Psalms 107:33

He turned ¹  streams into a desert, springs of water into arid land,

He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,

He changes rivers into a wilderness And springs of water into a thirsty ground;

He changes rivers into deserts, and springs of water into dry land.

GOD turned rivers into wasteland, springs of water into sunbaked mud;

He makes rivers into waste places, and springs of water into a dry land;

He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,

He turns rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground;

He turned ¹  streams into a desert, springs of water into arid land,

¹ tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. (The use of prefixed forms with vav [ו] consecutive in vv. 36-37 favor this.) The psalmist may return to the theme of God’s intervention for the exiles (see vv. 4-22, especially vv. 4-9). However, many regard vv. 33-41 as a hymnic description which generalizes about God’s activities among men. In this case it would be preferable to use the English present tense throughout (cf. NEB, NRSV).