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Psalm 40:12-14
New English Translation
Psalm 40:12-14
New English Translation
12 For innumerable dangers[a] surround me.
My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see;
they outnumber the hairs of my head
so my strength fails me.[b]
13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me![c]
14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed.[d]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[e]
Footnotes
- Psalm 40:12 tn Or “sinful deeds.” The Hebrew term used here can have a nonmoral nuance (“dangers”) or a moral one (“sinful deeds”) depending on the context. The next line (see “my sins”) seems to favor the moral sense, but the psalmist also speaks of enemies shortly after this (v. 14).
- Psalm 40:12 tn Heb “and my heart abandons me.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of emotional strength and courage. For a similar idea see Ps 38:10.
- Psalm 40:13 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.
- Psalm 40:14 tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed together, the ones seeking my life to snatch it away.”
- Psalm 40:14 tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse (“may those…be…embarrassed and ashamed…may those…be turned back and ashamed”) are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.sn See Ps 35:4 for a similar prayer.
New English Translation (NET)
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