Psalm 70 Text
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Psalm 70
Listen & Read: Psalm 70
Read along and listen to our audio recordings for Psalm 70. Choose between simple, unaffected audio recordings (in Hebrew or English), or a dramatized reading that takes into account our emotional, discourse, and poetic analyses. You can also choose between a text-only view, or a view overlaid with our summary At-a-Glance, Expanded Paraphrase, or Participant Analysis tracking.
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Text Only (Hebrew and English) The text below is divided according to the psalm's poetic lines. For additional information, see our Poetic Structure layer.
| Hebrew | Verse | English |
|---|---|---|
| לַ֝מְנַצֵּ֗חַ לְדָוִ֥ד לְהַזְכִּֽיר׃ | v. 1 | For the director. By David. To bring to remembrance. |
| אֱלֹהִ֥ים לְהַצִּילֵ֑נִי | v. 2a | God, [hurry] to rescue me! |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה לְעֶזְרָ֥תִי חֽוּשָֽׁה׃ | v. 2b | YHWH, hurry to my aid! |
| יֵבֹ֣שׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ֮ מְבַקְשֵׁ֪י נַ֫פְשִׁ֥י | v. 3a | May those who seek my life be disappointed and ashamed! |
| יִסֹּ֣גוּ אָ֭חוֹר וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּ | v. 3b | May those who desire my harm be turned back and be disgraced! |
| חֲ֝פֵצֵ֗י רָעָתִֽי׃ | v. 3c | those who desire my harm |
| יָ֭שׁוּבוּ עַל־עֵ֣קֶב בָּשְׁתָּ֑ם | v. 4a | May those who say "Take that!" retreat on account of their shame! |
| הָ֝אֹמְרִ֗ים הֶ֘אָ֥ח ׀ הֶאָֽח׃ | v. 4b | those who say "Take that!" |
| יָ֘שִׂ֤ישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ ׀ בְּךָ֗ כָּֽל־מְבַ֫קְשֶׁ֥יךָ | v. 5a | May all those who seek you be glad and rejoice in you! |
| וְיֹאמְר֣וּ תָ֭מִיד יִגְדַּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֑ים | v. 5b | And may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be praised!" |
| אֹ֝הֲבֵ֗י יְשׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃ | v. 5c | those who love your salvation |
| וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ עָנִ֣י וְאֶבְיוֹן֮ | v. 6a | But I am poor and needy. |
| אֱלֹהִ֪ים חֽוּשָׁ֫ה־לִּ֥י | v. 6b | God, hurry to me! |
| עֶזְרִ֣י וּמְפַלְטִ֣י אַ֑תָּה | v. 6c | You are my help and my deliverer. |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה אַל־תְּאַחַֽר׃ | v. 6d | YHWH, do not delay! |
Structure Overlay Below, the text has been overlaid with our summary structural analysis. For details on the structure, see the Structure At-a-Glance here.
| Speaker | Structure | Hebrew | Verse | English | Addressee | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| לַ֝מְנַצֵּ֗חַ לְדָוִ֥ד לְהַזְכִּֽיר׃ | v. 1 | For the director. By David. To bring to remembrance. | ||||||||
David | Hurry! Help! |
אֱלֹהִ֥ים לְהַצִּילֵ֑נִי | v. 2a | God, [hurry] to rescue me! | desperation | YHWH | ||||
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה לְעֶזְרָ֥תִי חֽוּשָֽׁה׃ | v. 2b | YHWH, hurry to my aid! | ||||||||
| יֵבֹ֣שׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ֮ מְבַקְשֵׁ֪י נַ֫פְשִׁ֥י | v. 3a | May those who seek my life be disappointed and ashamed! | indignation & hope | |||||||
| יִסֹּ֣גוּ אָ֭חוֹר וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּ | v. 3b | May those who desire my harm be turned back and be disgraced! | ||||||||
| חֲ֝פֵצֵ֗י רָעָתִֽי׃ | v. 3c | those who desire my harm | ||||||||
| יָ֭שׁוּבוּ עַל־עֵ֣קֶב בָּשְׁתָּ֑ם | v. 4a | May those who say "Take that!" retreat on account of their shame! | ||||||||
Enemies |
הָ֝אֹמְרִ֗ים הֶ֘אָ֥ח ׀ הֶאָֽח׃ | v. 4b | those who say "Take that!" | David | ||||||
David |
יָ֘שִׂ֤ישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ ׀ בְּךָ֗ כָּֽל־מְבַ֫קְשֶׁ֥יךָ | v. 5a | May all those who seek you be glad and rejoice in you! | YHWH | ||||||
| וְיֹאמְר֣וּ תָ֭מִיד יִגְדַּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֑ים | v. 5b | And may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be praised!" | ||||||||
Faithful ones |
אֹ֝הֲבֵ֗י יְשׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃ | v. 5c | those who love your salvation | Faithful ones | ||||||
David |
וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ עָנִ֣י וְאֶבְיוֹן֮ | v. 6a | But I am poor and needy. | desperation | YHWH | |||||
| אֱלֹהִ֪ים חֽוּשָׁ֫ה־לִּ֥י | v. 6b | God, hurry to me! | ||||||||
| עֶזְרִ֣י וּמְפַלְטִ֣י אַ֑תָּה | v. 6c | You are my help and my deliverer. | ||||||||
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה אַל־תְּאַחַֽר׃ | v. 6d | YHWH, do not delay! |
Expanded paraphrase The expanded paraphrase seeks to capture the implicit information within the text and make it explicit for readers today. It is based on the CBC translation and uses italic text to provide the most salient background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences.
| Text (Hebrew) | Verse | Expanded Paraphrase |
|---|---|---|
| לַ֝מְנַצֵּ֗חַ לְדָוִ֥ד לְהַזְכִּֽיר׃ | 1 | For the director. By David. To bring the words of this psalm to the remembrance of the faithful community. |
| אֱלֹהִ֥ים לְהַצִּילֵ֑נִי יְ֝הוָ֗ה לְעֶזְרָ֥תִי חֽוּשָֽׁה׃ | 2 | God, [hurry] to rescue me! I am in imminent danger! YHWH, hurry to my aid, because my enemies are about to reach me! |
| יֵבֹ֣שׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ֮ מְבַקְשֵׁ֪י נַ֫פְשִׁ֥י יִסֹּ֣גוּ אָ֭חוֹר וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּ חֲ֝פֵצֵ֗י רָעָתִֽי׃ | 3 | May those causing my troubles, those who seek my life, to sweep it away, be utterly ashamed! In their vain and treacherous ambition, they want to take my throne (see 2 Sam 16:11)! In their advance against me, they are in rebellion to the plans you have established for me as the anointed king. May those who desire my harm and take my throne be turned back and be disgraced! YHWH, put them in their place! |
| יָ֭שׁוּבוּ עַל־עֵ֣קֶב בָּשְׁתָּ֑ם הָ֝אֹמְרִ֗ים הֶ֘אָ֥ח ׀ הֶאָֽח׃ | 4 | May those who think they have alreay gained a victory and say to me "Take that!" retreat on account of their shame! They gleefully rejoice over my vulnerability and think I am there for the taking! |
| יָ֘שִׂ֤ישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ ׀ בְּךָ֗ כָּֽל־מְבַ֫קְשֶׁ֥יךָ וְיֹאמְר֣וּ תָ֭מִיד יִגְדַּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֹ֝הֲבֵ֗י יְשׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃ | 5 | On the other hand, may it be that all the faithful community that surrounds me, those who seek you, be glad and rejoice in you! YHWH, give them a reason to do so! May those who love your salvation, since they recognize their need for it, always say, "Let God be praised and be seen as great!" when they see you rescue me with the same power with which you can also rescue them. |
| וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ עָנִ֣י וְאֶבְיוֹן֮ אֱלֹהִ֪ים חֽוּשָׁ֫ה־לִּ֥י עֶזְרִ֣י וּמְפַלְטִ֣י אַ֑תָּה יְ֝הוָ֗ה אַל־תְּאַחַֽר׃ | 6 | But, after all, I am one of them. I am poor and needy and totally dependent on you. God, hurry to me! You are my help and my deliverer. I have no other hope, YHWH, so do not delay your salvation any longer! |
Participant Tracking Text Participant Analysis focuses on the characters in the psalm and asks, “Who are the main participants (or characters) in this psalm, and what are they saying or doing? Our full analysis can be found in the Participant Analysis layer.
There are 4 participants/characters in Psalm 70:
Profile List
| David (v. 1) |
| YHWH (vv. 2, 6) |
| "God" (vv. 2, 5-6) |
| Faithful ones (v. 5) |
| David's enemies (vv. 3-4) |
Profile Notes
- The psalmist is identified as David in the superscription. He urges YHWH to hurry to his aid (vv. 2, 6) and identifies as "poor and needy."
- YHWH is also identified as "God," to whom David calls for aid and whom the faithful ones wish, "Let God be praised!" (v. 5b).
- The faithful ones are identified as those who seek YHWH and those who love his salvation. They seem to address their own congregation with the quoted speech in v. 5.
- David's enemies are said to seek his life and delight in his harm (v. 3). They also taunt and ridicule David with the interjection "Take that!" (הֶ֘אָ֥ח ׀ הֶאָֽח; see the lexical note).
| Hebrew | Verse | English |
|---|---|---|
| לַ֝מְנַצֵּ֗חַ לְדָוִ֥ד לְהַזְכִּֽיר׃ | v. 1 | For the director. By David. To bring to remembrance. |
| אֱלֹהִ֥ים לְהַצִּילֵ֑נִי | v. 2a | God, [hurry] to rescue me! |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה לְעֶזְרָ֥תִי חֽוּשָֽׁה׃ | v. 2b | YHWH, hurry to my aid! |
| יֵבֹ֣שׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ֮ מְבַקְשֵׁ֪י נַ֫פְשִׁ֥י | v. 3a | May those who seek my life be disappointed and ashamed! |
| יִסֹּ֣גוּ אָ֭חוֹר וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּ | v. 3b | May those who desire my harm be turned back and be disgraced! |
| חֲ֝פֵצֵ֗י רָעָתִֽי׃ | v. 3c | those who desire my harm |
| יָ֭שׁוּבוּ עַל־עֵ֣קֶב בָּשְׁתָּ֑ם | v. 4a | May those who say "Take that!" retreat on account of their shame! |
| הָ֝אֹמְרִ֗ים הֶ֘אָ֥ח ׀ הֶאָֽח׃ | v. 4b | those who say "Take that!" |
| יָ֘שִׂ֤ישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ ׀ בְּךָ֗ כָּֽל־מְבַ֫קְשֶׁ֥יךָ | v. 5a | May all those who seek you be glad and rejoice in you! |
| וְיֹאמְר֣וּ תָ֭מִיד יִגְדַּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֑ים | v. 5b | And may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be praised!" |
| אֹ֝הֲבֵ֗י יְשׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃ | v. 5c | those who love your salvation |
| וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ עָנִ֣י וְאֶבְיוֹן֮ | v. 6a | But I am poor and needy. |
| אֱלֹהִ֪ים חֽוּשָׁ֫ה־לִּ֥י | v. 6b | God, hurry to me! |
| עֶזְרִ֣י וּמְפַלְטִ֣י אַ֑תָּה | v. 6c | You are my help and my deliverer. |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה אַל־תְּאַחַֽר׃ | v. 6d | YHWH, do not delay! |