Psalms 94:19-23

Context

94:19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me,¹

your soothing touch makes me happy.²

94:20 Cruel rulers³ are not your allies,

those who make oppressive laws.⁴

94:21 They conspire against⁵ the blameless,⁶

and condemn to death the innocent.⁷

94:22 But the Lord will protect me,⁸

and my God will shelter me.⁹

94:23 He will pay them back for their sin.¹⁰

He will destroy them because of¹¹ their evil;

the Lord our God will destroy them.

[94:19] ¹tn Heb “when my worries are many within me.”

[94:19] ²tn Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”

[94:20] ³tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

[94:20] ⁴tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.

[94:21] ⁵tn Or “attack.”

[94:21] ⁶tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”

[94:21] ⁷tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”

[94:22] ⁸tn Heb “and the Lord has become my elevated place.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

[94:22] ⁹tn Heb “and my God [has become] a rocky summit of my safety.”

[94:23] ¹⁰tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

[94:23] ¹¹tn Or “in.”