Psalms 30

I will praise you highly, LORD, because you lifted me up and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

1I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

NoteLORD in capitals stands in for the personal name of God in Hebrew, the four letters usually written YHWH. Jewish readers said "Lord" aloud in its place, and English versions have followed that custom ever since. "Lifted me up" translates a verb used of drawing a bucket up out of a well.

2LORD my God, I called out to you for help, and you healed me.

2O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

3LORD, you brought me up from the place of the dead. You kept me alive so that I would not go down into the pit.

3O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Note"The place of the dead" is Sheol in Hebrew: the underground realm where all the dead were thought to go, good and bad alike. It is not a place of punishment. "The pit" is a parallel term for the same place, built on the image of a grave or a cistern one is lowered into.

4Sing to the LORD, all of you who belong to him. Give thanks when you remember that he is holy.

4Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

NoteThe word behind "all of you who belong to him" (hasidim) means those bound to God by loyal love, the faithful or devoted ones, rather than "saints" in the later sense of exceptionally holy people. The second line is literally "give thanks to his holy memorial": the memorial is his name, the thing by which he is called to mind.

5His anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime. Crying may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning.

5For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

NoteThe Hebrew word here means both "life" and "a lifetime," so the line can be read either as "in his favor is life" or as "his favor lasts a lifetime." The contrast with the moment of anger favors the second, but the ambiguity is in the original.

6When everything was going well for me, I said, "Nothing will ever shake me."

6And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

7LORD, when you showed me favor, you made my mountain stand firm. But then you hid your face from me, and I was shaken.

7LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

Note"Made my mountain stand firm" is a figure of speech whose exact force is uncertain: it suggests a secure position, a stronghold on a height, or the speaker's own standing, set as solidly as a mountain. "Hid your face" is a standard idiom for withdrawing attention and favor, the opposite of turning your face toward someone.

8I called out to you, LORD. I begged the Lord for mercy:

8I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.

NoteTwo different words are being translated here. The first, printed LORD, is God's personal name; the second, "the Lord," is the ordinary Hebrew word for a master or superior, used as a title of address.

9"What is gained by my death, by my going down into the pit? Can dust praise you? Can it tell how faithful you are?

9What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

Note"My death" is literally "my blood," meaning violent death or bloodshed. "Dust" is the dust of the grave, what a corpse becomes. The argument assumes the common Israelite picture of the dead as cut off from worship and unable to praise God, so God gains nothing by letting the speaker die.

10Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me. LORD, be the one who helps me."

10Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.

11You turned my crying into dancing. You took off my rough mourning clothes and dressed me in joy,

11Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

NoteSackcloth was coarse, dark cloth of goat or camel hair, worn against the skin as a public sign of grief or distress. The verb for taking it off is the one used for stripping a garment away, and "dressed me" is literally "belted me," fastening a garment on with a sash.

12so that my heart can sing praise to you and not stay silent. LORD my God, I will thank you forever.

12To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Note"My heart" is literally "my glory," which Hebrew poetry uses for a person's innermost self. With a small change of vowels the same consonants give the word for "liver," thought of as a seat of the emotions, and some ancient translators read it that way.