Psalms 32:5

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

I said, “I will confess ¹  my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

And then you forgave my sins. ²  (Selah)

Psalms 39:5

39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, ³ 

and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ⁴ 

Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ⁵ 

Psalms 39:11

39:11 You severely discipline people for their sins; ⁶ 

like a moth you slowly devour their strength. ⁷ 

Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)

Psalms 48:8

48:8 We heard about God’s mighty deeds, now we have seen them, ⁸ 

in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, ⁹ 

in the city of our God.

God makes it permanently secure. ¹⁰  (Selah)

Psalms 54:3

54:3 For foreigners ¹¹  attack me; ¹² 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ¹³  (Selah)

Psalms 55:19

55:19 God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,

will hear and humiliate them. ¹⁴  (Selah)

They refuse to change,

and do not fear God. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 59:5

59:5 You, O Lord God, the invincible warrior, ¹⁶  the God of Israel,

rouse yourself and punish ¹⁷  all the nations!

Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers! (Selah)

Psalms 59:13

59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!

Let them know that God rules

in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)

Psalms 62:8

62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!

Pour out your hearts before him! ¹⁸ 

God is our shelter! (Selah)

Psalms 140:5

140:5 Proud men hide a snare for me;

evil men ¹⁹  spread a net by the path;

they set traps for me. (Selah)

[32:5]  ¹ tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”

[32:5]  ² tn Heb “the wrongdoing of my sin.” By joining synonyms for “sin” in this way, the psalmist may be emphasizing the degree of his wrongdoing.

[39:5]  ³ tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.

[39:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”

[39:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”

[39:11]  ⁵ tn “with punishments on account of sin you discipline a man.”

[39:11]  ⁶ tc Heb “you cause to dissolve, like a moth, his desired [thing].” The translation assumes an emendation of חֲמוּדוֹ (khamudo, “his desirable [thing]”) to חֶמְדוֹ (khemdo, “his loveliness” [or “beauty”]), a reading that is supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss.

[48:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “As we have heard, so we have seen.” The community had heard about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history. Having personally witnessed his saving power with their own eyes, they could now affirm that the tradition was not exaggerated or inaccurate.

[48:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Pss 24:10; 46:7, 11).

[48:8]  ⁹ tn Or “God makes it secure forever.” The imperfect highlights the characteristic nature of the generalizing statement.

[54:3]  ⁹ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

[54:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “rise against me.”

[54:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

[55:19]  ¹¹ tc Heb “God will hear and answer them, even [the] one who sits [from] ancient times.” The prefixed verbal from with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the anticipatory force of the preceding imperfect. The verb appears to be a Qal form from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). If this reading is retained, the point would be that God “answered” them in judgment. The translation assumes an emendation to the Piel וַיְעַנֵּם (vay’annem; see 2 Kgs 17:20) and understands the root as עָנָה (’anah, “to afflict”; see also 1 Kgs 8:35).

[55:19]  ¹² tn Heb “[the ones] for whom there are no changes, and they do not fear God.”

[59:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “Lord, God, Hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (’elohey) before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”). See Ps 89:9, but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yÿhvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 80:4, 19; 84:8 as well.

[59:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “wake up to punish” (see Pss 35:23; 44:23).

[62:8]  ¹⁵ tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).

[140:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and ropes,” but many prefer to revocalize the noun as a participle (חֹבְלִים, khovÿlim) from the verb חָבַל (khaval, “act corruptly”).