Psalms 37:38

37:38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed; ¹ 

evil men have no future. ² 

Psalms 122:3

122:3 Jerusalem ³  is a city designed

to accommodate an assembly. ⁴ 

Psalms 34:3

34:3 Magnify the Lord with me!

Let’s praise ⁵  his name together!

Psalms 48:4

48:4 For ⁶  look, the kings assemble; ⁷ 

they advance together.

Psalms 71:10

71:10 For my enemies talk about me;

those waiting for a chance to kill me plot my demise. ⁸ 

Psalms 83:5

83:5 Yes, ⁹  they devise a unified strategy; ¹⁰ 

they form an alliance ¹¹  against you.

Psalms 102:22

102:22 when the nations gather together,

and the kingdoms pay tribute to the Lord. ¹² 

Psalms 4:8

4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, ¹³ 

for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 14:3

14:3 Everyone rejects God; ¹⁵ 

they are all morally corrupt. ¹⁶ 

None of them does what is right, ¹⁷ 

not even one!

Psalms 19:9

19:9 The commands to fear the Lord are right ¹⁸ 

and endure forever. ¹⁹ 

The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy

and absolutely just. ²⁰ 

Psalms 35:26

35:26 May those who want to harm me be totally embarrassed and ashamed! ²¹ 

May those who arrogantly taunt me be covered with shame and humiliation! ²² 

Psalms 53:3

53:3 Everyone rejects God; ²³ 

they are all morally corrupt. ²⁴ 

None of them does what is right, ²⁵ 

not even one!

Psalms 55:14

55:14 We would share personal thoughts with each other; ²⁶ 

in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.

[37:38]  ¹ tn Or “destroyed together.” In this case the psalmist pictures judgment sweeping them away as a group.

[37:38]  ² tn Heb “the end of evil men is cut off.” As in v. 37, some interpret אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) as referring to offspring (see Ps 109:13). The perfect verbal forms in v. 38 probably express general truths. Another option is that they are used emphatically to state with certitude that the demise of the wicked is as good as done.

[122:3]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[122:3]  ⁴ tc Heb “Jerusalem, which is built like a city which is joined to her together.” The meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. Many regard this as a description of the compact way in which the city was designed or constructed. The translation assumes an emendation of the verb חֻבְּרָה (khubbÿrah, “is joined”) to a noun חֶבְרָה (khevrah, “association; company”). The text then reads literally, “Jerusalem, which is built like a city which has a company together.” This in turn can be taken as a reference to Jerusalem’s role as a city where people congregated for religious festivals and other civic occasions (see vv. 4-5).

[34:3]  ⁵ tn Or “exalt.”

[48:4]  ⁷ tn The logical connection between vv. 3-4 seems to be this: God is the protector of Zion and reveals himself as the city’s defender – this is necessary because hostile armies threaten the city.

[48:4]  ⁸ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 4-6 are understood as descriptive. In dramatic style (note הִנֵּה, hinneh, “look”) the psalm describes an enemy attack against the city as if it were occurring at this very moment. Another option is to take the perfects as narrational (“the kings assembled, they advanced”), referring to a particular historical event, such as Sennacherib’s siege of the city in 701 b.c. (cf. NIV, NRSV). Even if one translates the verses in a dramatic-descriptive manner (as the present translation does), the Lord’s victory over the Assyrians was probably what served as the inspiration of the description (see v. 8).

[71:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who watch for my life consult together.”

[83:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.”

[83:5]  ¹² tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”

[83:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[102:22]  ¹³ tn “and the kingdoms to serve the Lord.”

[4:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”

[4:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for you, Lord, solitarily, securely make me dwell.” The translation understands לְבָדָד (lÿvadad) as modifying the verb; the Lord keeps enemies away from the psalmist so that he is safe and secure. Another option is to take לְבָדָד with what precedes and translate, “you alone, Lord, make me secure.”

[14:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “everyone turns aside.”

[14:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[14:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[19:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord is clean.” The phrase “fear of the Lord” probably refers here to the law, which teaches one how to demonstrate proper reverence for the Lord. See Ps 111:10 for another possible use of the phrase in this sense.

[19:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[it] stands permanently.”

[19:9]  ²¹ sn Trustworthy and absolutely just. The Lord’s commands accurately reflect God’s moral will for his people and are an expression of his just character.

[35:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones who rejoice over my harm.”

[35:26]  ²² tn Heb “may they be clothed with shame and humiliation, the ones who magnify [themselves] against me.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 26 are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-25, where the negative particle אַל (’al) appears before the prefixed verbal forms, indicating they are jussives). The psalmist is calling down judgment on his enemies.

[53:3]  ²³ tn Heb “all of it turns away.” Ps 14:1 has הָכֹּל (hakkol) instead of כֻּלּוֹ, and סָר (sar, “turn aside”) instead of סָג (sag, “turn away”).

[53:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[53:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[55:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “who together we would make counsel sweet.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the ongoing nature of the actions (the so-called customary use of the imperfect). Their relationship was characterized by such intimacy and friendship. See IBHS 502-3 §31.2b.