Psalms 88:3-9

88:3 For my life ¹  is filled with troubles

and I am ready to enter Sheol. ² 

88:4 They treat me like ³  those who descend into the grave. ⁴ 

I am like a helpless man, ⁵ 

88:5 adrift ⁶  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ⁷ 

88:6 You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, ⁸ 

in the dark places, in the watery depths.

88:7 Your anger bears down on me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)

88:8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;

you make me an appalling sight to them.

I am trapped and cannot get free. ⁹ 

88:9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.

I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;

I spread out my hands in prayer to you. ¹⁰ 

[88:3]  ¹ tn Or “my soul.”

[88:3]  ² tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”

[88:4]  ³ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”

[88:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[88:6]  ⁸ tn The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See v. 4.

[88:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “[I am] confined and I cannot go out.”

[88:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I spread out my hands to you.” Spreading out the hands toward God was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). The words “in prayer” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this.