Psalms 65:1-2

Psalm 65 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, a song.

65:1 Praise awaits you, ²  O God, in Zion.

Vows made to you are fulfilled.

65:2 You hear prayers; ³ 

all people approach you. ⁴ 

Psalms 76:4

76:4 You shine brightly and reveal your majesty,

as you descend from the hills where you killed your prey. ⁵ 

Nehemiah 9:5

9:5 The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God!”

“May you be blessed, O LORD our God, from age to age. ⁶  May your glorious name ⁷  be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise.

Revelation 4:11

4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

since you created all things,

and because of your will they existed and were created!” ⁸ 

Revelation 5:12-14

5:12 all of whom ⁹  were singing ¹⁰  in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the lamb who was killed ¹¹ 

to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and praise!”

5:13 Then ¹²  I heard every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing: ¹³ 

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power ¹⁴  forever and ever!”

5:14 And the four living creatures were saying “Amen,” and the elders threw themselves to the ground ¹⁵  and worshiped.

¹ sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.

² 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.”

³ tn Heb “O one who hears prayer.”

⁴ tn Heb “to you all flesh comes.”

⁵ tn Heb “radiant [are] you, majestic from the hills of prey.” God is depicted as a victorious king and as a lion that has killed its victims.

⁶ tc The MT reads here only “from age to age,” without the preceding words “May you be blessed, O LORD our God” which are included in the present translation. But apparently something has dropped out of the text. This phrase occurs elsewhere in the OT as a description of the Lord (see Ps 41:13; 106:48), and it seems best to understand it here in that light. The LXX adds “And Ezra said” at the beginning of v. 6 as a transition: “And Ezra said, ‘You alone are the LORD.” Without this addition (which is not included by most modern English translations) the speakers of vv. 9:5b-10:1 continue to be the Levites of v. 5a.

⁷ tn Heb “the name of your glory.”

⁸ tc The past tense of “they existed” (ἦσαν, hsan) and the order of the expression “they existed and were created” seems backwards both logically and chronologically. The text as it stands is the more difficult reading and seems to have given rise to codex A omitting the final “they were created,” 2329 replacing “they existed” (ἦσαν) with “have come into being” (ἐγένοντο, egeneto), and 046 adding οὐκ (ouk, “not”) before ἦσαν (“they did not exist, [but were created]”). Several mss (1854 2050 Ï^A sa) also attempt to alleviate the problem by replacing ἦσαν with “they are” (εἰσιν, eisin).

⁹ tn The words “all of whom” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate the resumption of the phrase “the voice of many angels” at the beginning of the verse.

¹⁰ tn Grk “saying.”

¹¹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

¹³ tn Grk “saying.”

¹⁴ tn Or “dominion.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”