Psalms 97:6-9

97:6 The sky declares his justice,

and all the nations see his splendor.

97:7 All who worship idols are ashamed,

those who boast about worthless idols.

All the gods bow down before him. ¹ 

97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,

the towns ²  of Judah are happy,

because of your judgments, O Lord.

97:9 For you, O Lord, are the sovereign king ³  over the whole earth;

you are elevated high above all gods.

[97:7]  ¹ tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verbal form in the first line is an imperfect (“are ashamed”) and that the ambiguous form in the third line is a perfect (“bow down”) because the psalmist appears to be describing the effect of the Lord’s mighty theophany on those who witness it (see vv. 5, 8). Another option is to take the prefixed form in the first line as a jussive (“let all who worship idols be ashamed”) and the ambiguous form in the third line as an imperative (“All you gods, bow down before him!”; cf. NIV).

[97:8]  ² tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[97:9]  ³ tn Traditionally “Most High.”