Psalms 140:11-13

140:11 A slanderer ¹  will not endure on ²  the earth;

calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down. ³ 

140:12 I know ⁴  that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed

and vindicates the poor. ⁵ 

140:13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;

the morally upright will live in your presence.

[140:11]  ¹ tn Heb “a man of a tongue.”

[140:11]  ² tn Heb “be established in.”

[140:11]  ³ tn Heb “for blows.” The Hebrew noun מַדְחֵפֹה (madkhefoh, “blow”) occurs only here in the OT.

[140:12]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading a first person verb form here. The Kethib reads the second person.

[140:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”