Bible Reading June 25 
Psalms 94:1--96:13
Context94:1 O Lord, the God who avenges!
O God who avenges, reveal your splendor! 2
94:2 Rise up, O judge of the earth!
Pay back the proud!
94:3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,
how long will the wicked celebrate? 3
94:4 They spew out threats 4 and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast. 5
94:5 O Lord, they crush your people;
they oppress the nation that belongs to you. 6
94:6 They kill the widow and the one residing outside his native land,
and they murder the fatherless. 7
94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” 8
94:8 Take notice of this, 9 you ignorant people! 10
You fools, when will you ever understand?
94:9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?
Does the one who forms the human eye not see? 11
94:10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?
He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!
94:11 The Lord knows that
peoples’ thoughts are morally bankrupt. 12
94:12 How blessed is the one 13 whom you instruct, O Lord,
the one whom you teach from your law,
94:13 in order to protect him from times of trouble, 14
until the wicked are destroyed. 15
94:14 Certainly 16 the Lord does not forsake his people;
he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him. 17
94:15 For justice will prevail, 18
and all the morally upright 19 will be vindicated. 20
94:16 Who will rise up to defend me 21 against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? 22
94:17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would have laid down in the silence of death. 23
94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
94:19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me, 24
your soothing touch makes me happy. 25
94:20 Cruel rulers 26 are not your allies,
those who make oppressive laws. 27
94:21 They conspire against 28 the blameless, 29
and condemn to death the innocent. 30
94:22 But the Lord will protect me, 31
and my God will shelter me. 32
94:23 He will pay them back for their sin. 33
He will destroy them because of 34 their evil;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
95:1 Come! Let’s sing for joy to the Lord!
Let’s shout out praises to our protector who delivers us! 36
95:2 Let’s enter his presence 37 with thanksgiving!
Let’s shout out to him in celebration! 38
95:3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to 39 all gods.
95:4 The depths of the earth are in his hand, 40
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
95:5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
95:6 Come! Let’s bow down and worship! 41
Let’s kneel before the Lord, our creator!
95:7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns. 42
Today, if only you would obey him! 43
95:8 He says, 44 “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, 45
like they were that day at Massah 46 in the wilderness, 47
95:9 where your ancestors challenged my authority, 48
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted 49 with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; 50
they do not obey my commands.’ 51
95:11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’” 52
96:1 Sing to the Lord a new song! 54
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
96:2 Sing to the Lord! Praise his name!
Announce every day how he delivers! 55
96:3 Tell the nations about his splendor!
Tell 56 all the nations about his amazing deeds!
96:4 For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise;
he is more awesome than all gods. 57
96:5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, 58
but the Lord made the sky.
96:6 Majestic splendor emanates from him; 59
his sanctuary is firmly established and beautiful. 60
96:7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations,
ascribe to the Lord splendor and strength!
96:8 Ascribe to the Lord the splendor he deserves! 61
Bring an offering and enter his courts!
96:9 Worship the Lord in holy attire! 62
Tremble before him, all the earth!
96:10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
The world is established, it cannot be moved.
He judges the nations fairly.”
96:11 Let the sky rejoice, and the earth be happy!
Let the sea and everything in it shout!
96:12 Let the fields and everything in them celebrate!
Then let the trees of the forest shout with joy
96:13 before the Lord, for he comes!
For he comes to judge the earth!
He judges the world fairly, 63
and the nations in accordance with his justice. 64
[94:1] 1 sn Psalm 94. The psalmist asks God to judge the wicked and affirms his confidence in God’s justice.
[94:1] 2 tn Heb “shine forth” (see Pss 50:2; 80:1).
[94:4] 4 tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”
[94:4] 5 tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).
[94:5] 6 tn Or “your inheritance.”
[94:6] 7 tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 82:3; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).
[94:7] 8 tn Heb “does not understand.”
[94:8] 9 tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.
[94:8] 10 tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”
[94:9] 11 tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”
[94:11] 12 tn Heb “the
[94:12] 13 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in v. 2.
[94:13] 14 tn Heb “to give him rest from the days of trouble.”
[94:13] 15 tn Heb “until a pit is dug for the wicked.”
[94:14] 17 tn Or “his inheritance.”
[94:15] 18 tn Heb “for judgment will return to justice.”
[94:15] 19 tn Heb “all the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the
[94:15] 20 tn Heb “and after it [are] the pure of heart.”
[94:16] 22 sn Who will stand up for me…? The questions anticipate the answer, “No one except God” (see v. 17).
[94:17] 23 tn Heb “If the
[94:19] 24 tn Heb “when my worries are many within me.”
[94:19] 25 tn Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”
[94:20] 26 tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.
[94:20] 27 tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.
[94:21] 29 tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”
[94:21] 30 tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”
[94:22] 31 tn Heb “and the
[94:22] 32 tn Heb “and my God [has become] a rocky summit of my safety.”
[94:23] 33 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.
[95:1] 35 sn Psalm 95. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God as the creator of the world and the nation’s protector, but he also reminds the people not to rebel against God.
[95:1] 36 tn Heb “to the rocky summit of our deliverance.”
[95:2] 37 tn Heb “meet his face.”
[95:2] 38 tn Heb “with songs of joy.”
[95:4] 40 tn The phrase “in his hand” means within the sphere of his authority.
[95:6] 41 tn Heb “kneel down.”
[95:7] 42 tn Heb “of his hand.”
[95:7] 43 tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
[95:8] 44 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the following words are spoken by the Lord (see vv. 9-11).
[95:8] 45 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13, see also Pss 81:7; 106:32). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
[95:8] 46 sn The name Massah means “testing.” This was another name (along with Meribah) given to the place where Israel complained following the Red Sea Crossing (see Exod 17:1-7, as well as Deut 6:16; 9:22; 33:8).
[95:8] 47 tn Heb “do not harden your heart[s] as [at] Meribah, as [in] the day of Massah in the wilderness.”
[95:9] 48 tn Heb “where your fathers tested me.”
[95:10] 49 tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.
[95:10] 50 tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”
[95:10] 51 tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the
[95:11] 52 tn Heb “my resting place.” The promised land of Canaan is here viewed metaphorically as a place of rest for God’s people, who are compared to sheep (see v. 7).
[96:1] 53 sn Psalm 96. The psalmist summons everyone to praise the Lord, the sovereign creator of the world who preserves and promotes justice in the earth.
[96:1] 54 sn A new song is appropriate because the
[96:2] 55 tn Heb “announce from day to day his deliverance.”
[96:3] 56 tn The verb “tell” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[96:4] 57 tn Or perhaps “and feared by all gods.” See Ps 89:7.
[96:5] 58 tn The Hebrew term אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless”) sounds like אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”). The sound play draws attention to the statement.
[96:6] 59 tn Heb “majesty and splendor [are] before him.”
[96:6] 60 tn Heb “strength and beauty [are] in his sanctuary.”
[96:8] 61 tn Heb “the splendor of [i.e., “due”] his name.”
[96:9] 62 tn Or “in holy splendor.”
[96:13] 63 tn The verbal forms in v. 13 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions, in which case they could be translated “will judge the world.”
