96:2 Sing to the Lord! Praise his name!
Announce every day how he delivers! 1
96:3 Tell the nations about his splendor!
Tell 2 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. 3
96:5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless, 4
but the Lord made the sky.
96:6 Majestic splendor emanates from him; 5
his sanctuary is firmly established and beautiful. 6
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! 7
Bring an offering and enter his courts!
96:9 Worship the Lord in holy attire! 8
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, 9
and the nations in accordance with his justice. 10
1 tn Heb “announce from day to day his deliverance.”
2 tn The verb “tell” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
3 tn Or perhaps “and feared by all gods.” See Ps 89:7.
4 tn The Hebrew term אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless”) sounds like אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”). The sound play draws attention to the statement.
5 tn Heb “majesty and splendor [are] before him.”
6 tn Heb “strength and beauty [are] in his sanctuary.”
7 tn Heb “the splendor of [i.e., “due”] his name.”
8 tn Or “in holy splendor.”
9 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.”
10 tn Heb “and the nations with his integrity.”