Psalms 98

Sing a new song to the LORD, because he has done wonderful things. His own right hand and his holy arm have won the victory for him.

1O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

NoteLORD printed in capitals marks the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew letters (YHWH) that Jewish readers avoided saying aloud, replacing it in speech with the ordinary word for "Lord." English translations since 1611 follow that practice by printing LORD. A "new song" meant one freshly composed for something that had just happened, usually a victory, rather than an existing song reused. "Right hand" and "arm" are ordinary Hebrew figures for strength put into action, the way English says someone's "hand" is behind an event.

2The LORD has shown everyone how he saves. He has openly displayed his justice where the nations can see it.

2The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

Note"Heathen" in 1611 English simply meant the nations other than Israel, foreigners, and carried none of the contempt the word later picked up. The Hebrew word behind "salvation" means rescue or deliverance, often from enemies in battle; it describes a concrete act of saving someone, not an inward condition.

3He has remembered his faithful love and his promise to the people of Israel. People everywhere on earth, to the farthest places, have seen how our God saves.

3He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Note"Mercy and truth" renders two Hebrew words that are regularly paired: chesed, loyal committed love of the kind owed inside a binding relationship, and emet, reliability, being as good as one's word. "The house of Israel" means the nation understood as a single family line, the descendants of Jacob, who was also called Israel. "The ends of the earth" is a set phrase for the farthest inhabited edges of the known world.

4Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Break out in a loud cry, and be glad, and sing songs of praise.

4Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

Note"Make a joyful noise" translates a Hebrew verb for raising a loud shout: the roar a crowd let out to greet a king, or the cry raised going into battle. It is shouting, not singing, the singing comes in the next lines.

5Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing.

5Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.

NoteThe KJV says "harp" twice, but the Hebrew word in both places is kinnor, a small lyre held in the arms with roughly ten strings, nothing like the large modern concert harp. "The voice of a psalm" means a sung melody with words, as opposed to instruments played alone.

6With trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn, shout for joy in front of the LORD, the King.

6With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

NoteThese are two different instruments. The "trumpets" were straight metal horns, made of hammered silver, blown by priests to summon the people and mark festivals. The "cornet" of the KJV is not the modern brass cornet but the shofar, a ram's horn, sounded to raise an alarm, open a festival, or announce that a king had been crowned.

7Let the sea roar, and everything that fills it. Let the world roar too, and all who live in it.

7Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

8Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the hills sing for joy together

8Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together

Note"Floods" in 1611 English meant rivers or streams, not destructive overflows of water. Clapping was a public gesture of acclamation used when a king was crowned (see 2 Kings 11:12), so the rivers and hills are pictured doing what a crowd does at a coronation.

9in front of the LORD, because he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world fairly, and he will treat all peoples justly.

9Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

NoteThe Hebrew verb translated "judge" is wider than reaching a verdict in court: it covers governing, settling disputes, and putting a situation right. "Equity" in the KJV means evenhandedness, deciding straight, without favoring one party over another.