March 19, 2007

Psalm 12

Category: Bible - OT - Psalms :: Permalink

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible.  The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading.  I invite feedback on the translation!

For the director.
On the Eight-String.
A Psalm.
By David.

Save, Yahweh, for the loyal man has ceased to be,
For the faithful disappear from the sons of Adam!

Emptiness they speak a man with his neighbor;
Flattering lips: with a heart and a heart they speak.

May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things,
That say, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are with us; who is our lord?”

“Because of the devastation of the oppressed,
Because of the groans of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says Yahweh.
I will place him in the deliverance he pants for.”

Yahweh’s sayings are pure sayings,
Silver purified in an earthen furnace, refined sevenfold.

You, Yahweh, will guard them;
You will preserve him from this generation forever.
All around the wicked walk,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of Adam.

In the fourth line, “with a heart and a heart” means that they have a double heart, perhaps one they show and one they hide, or one they show to some people and one they show to others.

The boast of the wicked, “Our lips are with us,” probably means “We own our lips; they’re ours.”  It fits with the claim in the next line, namely, that they have no master (“lord”) to tell them what to do or say.

Posted by John Barach @ 5:35 pm | Discuss (0)

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