79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? 1
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage 2 burn like fire?
79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, 3
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you! 4
79:7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! 5
Quickly send your compassion our way, 6
for we are in serious trouble! 7
79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation, 8 rescue us!
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! 9
1 tn Heb “How long, O
2 tn Or “jealous anger.”
3 tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
4 sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
5 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
6 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
7 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
8 tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
9 tn Heb “your name.”