Psalms 31:15-18

31:15 You determine my destiny! ¹ 

Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.

31:16 Smile ²  on your servant!

Deliver me because of your faithfulness!

31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you!

May evil men be humiliated!

May they go wailing to the grave! ³ 

31:18 May lying lips be silenced –

lips ⁴  that speak defiantly against the innocent ⁵ 

with arrogance and contempt!

[31:15]  ¹ tn Heb “in your hand [are] my times.”

[31:16]  ² tn Heb “cause your face to shine.”

[31:17]  ³ tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”

[31:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “the [ones which].”

[31:18]  ⁵ tn Or “godly.”