85:5 Will you stay mad at us forever?
Will you remain angry throughout future generations? 1
85:6 Will you not revive us once more?
Then your people will rejoice in you!
85:7 O Lord, show us your loyal love!
Bestow on us your deliverance!
85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. 2
For he will make 3 peace with his people, his faithful followers. 4
Yet they must not 5 return to their foolish ways.
1 tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a generation?”
2 sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.
3 tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).
4 tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.
5 tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.