Psalms 103:8-22

103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient ¹  and demonstrates great loyal love. ² 

103:9 He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry. ³ 

103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; ⁴ 

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. ⁵ 

103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,

so his loyal love towers ⁶  over his faithful followers. ⁷ 

103:12 As far as the eastern horizon ⁸  is from the west, ⁹ 

so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions ¹⁰  from us.

103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, ¹¹ 

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. ¹² 

103:14 For he knows what we are made of; ¹³ 

he realizes ¹⁴  we are made of clay. ¹⁵ 

103:15 A person’s life is like grass. ¹⁶ 

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

103:16 but when the hot wind ¹⁷  blows by, it disappears,

and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.

103:17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, ¹⁸ 

and is faithful to their descendants, ¹⁹ 

103:18 to those who keep his covenant,

who are careful to obey his commands. ²⁰ 

103:19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;

his kingdom extends over everything. ²¹ 

103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders! ²² 

103:21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, ²³ 

you servants of his who carry out his desires! ²⁴ 

103:22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made, ²⁵ 

in all the regions ²⁶  of his kingdom!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

[103:8]  ¹ tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:8]  ² tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:9]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).

[103:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”

[103:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”

[103:11]  ⁶ tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.

[103:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[103:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “sunrise.”

[103:12]  ⁹ tn Or “sunset.”

[103:12]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.

[103:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.

[103:13]  ¹² tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[103:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “our form.”

[103:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “remembers.”

[103:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “we [are] clay.”

[103:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.

[103:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[103:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “but the loyal love of the Lord [is] from everlasting to everlasting over those who fear him.”

[103:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”

[103:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to those who remember his precepts to do them.”

[103:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “his kingdom rules over all.”

[103:20]  ²² tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”

[103:21]  ²³ tn Heb “all his hosts.”

[103:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his attendants, doers of his desire.”

[103:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all his works,” which includes mankind.

[103:22]  ²⁶ tn Heb “places.”