Psalms 79:7-8

79:7 For they have devoured Jacob

and destroyed his home.

79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! ¹ 

Quickly send your compassion our way, ² 

for we are in serious trouble! ³ 

Psalms 106:40-41

106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people ⁴ 

and despised the people who belong to him. ⁵ 

106:41 He handed them over to ⁶  the nations,

and those who hated them ruled over them.

Lamentations 3:40

נ (Nun)

3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways, ⁷ 

and let us return to the Lord.

[79:8]  ¹ 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.

[79:8]  ² tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.

[79:8]  ³ tn Heb “for we are very low.”

[106:40]  ⁴ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against his people.”

[106:40]  ⁵ tn Heb “his inheritance.”

[106:41]  ⁶ tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”

[3:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “Let us test our ways and examine.” The two verbs וְנַחְקֹרָה…נַחְפְּשָׂה (nakhpÿsah…vÿnakhqorah, “Let us test and let us examine”) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal force: “Let us carefully examine our ways.”