7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,
who conceives destructive plans,
and gives birth to harmful lies – 1
10:7 His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; 2
his tongue injures and destroys. 3
36:3 The words he speaks are sinful and deceitful;
he does not care about doing what is wise and right. 4
36:4 He plans ways to sin while he lies in bed;
he is committed to a sinful lifestyle; 5
he does not reject what is evil. 6
36:5 O Lord, your loyal love reaches to the sky; 7
your faithfulness to the clouds. 8
36:6 Your justice is like the highest mountains, 9
your fairness like the deepest sea;
you preserve 10 mankind and the animal kingdom. 11
6:14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts 12 in his heart,
he spreads contention 13 at all times.
6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, 14
feet that are swift to run 15 to evil,
59:4 No one is concerned about justice; 16
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words 17 and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression 18
and give birth to sin.
7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; 19
government officials and judges take bribes, 20
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. 21
1 tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”
2 tn Heb “[with] a curse his mouth is full, and lies and injury.”
3 tn Heb “under his tongue are destruction and wickedness.” The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 90:10. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10.
4 tn Heb “he ceases to exhibit wisdom to do good.” The Hiphil forms are exhibitive, indicating the outward expression of an inner attitude.
5 tn Heb “he takes a stand in a way [that is] not good.” The word “way” here refers metaphorically to behavior or life style.
6 tn The three imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 highlight the characteristic behavior of the typical evildoer.
7 tn Heb “[is] in the heavens.”
8 sn The Lord’s loyal love/faithfulness is almost limitless. He is loyal and faithful to his creation and blesses mankind and the animal kingdom with physical life and sustenance (vv. 6-9).
9 tn Heb “mountains of God.” The divine name אֵל (’el, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
10 tn Or “deliver.”
11 sn God’s justice/fairness is firm and reliable like the highest mountains and as abundant as the water in the deepest sea. The psalmist uses a legal metaphor to describe God’s preservation of his creation. Like a just judge who vindicates the innocent, God protects his creation from destructive forces.
12 tn The noun is an adverbial accusative of manner, explaining the circumstances that inform his evil plans.
13 tn The word “contention” is from the root דִּין (din); the noun means “strife, contention, quarrel.” The normal plural form is represented by the Qere, and the contracted form by the Kethib.
14 tn Heb “heart that devises plans of wickedness.” The latter term is an attributive genitive. The heart (metonymy of subject) represents the will; here it plots evil schemes. The heart is capable of evil schemes (Gen 6:5); the heart that does this is deceitful (Prov 12:20; 14:22).
15 tc The MT reads “make haste to run,” that is, be eager to seize the opportunity. The LXX omits “run,” that is, feet hastening to do evil. It must have appeared to the LXX translator that the verb was unnecessary; only one verb occurs in the other cola.
16 tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”
17 tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”
18 tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”
19 tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”
20 tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”
21 tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.