25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet that he should be named Jedidiah 40 for the Lord’s sake.
12:26 41 So Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city. 12:27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city. 42 12:28 So now assemble the rest of the army 43 and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.”
12:29 So David assembled all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it. 12:30 He took the crown of their king 44 from his head – it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, 45 and held a precious stone – and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder. 12:31 He removed 46 the people who were in it and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, putting them to work at the brick kiln. This was his policy 47 with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem. 48
2 Corinthians 5:1-21
Context5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, 49 is dismantled, 50 we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. 5:2 For in this earthly house 51 we groan, because we desire to put on 52 our heavenly dwelling, 5:3 if indeed, after we have put on 53 our heavenly house, 54 we will not be found naked. 5:4 For we groan while we are in this tent, 55 since we are weighed down, 56 because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5:5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose 57 is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. 58 5:6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth 59 we are absent from the Lord – 5:7 for we live 60 by faith, not by sight. 5:8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away 61 from the body and at home with the Lord. 5:9 So then whether we are alive 62 or away, we make it our ambition to please him. 63 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 64 so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil. 65
5:11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, 66 we try to persuade 67 people, 68 but we are well known 69 to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too. 5:12 We are not trying to commend 70 ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, 71 so that you may be able to answer those who take pride 72 in outward appearance 73 and not in what is in the heart. 5:13 For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 5:14 For the love of Christ 74 controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ 75 died for all; therefore all have died. 5:15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. 76 5:16 So then from now on we acknowledge 77 no one from an outward human point of view. 78 Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, 79 now we do not know him in that way any longer. 5:17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away 80 – look, what is new 81 has come! 82 5:18 And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 5:19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us 83 the message of reconciliation. 5:20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea 84 through us. We plead with you 85 on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” 5:21 God 86 made the one who did not know sin 87 to be sin for us, so that in him 88 we would become the righteousness of God.
Ezekiel 19:1-14
Context19:1 “And you, sing 89 a lament for the princes of Israel, 19:2 and say:
“‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions!
She lay among young lions; 90 she reared her cubs.
19:3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. 91
19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.
They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 92
19:5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost.
She took another of her cubs 93 and made him a young lion.
19:6 He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.
19:7 He broke down 94 their strongholds 95 and devastated their cities.
The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.
19:8 The nations – the surrounding regions – attacked him.
They threw their net over him; he was caught in their pit.
19:9 They put him in a collar with hooks; 96
they brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him to prison 97
so that his voice would not be heard
any longer on the mountains of Israel.
19:10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, 98 planted by water.
It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.
19:11 Its boughs were strong, fit 99 for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds.
It stood out because of its height and its many branches. 100
19:12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind 101 dried up its fruit;
its strong branches broke off and withered –
a fire consumed them.
19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land. 102
19:14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. 103
No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’
This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”
Psalms 64:1--65:13
ContextFor the music director; a psalm of David.
64:1 Listen to me, 105 O God, as I offer my lament!
Protect 106 my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks. 107
64:2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,
from the crowd of evildoers. 108
64:3 They 109 sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, 110
64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent 111 in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. 112
64:5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. 113
They plan how to hide 114 snares,
and boast, 115 “Who will see them?” 116
64:6 They devise 117 unjust schemes;
they disguise 118 a well-conceived plot. 119
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. 120
64:7 But God will shoot 121 at them;
suddenly they will be 122 wounded by an arrow. 123
64:8 Their slander will bring about their demise. 124
All who see them will shudder, 125
64:9 and all people will fear. 126
They will proclaim 127 what God has done,
and reflect on his deeds.
64:10 The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and take shelter in him.
All the morally upright 128 will boast. 129
For the music director; a psalm of David, a song.
65:1 Praise awaits you, 131 O God, in Zion.
Vows made to you are fulfilled.
all people approach you. 133
65:3 Our record of sins overwhelms me, 134
but you forgive 135 our acts of rebellion.
65:4 How blessed 136 is the one whom you choose,
and allow to live in your palace courts. 137
May we be satisfied with the good things of your house –
your holy palace. 138
65:5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,
O God, our savior. 139
All the ends of the earth trust in you, 140
as well as those living across the wide seas. 141
65:6 You created the mountains by your power, 142
and demonstrated your strength. 143
65:7 You calm the raging seas 144
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations. 145
65:8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; 146
you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. 147
65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain; 148
you make it rich and fertile 149
with overflowing streams full of water. 150
You provide grain for them, 151
for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. 152
65:10 You saturate 153 its furrows,
and soak 154 its plowed ground. 155
With rain showers you soften its soil, 156
and make its crops grow. 157
65:11 You crown the year with your good blessings, 158
and you leave abundance in your wake. 159
65:12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture, 160
and the hills are clothed with joy. 161
65:13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.
1 tc A few medieval Hebrew
2 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn The Hebrew text repeats “to him.”
5 tn Heb “his sons.”
6 tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.
7 tn Heb “from his morsel.”
8 tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”
9 tn Heb “came to the rich man.” In the translation “arrived at the rich man’s home” has been used for stylistic reasons.
10 tn Heb “and he refused to take from his flock and from his herd to prepare [a meal] for.”
11 tn Heb “who had come to him” (also a second time later in this verse). The word “visit” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
12 tn Heb “and prepared.”
13 tn Heb “the man doing this [is] a son of death.” See 1 Sam 20:31 for another use of this expression, which must mean “he is as good as dead” or “he deserves to die,” as 1 Sam 20:32 makes clear.
14 tc With the exception of the Lucianic recension, the Old Greek translation has here “sevenfold” rather than “fourfold,” a reading that S. R. Driver thought probably to be the original reading (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 291). However, Exod 22:1 [21:37 HT] specifies fourfold repayment for a stolen sheep, which is consistent with 2 Sam 12:6. Some
tn Heb “the lamb he must repay fourfold because he did this thing and because he did not have compassion.”
15 tn Heb “anointed.”
16 tn Heb “and the wives of your lord into your chest [or “lap”].” The words “I put” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
17 tc So the Qere; the Kethib has “his.”
18 tn Heb “to you for a wife.” This expression also occurs at the end of v. 10.
19 tn Heb “raise up against you disaster.”
20 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV, TEV, CEV “family.”
21 tn Or “friend.”
22 tn Heb “will lie with” (so NIV, NRSV); TEV “will have intercourse with”; CEV, NLT “will go to bed with.”
23 tn Heb “in the eyes of this sun.”
24 tn Heb “and before the sun.”
25 tn Heb “removed.”
26 tc The MT has here “because you have caused the enemies of the
27 tn Heb “and the
28 tn Heb “sought” or “searched for.”
29 tn Heb “and David fasted.”
30 tn The three Hebrew verbs that follow in this verse are perfects with prefixed vav. They may describe repeated past actions or actions which accompanied David’s praying and fasting.
31 tn Heb “to our voice.”
32 tn Heb “he will do harm.” The object is not stated in the Hebrew text. The statement may be intentionally vague, meaning that he might harm himself or them!
33 tn Heb “David.” The name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
34 tc For the MT בַּעֲבוּר (ba’avur, “for the sake of”) we should probably read בְּעוֹד (bÿ’od, “while”). See the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum.
35 tn Heb “said.”
36 tn Heb “Who knows?”
37 tn Heb “and he lay with her.”
38 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity. While some translations render the pronoun as third person plural (“they”), implying that both David and Bathsheba together named the child, it is likely that the name “Solomon,” which is related to the Hebrew word for “peace” (and may be derived from it) had special significance for David, who would have regarded the birth of a second child to Bathsheba as a confirming sign that God had forgiven his sin and was at peace with him.
39 tn Heb “him,” referring to the child.
40 sn The name Jedidiah means “loved by the
41 sn Here the narrative resumes the battle story that began in 11:1 (see 11:25). The author has interrupted that story to give the related account of David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. He now returns to the earlier story and brings it to a conclusion.
42 sn The expression translated the water supply of the city (Heb “the city of the waters”) apparently refers to that part of the fortified city that guarded the water supply of the entire city. Joab had already captured this part of the city, but he now defers to King David for the capture of the rest of the city. In this way the king will receive the credit for this achievement.
43 tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 29, 31.
44 tn Part of the Greek tradition wrongly understands Hebrew מַלְכָּם (malkam, “their king”) as a proper name (“Milcom”). Some English versions follow the Greek here, rendering the phrase “the crown of Milcom” (so NRSV; cf. also NAB, CEV). TEV takes this as a reference not to the Ammonite king but to “the idol of the Ammonite god Molech.”
45 tn Heb “and its weight [was] a talent of gold.” The weight of this ornamental crown was approximately 75 lbs (34 kg). See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 313.
46 tn Heb “brought out.”
47 tn Heb “and so he would do.”
48 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
49 sn The expression the tent we live in refers to “our earthly house, our body.” Paul uses the metaphor of the physical body as a house or tent, the residence of the immaterial part of a person.
50 tn Or “destroyed.”
51 tn Or “dwelling place.”
52 tn Or “to be clothed with.”
53 tc ‡ Some
54 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the “heavenly dwelling” of the previous verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
55 sn See the note in 5:1 on the phrase the tent we live in.
56 tn Or “we are burdened.”
57 tn Grk “for this very thing.”
58 tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit” (see the note on the phrase “down payment” in 1:22).
59 tn Grk “we know that being at home in the body”; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91).
60 tn Grk “we walk.”
61 tn Or “be absent.”
62 tn Grk “whether we are at home” [in the body]; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91).
63 tn Grk “to be pleasing to him.”
64 sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a common item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. Use of the term in reference to Christ’s judgment would be familiar to Paul’s 1st century readers.
65 tn Or “whether good or bad.”
66 tn Or “because we know what it means to fear the Lord.”
67 tn The present tense of πείθομεν (peiqomen) has been translated as a conative present.
68 tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is generic here since clearly both men and women are in view (Paul did not attempt to win only men to the gospel he preached).
69 tn Or “clearly evident.” BDAG 1048 s.v. φανερόω 2.b.β has “θεῷ πεφανερώμεθα we are well known to God 2 Cor 5:11a, cp. 11b; 11:6 v.l.”
70 tn The present tense of συνιστάνομεν (sunistanomen) has been translated as a conative present.
71 tn Or “to boast about us.”
72 tn Or “who boast.”
73 tn Or “in what is seen.”
74 tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Jh agaph tou Cristou, “the love of Christ”) could be translated as either objective genitive (“our love for Christ”) or subjective genitive (“Christ’s love for us”). Either is grammatically possible, but with the reference to Christ’s death for all in the following clauses, a subjective genitive (“Christ’s love for us”) is more likely.
75 tn Grk “one”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
76 tn Or “but for him who died and was raised for them.”
77 tn Grk “we know.”
78 tn Grk “no one according to the flesh.”
79 tn Grk “we have known Christ according to the flesh.”
80 tn Grk “old things have passed away.”
81 tc Most
82 tn Grk “new things have come [about].”
83 tn Or “he has entrusted to us.”
84 tn Or “as though God were begging.”
85 tn Or “we beg you.”
86 tn Grk “He”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
87 sn The one who did not know sin is a reference to Jesus Christ.
88 sn That is, “in Christ.”
89 tn Heb “lift up.”
90 sn Lions probably refer to Judahite royalty and/or nobility. The lioness appears to symbolize the Davidic dynasty, though some see the referent as Hamutal, the wife of Josiah and mother of Jehoahaz and Zedekiah. Gen 49:9 seems to be the background for Judah being compared to lions.
91 tn Heb “a man.”
92 sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).
93 sn The identity of this second lion is unclear; the referent is probably Jehoiakim or Zedekiah. If the lioness is Hamutal, then Zedekiah is the lion described here.
94 tc The Hebrew text reads “knew,” but is apparently the result of a ר-ד (dalet-resh) confusion. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. However, Allen retains the reading “widows” as the object of the verb, which he understands in the sense of “do harm to,” and translates the line: “He did harm to women by making them widows” (p. 282). The line also appears to be lacking a beat for the meter of the poem.
95 tc The Hebrew text reads “widows” instead of “strongholds,” apparently due to a confusion of ר (resh) and ל (lamed). L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284) favors the traditional text, understanding “widows” in the sense of “women made widows.” D. I. Block, (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:602) also defends the Hebrew text, arguing that the image is that of a dominant male lion who takes over the pride and by copulating with the females lays claim to his predecessor’s “widows.”
96 tn Or “They put him in a neck stock with hooks.” The noun סּוּגַר (sugar), translated “collar,” occurs only here in the Bible. L. C. Allen and D. I. Block point out a Babylonian cognate that refers to a device for transporting prisoners of war that held them by their necks (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:597, n. 35; L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284). Based on the Hebrew root, the traditional rendering had been “cage” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
97 tc The term in the MT occurs only here and in Eccl 9:12 where it refers to a net for catching fish. The LXX translates this as “prison,” which assumes a confusion of dalet and resh took place in the MT.
98 tc The Hebrew text reads “in your blood,” but most emend to “in your vineyard,” assuming a ב-כ (beth-kaph) confusion. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. Another attractive emendation assumes a faulty word division and yields the reading “like a vine full of tendrils, which/because…”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:607, n. 68.
99 tn The word “fit” does not occur in the Hebrew text.
100 tn Heb “and it was seen by its height and by the abundance of its branches.”
101 sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.
102 sn This metaphor depicts the Babylonian exile of the Davidic dynasty.
103 tn The verse describes the similar situation recorded in Judg 9:20.
104 sn Psalm 64. The psalmist asks God to protect him from his dangerous enemies and then confidently affirms that God will destroy his enemies and demonstrate his justice in the sight of all observers.
105 tn Heb “my voice.”
106 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s request.
107 tn Heb “from the terror of [the] enemy.” “Terror” is used here metonymically for the enemy’s attacks that produce fear because they threaten the psalmist’s life.
108 tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”
109 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
110 tn Heb “a bitter word.”
111 tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.
112 tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
113 tn Heb “they give strength to themselves, an evil matter [or “word”].”
114 tn Heb “they report about hiding.”
115 tn Heb “they say.”
116 tn If this is a direct quotation (cf. NASB, NIV), the pronoun “them” refers to the snares mentioned in the previous line. If it is an indirect quotation, then the pronoun may refer to the enemies themselves (cf. NEB, which is ambiguous). Some translations retain the direct quotation but alter the pronoun to “us,” referring clearly to the enemies (cf. NRSV).
117 tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”
118 tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew
119 tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.
120 tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.
121 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive is normally used in narrative contexts to describe completed past actions. It is possible that the conclusion to the psalm (vv. 7-10) was added to the lament after God’s judgment of the wicked in response to the psalmist’s lament (vv. 1-6). The translation assumes that these verses are anticipatory and express the psalmist’s confidence that God would eventually judge the wicked. The psalmist uses a narrative style as a rhetorical device to emphasize his certitude. See GKC 329-30 §111.w.
122 tn The perfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s certitude about the coming demise of the wicked.
123 tn The translation follows the traditional accentuation of the MT. Another option is to translate, “But God will shoot them down with an arrow, suddenly they will be wounded” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
124 tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.
125 tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.
126 tc Many medieval Hebrew
127 tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.
128 tn Heb “upright in heart.”
129 tn That is, about the
130 sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.
131 tn Heb “for you, silence, praise.” Many prefer to emend the noun דֻּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”) to a participle דּוֹמִיָּה (domiyyah), from the root דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”), understood here in the sense of “wait.”
132 tn Heb “O one who hears prayer.”
133 tn Heb “to you all flesh comes.”
134 tn Heb “the records of sins are too strong for me.”
135 tn Or “make atonement for.”
136 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
137 tn Heb “[whom] you bring near [so that] he might live [in] your courts.”
138 tn Or “temple.”
139 tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”
140 tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”
sn All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.
141 tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.
142 tn Heb “[the] one who establishes [the] mountains by his power.”
143 tn Heb “one [who] is girded with strength”; or “one [who] girds himself with strength.”
144 tn Heb “the roar of the seas.”
145 sn The raging seas…the commotion made by the nations. The raging seas symbolize the turbulent nations of the earth (see Ps 46:2-3, 6; Isa 17:12).
146 tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.
147 tn Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.
148 tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”
149 tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”
150 tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).
151 tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.
152 tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.
153 tn Heb “saturating” [the form is an infinitive absolute].
154 tn Heb “flatten, cause to sink.”
155 tn Heb “trenches,” or “furrows.”
156 tn Heb “soften it,” that is, the earth.
157 tn Heb “its vegetation you bless.” Divine “blessing” often involves endowing an object with special power or capacity.
158 tn Heb “your good,” which refers here to agricultural blessings.
159 tn Heb “and your paths drip with abundance.”
160 tn Heb “drip.”
161 tn That is, with rich vegetation that brings joy to those who see it.
