Psalm 41
The full text of Psalm 41 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
For the choirmaster. A psalm of David.
1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;
2 the LORD protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The LORD sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.
4 As for me, I said, 'O LORD, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you!'
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
'When will he die, and his name perish?'
6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
against me they devise my hurt.
8 They say, 'A deadly thing is poured out on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.'
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O LORD, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
Translation notes (3)
- Psalm 41:3a The second line renders a vivid Hebrew idiom: hafakhta (הָפַכְתָּ), 'you turn' or 'you overturn', with mishkav, 'bed', literally 'all his bed you turn in his illness'. The image is of God as an attendant turning and remaking a sick man's bedding, a figure for reversing the sickness itself; hence the idiomatic rendering 'you restore him to full health'.
- Psalm 41:9a Hebrew ish shelomi (אִישׁ שְׁלוֹמִי), literally 'the man of my peace', denotes an intimate bound by covenant friendship; sharing bread sealed such a bond in the ancient Near East. The idiom higdil alai aqev, 'has made great the heel against me', pictures treacherous violence from within. Jesus applies this verse to Judas in John 13:18.
- Psalm 41:13a This doxology closes Book I of the Psalter (Psalms 1–41); similar formulas conclude each of the five books (Psalms 72, 89, 106, 150). The opening barukh (בָּרוּךְ), 'blessed', is the standard formula of praise directed to God, and the doubled 'Amen' invites the congregation's assent, suggesting the verse functions as an editorial seal on the collection rather than as part of the psalm proper.
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