10He does not prize the strength of horses,
nor value the fleetnessa of men;
11but the LORD values those who fear Him,
those who depend on His faithful care.
12O Jerusalem, glorify the LORD;
praise your God, O Zion!
13For He made the bars of your gates strong,
and blessed your children within you.
14He endows your realm with well-being,
and satisfies you with choice wheat.
15He sends forth His word to the earth;
His command runs swiftly.
16He lays down snow like fleece,
scatters frost like ashes.
17He tosses down hail like crumbs—
who can endure His icy cold?
18He issues a command—it melts them;
He breathes—the waters flow.
19He issued His commands to Jacob,
His statutes and rules to Israel.
20He did not do so for any other nation;
of such rules they know nothing.
Hallelujah.
148 Hallelujah.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise Him on high.
2Praise Him, all His angels,
praise Him, all His hosts.
3Praise Him, sun and moon,
praise Him, all bright stars.
4Praise Him, highest heavens,
and you waters that are above the heavens.
5Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for it was He who commanded that they be created.
6He made them endure forever,
establishing an order that shall never change.
7Praise the LORD, O you who are on earth,
all sea monsters and ocean depths,
8fire and hail, snow and smoke,
storm wind that executes His command,
9all mountains and hills,
all fruit trees and cedars,
10all wild and tamed beasts,
creeping things and winged birds,
11all kings and peoples of the earth,
all princes of the earth and its judges,
12youths and maidens alike,
old and young together.
13Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for His name, His alone, is sublime;
His splendor covers heaven and earth.
14He has exalted the horn of His people
for the glory of all His faithful ones,
Israel, the people close to Him.
Hallelujah.
149 Hallelujah.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
His praises in the congregation of the faithful.
2Let Israel rejoice in its maker;
let the children of Zion exult in their king.
3Let them praise His name in dance;
with timbrel and lyre let them chant His praises.
4For the LORD delights in His people;
He adorns the lowly with victory.
5Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them shout for joy upon their couches,
6with paeans to God in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
7to impose retribution upon the nations,
punishment upon the peoples,
8binding their kings with shackles,
their nobles with chains of iron,
9executing the doom decreed against them.
This is the glory of all His faithful.
Hallelujah.
150 Hallelujah.
Praise God in His sanctuary;
praise Him in the sky, His stronghold.
2Praise Him for His mighty acts;
praise Him fora His exceeding greatness.
3Praise Him with blasts of the horn;
praise Him with harp and lyre.
4Praise Him with timbrel and dance;
praise Him with lute and pipe.
5Praise Him with resounding cymbals;
praise Him with loud-clashing cymbals.
6Let all that breathes praise the LORD.
Hallelujah.
a Or “recites”; lit. “utters.”
b-b Or “he does prospers.”
a Lit. “utter.”
b-b Compare 2 Sam. 7.14, and Ps. 89.27 ff.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; others “rejoice with trembling.”
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a A liturgical direction of uncertain meaning.
b Lit. “cheek.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Others “be still.”
c-c Lit. “Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us”; cf. Num. 6.25 f.
d-d Or “for You, O LORD, keep me alone and secure.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Or “as You are righteous, lead me.”
c Lit. “mouth.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain; others “or stripped my foe clean.”
c-c Or “in Your fury against my foes.”
d Lit. “kidneys.”
e-e Cf. Ibn Ezra and Kimhi; lit. “My Shield is upon God.”
f-f Others “has indignation.”
g-g Meaning of vv. 13–14 uncertain; an alternate rendering, with God as the main subject, is: 13If one does not turn back, He whets His sword, /bends His bow and aims it;|14deadly weapons He prepares for him, /and makes His arrows sharp.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain; or “You whose splendor is celebrated all over the heavens!”
c Or “the angels.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain; some mss. and ancient versions, ‘al muth labben, as though “over the death of the son.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Or “O You who dwell in Zion.”
d-d Order of Hebrew clauses inverted for clarity.
e-e Lit. “the Daughter of Zion.”
f Others “return to.”
a-a Or “they (i.e., the lowly) are caught by the schemes they devised.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Lit. “There is no God.”
d-d Lit. “Lift Your hand.”
e-e A play on darash, which in vv. 4 and 13 means “to call to account.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain; lit. “your hill, bird!”
b-b Or “For the foundations are destroyed; what has the Righteous One done?” Or “If the foundations are destroyed, what has the righteous man accomplished?”
c-c Lit. “the portion of their cup.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Cf. Ps. 53.
b-b Lit. “There is no God”; cf. Ps. 10.4.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain; or “who has no slander upon his tongue.”
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Others “I have no good but in You.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; “holy and mighty ones” taken as epithets for divine beings; cf. qedoshim in Ps. 89.6, 8, and ‘addirim in 1 Sam. 4.8.
d Lit. “cup.”
e Lit. “kidneys.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Cf. Prov. 1.19; lit. “paths.”
c-c Or “from my enemies who avidly.”
a This poem occurs again at 2 Sam. 22, with a number of variations, some of which are cited in the following notes.
b-b Not in 2 Sam. 22.2.
c-c Lit. “horn of rescue.”
d-d Construction of Heb. uncertain.
e 2 Sam. 22.5, “breakers.”
f I.e., the netherworld, like “Death” and “Sheol.”
g-g 2 Sam. 22.13, “blazed.”
h-h Not in 2 Sam. 22.14.
i Cf. note to 2 Sam. 22.30; or “troop.”
j Taking bamothai as a poetic form of bamoth; cf. Hab. 3.19; others “my.”
k Meaning of Heb. uncertain; others “condescension.”
l-l Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
m-m 2 Sam. 22.51, “Tower of victory.”
a-a With Septuagint, Symmachus, and Vulgate; or “their sound is not heard.”
b Cf. Septuagint, Symmachus, and Vulgate; Arabic qawwah, “to shout.”
c Viz., the heavens.
d-d Or “arrogant men”; cf. Ps. 119.51.
e For leb as a source of speech, see note to Eccl. 5.1.
a Reference to azkara, “token portion” of meal offering; Lev. 2.2, 9, 16, etc.
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Or, in the light of v. 7, “O LORD, grant victory to the king; may He answer us when we call.”
a-a Or “at the time of Your anger.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Or “But You are holy, enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”
c-c Lit. “they open wide with a lip.”
d-d Lit. “I am poured out like water.”
e-e With Rashi; cf. Isa. 38.13.
f Lit. “only one.”
g Lit. “answer.”
h Or “plight.”
i-i Lit. “From You is my praise.”
j-j Meaning of Heb. uncertain; others “All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship; All they that go down to the dust shall kneel before Him,/Even he that cannot keep his soul alive.”
a-a Others “still waters.”
b-b Others “the valley of the shadow of death.”
a Ancient versions and some mss. read “His.”
b Lit. “generation.”
a Or “secret.”
b-b Lit. “The distress of my heart.”
a-a Lit. “kidneys and heart.”
b-b Or “I am aware of Your faithfulness, and always walk in Your true [path].”
a-a Or “to slander me”; cf. Dan. 3.8; 6.25.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Or “drag me off”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Or “strengthened.”
c-c Septuagint, Saadia, and others render, and some mss. read, ‘oz le‘ammo, “the strength of His people.”
a-a Lit. “He makes them skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion, etc.”
b-b Or “brings ewes to early birth.”
a I.e., the Temple.
b-b Or “Weeping may linger for the night.”
c Following Saadia, R. Isaiah of Trani; cf. Ibn Ezra.
d Lit. “blood.”
a-a Lit. “make my feet stand in a broad place.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c Others “terror.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain; others “in a time when You may be found.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; for this rendering cf. Ibn Ezra.
a-a Cf. 1 Sam. 21.14 ff.
b Or “integrity.”
c Viz., the righteous of v. 16.
a Transferred from first clause for clarity.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain; lit. “my prayer returns upon my bosom.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Lit. “In my heart is.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Lit. “your way.”
b-b Lit. “those whose way is upright.”
c Lit. “days.”
d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Lit. “passed over my head.”
a Cf. use of twb in Hos. 10.1; Jonah 4.4.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Or “You, O LORD my God, have done many things—the wonders You have devised for us; / none can equal You.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Or “my courage fails me.”
d With vv. 14–18, cf. Ps. 70.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Lit. “watercourses.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Several ancient versions and Heb. mss. connect the first word in v. 7 with the end of 6, reading yeshu‘ot panai we’Elohai, “my ever-present help, my God,” as in vv. 12 and Ps. 43.5.
a A continuation of Ps. 42.
a Lit. “a wagging of the head.”
b-b Heb. tannim = tannin, as in Ezek. 29.3 and 32.2.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Order of Heb. clauses inverted for clarity.
c-c Cf. 1 Chron. 29.23.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Heb. maskil, a musical term of uncertain meaning.
a A term for the divine abode.
b See I Kings 22.49.
c Or “women.”
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Lit. “utterance of my heart”; on leb, cf. Ps. 19.15.
b-b Or “A brother.”
c Taken with ancient versions and medieval commentators as the equivalent of qibram.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Heb. ’El ’Elohim YHWH.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Cf. 2 Sam. 12.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Cf. 1 Sam. 22.9 ff.
b-b Lit. “is all the day.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; others “I will wait for Your name for it is good.”
a Cf. Ps. 14.
b Meaning of Heb. unknown.
c-c Lit. “There is no God”; cf. Ps. 10.4.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Cf. 1 Sam. 23.19.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b I.e., the friend of v. 14.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Lit. “flesh.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Cf. Mishnaic Heb. kefifah, a wicker basket used in fishing.
c
