Psalms 12:3

12:3 May the Lord cut off ¹  all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts! ² 

Psalms 12:1

Psalm 12 ³ 

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ⁴  a psalm of David.

12:1 Deliver, Lord!

For the godly ⁵  have disappeared; ⁶ 

people of integrity ⁷  have vanished. ⁸ 

Psalms 26:10-11

26:10 who are always ready to do wrong ⁹ 

or offer a bribe. ¹⁰ 

26:11 But I have integrity! ¹¹ 

Rescue me ¹²  and have mercy on me!

Proverbs 14:32

14:32 The wicked will be thrown down in his trouble, ¹³ 

but the righteous have refuge ¹⁴  even in the threat of death. ¹⁵ 

Ezekiel 18:24

18:24 “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die. ¹⁶ 

Daniel 9:26

9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,

an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. ¹⁷ 

As for the city and the sanctuary,

the people of the coming prince will destroy ¹⁸  them.

But his end will come speedily ¹⁹  like a flood. ²⁰ 

Until the end of the war that has been decreed

there will be destruction.

[12:3]  ¹ tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord cut off”), not indicative (“The Lord will cut off”; see also Ps 109:15 and Mal 2:12). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that he will. In this way he seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.

[12:3]  ² tn Heb “a tongue speaking great [things].”

[12:1]  ³ sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.

[12:1]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[12:1]  ⁵ tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Or “have come to an end.”

[12:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”

[12:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”

[26:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “who [have] in their hands evil.”

[26:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and their right hand is full of a bribe.”

[26:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and I in my integrity walk.” The psalmist uses the imperfect verbal form to emphasize this is his practice. The construction at the beginning of the verse (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist and the sinners mentioned in vv. 9-10.

[26:11]  ¹² tn Or “redeem me.”

[14:32]  ¹³ tn The prepositional phrase must be “in his time of trouble” (i.e., when catastrophe comes). Cf. CEV “In times of trouble the wicked are destroyed.” A wicked person has nothing to fall back on in such times.

[14:32]  ¹⁴ sn The righteous have hope in a just retribution – they have a place of safety even in death.

[14:32]  ¹⁵ tc The LXX reads this as “in his integrity,” as if it were בְּתוּמּוֹ (bÿtumo) instead of “in his death” (בְּמוֹתוֹ, bÿmoto). The LXX is followed by some English versions (e.g., NAB “in his honesty,” NRSV “in their integrity,” and TEV “by their integrity”).

[18:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “because of them he will die.”

[9:26]  ¹⁷ sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.

[9:26]  ¹⁸ tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”

[9:26]  ¹⁹ tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[9:26]  ²⁰ sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.