67:2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;
all nations will know how you deliver your people. 1
67:3 Let the nations thank you, O God!
Let all the nations thank you! 2
67:4 Let foreigners 3 rejoice and celebrate!
For you execute justice among the nations,
and govern the people living on earth. 4 (Selah)
1 tn Heb “to know in the earth your way, among all nations your deliverance.” The infinitive with -לְ (lamed) expresses purpose/result. When God demonstrates his favor to his people, all nations will recognize his character as a God who delivers. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) refers here to God’s characteristic behavior, more specifically, to the way he typically saves his people.
2 tn Heb “let the nations, all of them, thank you.” The prefixed verbal forms in vv. 3-4a are understood as jussives in this call to praise.
3 tn Or “peoples.”
4 tn Heb “for you judge nations fairly, and [as for the] peoples in the earth, you lead them.” The imperfects are translated with the present tense because the statement is understood as a generalization about God’s providential control of the world. Another option is to understand the statement as anticipating God’s future rule (“for you will rule…and govern”).