Psalm 39
The full text of Psalm 39 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
For the choirmaster, for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
1 I said, 'I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.'
2 I was mute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 "O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!"
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 "And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
10 Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!"
Translation notes (3)
- Psalm 39:5a Tefachot (טְפָחוֹת), 'handbreadths', is among the smallest Hebrew units of measure, the width of four fingers, making the span of life almost negligible. Hevel (הֶבֶל), 'breath' or 'vapor', is the same word rendered 'vanity' throughout Ecclesiastes, where it frames the fleeting quality of all human endeavor.
- Psalm 39:11a The Hebrew ash (עָשׁ), 'moth', is a recurring image of quiet, inexorable decay (compare Job 13:28; Isaiah 50:9; Hosea 5:12). The object consumed is chamud, 'that which is desired', that is, whatever a person holds precious. The image is not sudden destruction but the slow wasting of human treasures under divine rebuke.
- Psalm 39:12a The paired terms ger ('sojourner') and toshav ('guest') denote the resident alien, a legally protected but landless class in ancient Israel. Abraham uses the same pair of himself in Genesis 23:4, and Leviticus 25:23 applies it to all Israel as tenants on God's land; the psalmist thus claims only a tenant's transient standing before the LORD, as did all his fathers.
About this translation
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