Psalms 37:14

37:14 Evil men draw their swords

and prepare their bows,

to bring down 1  the oppressed and needy,

and to slaughter those who are godly. 2 

Psalms 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! 3 

May the Lord pay attention to me! 4 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Psalms 70:5

70:5 I am oppressed and needy! 5 

O God, hurry to me! 6 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O Lord, 7  do not delay!

1 tn Heb “to cause to fall.”

2 tn Heb “the upright in way,” i.e., those who lead godly lives.

3 sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

4 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

5 sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

6 tn Ps 40:17 has “may the Lord pay attention to me.”

7 tn Ps 40:17 has “my God” instead of “Lord.”