Psalm 132
The full text of Psalm 132 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
A Song of Ascents.
1 Remember, O LORD, in David's favor,
all the hardships he endured,
2 how he swore to the LORD
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 "I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."
6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 "Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool!"
8 Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
"One of the sons of your body
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne."
13 For the LORD has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14 "This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.
17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine."
Translation notes (4)
- Psalm 132:6a Ephrathah is the district of Bethlehem, David's home (Genesis 35:19; Ruth 4:11). The fields of Jaar, Hebrew sedei-ya'ar (שדי־יער), literally 'fields of forest', is a shortened poetic form of Kiriath-jearim, 'city of forests', where the ark rested for many years before David brought it to Jerusalem (1 Samuel 7:1-2). The 'it' heard of and found is thus the ark itself.
- Psalm 132:8a The summons echoes the formula spoken when the ark set out in the wilderness, "Arise, O LORD" (Numbers 10:35), here redirected toward the ark's final rest in Zion; Hebrew menuchah, 'resting place', marks the reversal of its journeying. The verse is quoted almost verbatim in Solomon's temple dedication prayer (2 Chronicles 6:41).
- Psalm 132:11a The oath echoes Nathan's dynastic oracle in 2 Samuel 7:12, though that narrative records a promise rather than a formal oath; Psalm 89:3-4 likewise recalls it as sworn. Hebrew mipperi bitnekha, literally 'from the fruit of your body', is rendered here as 'One of the sons of your body'. Peter cites this verse in Acts 2:30 as fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus.
- Psalm 132:17a The Hebrew qeren (קֶרֶן), 'horn', is a common idiom for strength and royal power; its sprouting signals the rise of a Davidic king (compare Ezekiel 29:21). The ner, 'lamp', likewise denotes dynastic continuity, as in the promise that David would always have a lamp before the LORD in Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:36).
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