Psalms 68
1 God, arise and scatter your enemies, and cause those who hate you to run away from you.
Unto the end. A Canticle Psalm of David himself. May God rise up, and may his enemies be scattered, and may those who hate him flee from before his face.
2 Like [wind] blows smoke away, chase your enemies away. Like wax melts when it is near a fire, cause wicked people to (disappear/be destroyed).
Just as smoke vanishes, so may they vanish. Just as wax flows away before the face of fire, so may sinners pass away before the face of God.
3 But righteous people should be joyful; they should rejoice when they are in God’s presence; they should be happy, and be very joyful.
And so, let the just feast, and let them exult in the sight of God and be delighted in gladness.
4 Sing to God; sing to praise him; sing a song (OR, make a road) for him who rides on the clouds; his name is Yahweh; be glad when you are in his presence.
Sing to God, sing a psalm to his name. Make a path for him, who ascends over the west. The Lord is his name. Exult in his sight; they will be stirred up before his face,
5 God, who lives in his sacred temple, is [like] [MET] a father to [those who are] orphans, and he is the one who protects widows.
the father of orphans and the judge of widows. God is in his holy place.
6 For those who have no one to live with, he provides families [to live with]. He frees prisoners and enables them to be successful, but those who rebel [against him] will be forced to live in a very hot and dry land.
It is God who makes men dwell in a house under one custom. He leads out those who are strongly bound, and similarly, those who exasperate, who dwell in sepulchers.
7 God, you led your people out [of Egypt], and then you marched with them through the desert.
O God, when you departed in the sight of your people, when you passed through the desert,
8 After you did that, because when you, the God [worshiped by us] Israeli people, appeared to us at Sinai [Mountain], the earth shook, and rain poured down from the sky.
the earth was moved, for the heavens rained down before the face of the God of Sinai, before the face of the God of Israel.
9 You caused plenty of rain to fall [on your land], [and so] you enabled good crops to grow again on the land that you gave [to us Israelis].
You will set aside for your inheritance, O God, a willing rain. And though it was weak, truly, you have made it perfect.
10 Your people built homes there; and because you were good to them, you provided [food] for those who were poor.
Your animals will dwell in it. O God, in your sweetness, you have provided for the poor.
11 The Lord gave a message, and many women took that message to other places.
The Lord will give the word to evangelizers, along with great virtue.
12 [They proclaimed], “Many kings and their armies are running away [from our army]!” [When our army brought back to their homes] the things that they captured, the women who were at home divided up those things [among themselves and among their families].
The King of virtue is beloved among the beloved. And the beauty of the house will divide spoils.
13 Even those women who were in the pens [taking care of] the sheep [received some of those things]; they got statues of doves whose wings were covered with silver and whose feathers were covered with pure yellow gold.
If you take your rest in the midst of the clergy, you will be like a dove whose wings are covered with fine silver and edged with pale gold.
14 When Almighty [God] scattered the [enemy] kings [and their armies], [the number of weapons that they abandoned there] seemed like there had been a snowstorm on Zalmon (OR, a black) [Mountain].
When heaven discerns kings to be over her, they will be whitened with the snows of Zalmon.
15 There is a very high mountain in the Bashan [region], a mountain which has many peaks.
The mountain of God is a fat mountain, a dense mountain, a thick mountain.
16 But the [people who live near] that mountain should not [RHQ] envy those who live near [Zion], the mountain on which God chose to live! Yahweh will live there forever!
So then, why are you distrustful of dense mountains? The mountain on which God is well pleased to dwell, even there, the Lord will dwell until the end.
17 [After we defeated all our enemies], [it was as though] the Lord, surrounded by many thousands of strong chariots, descended from Sinai [Mountain] and came into the sacred temple [in Jerusalem].
The chariot of God is ten thousand fold: thousands rejoice. The Lord is with them in Sinai, in the holy place.
18 He ascended the sacred mountain [where his temple is], and took with him many people who had been captured [in battles]; and received gifts from the enemies [whom he had defeated]. He received gifts even from those who had rebelled against him, and Yahweh our God will live there [in his sacred temple] forever.
You have ascended on high; you have taken captivity captive. You have accepted gifts among men. For even those who do not believe dwell with the Lord God.
19 Praise the Lord, who [helps us] carry our heavy loads every day; he is the one who saves/rescues us.
Blessed is the Lord, day after day. The God of our salvation will make our journey prosper for us.
20 Our God is the God who saves us; He is Yahweh, our Lord, the one who (allows us to escape/prevents us) from being killed [in battles].
Our God is the God who will bring about our salvation, and our Lord is the Lord who has brought an end to death.
21 But God will smash the heads of his enemies, the skulls of those who continue to behave sinfully.
So then, truly, God will break the heads of his enemies, the hairy skull of those who wander around in their offenses.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring back the [corpses of those who were killed in] Bashan, and I will bring back those who sank deep in the ocean [and drowned].
The Lord said: I will turn them away from Bashan, I will turn them into the depths of the sea,
23 I will do that in order that you may wash your feet in their blood, and your dogs can [also] lap up some of your enemies’ blood.”
so that your feet may be soaked in the blood of your enemies, so that the tongue of your dogs may be soaked with the same.
24 God, many people see you march triumphantly into your sacred temple, [celebrating that you have defeated your enemies]. You [march like] a king does, and a large crowd walks with you.
O God, they have seen your arrival, the arrival of my God, of my king who is in a holy place.
25 The singers are in front, and the people who play stringed instruments are at the rear, and young women who are beating their tambourines are between them.
The leaders went ahead, united with the singers of psalms, in the midst of girls playing on timbrels.
26 [They are all singing], “You Israeli people, praise God when you gather together; praise Yahweh, all you who are descendants of Jacob!”
In the churches, bless the Lord God from the fountains of Israel.
27 First come [the people of the tribe of] Benjamin, the smallest [tribe], and following them come the leaders of [the tribe of] Judah and their group, and following them come the leaders of [the tribes of] Zebulun and Naphtali.
In that place, Benjamin is a youth in ecstasy of mind. The leaders of Judah are their governors: the leaders of Zebulun, the leaders of Naphtali.
28 God, show people that you are very powerful; show people the power with which you have helped us previously.
Command by your virtue, O God. Confirm in this place, O God, what you have wrought in us.
29 Show that power from your temple in Jerusalem, where kings bring gifts to you.
Before your temple in Jerusalem, kings will offer gifts to you.
30 Rebuke [your enemies, such as those in Egypt who are like] wild hippopotamuses/animals that live in the reeds; and [powerful nations that are like] bulls that are among their calves [MET]; rebuke/trample them until they bow down and give you gifts of silver. Scatter the people who enjoy making wars.
Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds, a congregation of bulls with the cows of the people, for they seek to exclude those who have been tested like silver. Scatter the nations that are pleased by wars.
31 Then people will bring gifts of bronze (OR, of cloth) to you from Egypt; the people in Ethiopia will lift up their hands [to praise you].
Ambassadors will come out of Egypt. Ethiopia will offer in advance her hands to God.
32 [You people who are citizens of] kingdoms/countries all over the world, sing to God! Sing praises to the Lord!
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth. Sing psalms to the Lord. Sing psalms to God.
33 Sing to the God, the one who rides across the sky, the sky that [he created] long ago. Listen as he shouts with a very powerful voice.
He ascends, up to the heaven of the heavens, toward the east. Behold, he will utter his voice, the voice of virtue.
34 Proclaim that God is very powerful; he is the king that rules over Israel, and in the skies [he also shows that] he is powerful.
Give glory to God beyond Israel. His magnificence and his virtue is in the clouds.
35 God is awesome as he comes out of his sacred temple; he is the God whom [we] Israeli people [worship]. He makes [DOU] his people very powerful. Praise God!
God is wonderful in his saints. The God of Israel himself will give virtue and strength to his people. Blessed is God.
