Psalms 91:5-10

91:5 You need not fear the terrors of the night, ¹ 

the arrow that flies by day,

91:6 the plague that comes in the darkness,

or the disease that comes at noon. ² 

91:7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,

and a multitude on your right side,

it ³  will not reach you.

91:8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes –

you will see the wicked paid back. ⁴ 

91:9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,

my shelter, the sovereign One. ⁵ 

91:10 No harm will overtake ⁶  you;

no illness ⁷  will come near your home. ⁸ 

[91:5]  ¹ tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).

[91:6]  ² sn As in Deut 32:23-24, vv. 5-6 closely associate military attack and deadly disease. Perhaps the latter alludes to one of the effects of siege warfare on the population of an entrapped city, which was especially vulnerable to the outbreak of epidemics.

[91:7]  ³ tn Apparently the deadly disease mentioned in v. 6b is the understood subject here.

[91:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”

[91:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “for you, the Lord, my shelter, the Most High, you have made your dwelling place.”

[91:10]  ⁶ tn Or “confront.”

[91:10]  ⁷ tn For this sense of the Hebrew term נגע see Ps 38:11.

[91:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “your tent.”