Psalms 15:1

Psalm 15 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

15:1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home? ² 

Who may live on your holy hill? ³ 

Psalms 21:3

21:3 For you bring him ⁴  rich ⁵  blessings; ⁶ 

you place a golden crown on his head.

Psalms 36:4

36:4 He plans ways to sin while he lies in bed;

he is committed to a sinful lifestyle; ⁷ 

he does not reject what is evil. ⁸ 

Psalms 41:3

41:3 The Lord supports ⁹  him on his sickbed;

you completely heal him from his illness. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 50:10

50:10 For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me,

as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills. ¹¹ 

Psalms 51:19

51:19 Then you will accept ¹²  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed ¹³  on your altar. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 89:25

89:25 I will place his hand over the sea,

his right hand over the rivers. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 93:4

93:4 Above the sound of the surging water, ¹⁶ 

and the mighty waves of the sea,

the Lord sits enthroned in majesty. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 103:13

103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, ¹⁸ 

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 118:6

118:6 The Lord is on my side, ²⁰  I am not afraid!

What can people do to me? ²¹ 

Psalms 119:23

119:23 Though rulers plot and slander me, ²² 

your servant meditates on your statutes.

Psalms 119:48

119:48 I will lift my hands to ²³  your commands,

which I love,

and I will meditate on your statutes.

Psalms 119:78

119:78 May the arrogant be humiliated, for they have slandered me! ²⁴ 

But I meditate on your precepts.

Psalms 145:18

145:18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,

all who cry out to him sincerely. ²⁵ 

Psalms 147:8

147:8 He covers ²⁶  the sky with clouds,

provides the earth with rain,

and causes grass to grow on the hillsides. ²⁷ 

[15:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 15. This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.

[15:1]  ² tn Heb “Who may live as a resident alien in your tent?”

[15:1]  ³ sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill probably refers to Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.

[21:3]  ⁴ tn Or “meet him [with].”

[21:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “good.”

[21:3]  ⁶ sn You bring him rich blessings. The following context indicates that God’s “blessings” include deliverance/protection, vindication, sustained life, and a long, stable reign (see also Pss 3:8; 24:5).

[36:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “he takes a stand in a way [that is] not good.” The word “way” here refers metaphorically to behavior or life style.

[36:4]  ⁸ tn The three imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 highlight the characteristic behavior of the typical evildoer.

[41:3]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive, continuing the prayer of v. 2, but the parallel line in v. 3b employs the perfect, suggesting that the psalmist is again speaking in the indicative mood (see v. 1b). The imperfect can be understood as future or as generalizing (see v. 1).

[41:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all his bed you turn in his illness.” The perfect is used here in a generalizing sense (see v. 1) or in a rhetorical manner to emphasize that the healing is as good as done.

[50:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “[the] animals on a thousand hills.” The words “that graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The term בְּהֵמוֹה (bÿhemot, “animal”) refers here to cattle (see Ps 104:14).

[51:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

[51:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “then they will offer up bulls.” The third plural subject is indefinite.

[51:19]  ¹⁸ sn Verses 18-19 appear to reflect the exilic period, when the city’s walls lay in ruins and the sacrificial system had been disrupted.

[89:25]  ¹⁹ tn Some identify “the sea” as the Mediterranean and “the rivers” as the Euphrates and its tributaries. However, it is more likely that “the sea” and “the rivers” are symbols for hostile powers that oppose God and the king (see v. 9, as well as Ps 93:3-4).

[93:4]  ²² tn Heb “mighty waters.”

[93:4]  ²³ tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”

[103:13]  ²⁵ tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.

[103:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[118:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “for me.”

[118:6]  ²⁹ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential. See Ps 56:11.

[119:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “though rulers sit, about me they talk together.” (For another example of the Niphal of דָּבַר (davar) used with a suffixed form of the preposition ב, see Ezek 33:30.)

[119:48]  ³⁴ tn Lifting the hands is often associated with prayer (Pss 28:2; 63:4; Lam 2:19). (1) Because praying to God’s law borders on the extreme, some prefer to emend the text to “I lift up my hands to you,” eliminating “your commands, which I love” as dittographic. In this view these words were accidentally repeated from the previous verse. (2) However, it is possible that the psalmist closely associates the law with God himself because he views the law as the expression of the divine will. (3) Another option is that “lifting the hands” does not refer to prayer here, but to the psalmist’s desire to receive and appropriate the law. (4) Still others understand this to be an action praising God’s commands (so NCV; cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[119:78]  ³⁷ tn Heb “for [with] falsehood they have denied me justice.”

[145:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “in truth.”

[147:8]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the one who covers.”

[147:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “hills.”