Psalms 28:9

28:9 Deliver your people!

Empower ¹  the nation that belongs to you! ² 

Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms ³  at all times! ⁴ 

Psalms 51:18

51:18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! ⁵ 

Fortify ⁶  the walls of Jerusalem! ⁷ 

Psalms 90:17

90:17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! ⁸ 

Make our endeavors successful!

Yes, make them successful! ⁹ 

Psalms 115:12-15

115:12 The Lord takes notice of us, ¹⁰  he will bless ¹¹  –

he will bless the family ¹²  of Israel,

he will bless the family of Aaron.

115:13 He will bless his loyal followers, ¹³ 

both young and old. ¹⁴ 

115:14 May he increase your numbers,

yours and your children’s! ¹⁵ 

115:15 May you be blessed by the Lord,

the creator ¹⁶  of heaven and earth!

Psalms 137:5-6

137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

may my right hand be crippled! ¹⁷ 

137:6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

and do not give Jerusalem priority

over whatever gives me the most joy. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 31:23

Judah Will Be Restored

31:23 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹⁹  says,

“I will restore the people of Judah to their land and to their towns.

When I do, they will again say ²⁰  of Jerusalem, ²¹ 

‘May the Lord bless you, you holy mountain,

the place where righteousness dwells.’ ²² 

[28:9]  ¹ tn Or “bless.”

[28:9]  ² tn Heb “your inheritance.” The parallelism (note “your people”) indicates that Israel is in view.

[28:9]  ³ tn Heb “shepherd them and lift them up.”

[28:9]  ⁴ tn Or “forever.”

[51:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “do what is good for Zion in your favor.”

[51:18]  ⁶ tn Or “Build.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:18]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[90:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (no’am, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653 s.v.) or kindness (HALOT 706 s.v.).

[90:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”

[115:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “remembers us.”

[115:12]  ¹¹ tn Another option is to translate the prefixed form of the verb “bless” in vv. 12-13 as a jussive, “may he bless” (see v. 14).

[115:12]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”

[115:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “the fearers of the Lord.”

[115:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the small along with the great.” The translation assumes that “small” and “great” here refer to age (see 2 Chr 15:13). Another option is to translate “both the insignificant and the prominent” (see Job 3:19; cf. NEB “high and low alike”).

[115:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “may he add to you, to you and your sons.” The prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating this is a prayer.

[115:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “maker.”

[137:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “may my right hand forget.” In this case one must supply an object, such as “how to move.” The elliptical nature of the text has prompted emendations (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 236). The translation assumes an emendation to תִּכְשַׁח (tikhshakh), from an otherwise unattested root כשׁח, meaning “to be crippled; to be lame.” See HALOT 502 s.v. כשׁח, which cites Arabic cognate evidence in support of the proposal. The corruption of the MT can be explained as an error of transposition facilitated by the use of שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”) just before this.

[137:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “if I do not lift up Jerusalem over the top of my joy.”

[31:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See 7:3 and the study note of 2:19 for the rendering of this title and an explanation of its significance.

[31:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “They [i.e., people (the indefinite plural, GKC 460 §144.g)] will again say in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes.” For the meaning of the idiom “to restore the fortunes” see the translator’s note on 29:14.

[31:23]  ²¹ tn The words “of Jerusalem” are not in the text but it is implicit in the titles that follow. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity to aid in identifying the referent.

[31:23]  ²² sn The blessing pronounced on the city of Zion/Jerusalem by the restored exiles looks at the restoration of its once exalted state as the city known for its sanctity and its just dealing (see Isa 1:21 and Ps 122). This was a reversal of the state of Jerusalem in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah where wickedness not righteousness characterized the inhabitants of the city (cf. Isa 1:21; Jer 4:14; 5:1; 13:27). The blessing here presupposes the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the temple which gave the city its sanctity.