Passage

Psalms 7

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto Jehovah, concerning the words of Cush a Benjamite.} O Jehovah my God, in thee do I take refuge: Save me from all them that pursue me, and deliver me, 2. Lest they tear my soul like a lion, Rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. 3. O Jehovah my God, if I have done this; If there be iniquity in my hands; 4. If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (Yea, I have delivered him that without cause was mine adversary;) 5. Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; Yea, let him tread my life down to the earth, And lay my glory in the dust. [[Selah 6. Arise, O Jehovah, in thine anger; Lift up thyself against the rage of mine adversaries, And awake for me; thou hast commanded judgment. 7. And let the congregation of the peoples compass thee about; And over them return thou on high. 8. Jehovah ministereth judgment to the peoples: Judge me, O Jehovah, according to my righteousness, and to mine integrity that is in me. 9. O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish thou the righteous: For the righteous God trieth the minds and hearts. 10. My shield is with God, Who saveth the upright in heart. 11. God is a righteous judge, Yea, a God that hath indignation every day. 12. If a man turn not, he will whet his sword; He hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; He maketh his arrows fiery shafts. 14. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity; Yea, he hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15. He hath made a pit, and digged it, And is fallen into the ditch which he made. 16. His mischief shall return upon his own head, And his violence shall come down upon his own pate. 17. I will give thanks unto Jehovah according to his righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of Jehovah Most High." (Psalms 7:1-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. A meditation by David, which he sang to Yahweh, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite. Yahweh, my God, I take refuge in you. Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, 2. lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver. 3. Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, 4. if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, if I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), 5. let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah. 6. Arise, Yahweh, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment. 7. Let the congregation of the peoples surround you. Rule over them on high. 8. Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me. 9. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God. 10. My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11. God is a righteous judge, yes, a God who has indignation every day. 12. If a man doesn’t relent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow. 13. He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death. He makes ready his flaming arrows. 14. Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood. 15. He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made. 16. The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head. 17. I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High." (Psalms 7:1-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: ^{words: or, business} 2. Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. ^{none: Heb. not a deliverer} 3. O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; 4. If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 5. Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. 6. Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. 7. So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high. 8. The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. 9. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. 10. My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. ^{My: Heb. My buckler is upon God} 11. God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. ^{judgeth: or, is a righteous judge} 12. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. 14. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. ^{He made a pit: Heb. He hath digged a pit} 16. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. 17. I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high." (Psalms 7:1-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. 'The Erring One,' by David, that he sung to Jehovah concerning the words of Cush a Benjamite. O Jehovah, my God, in Thee I have trusted, Save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me. 2. Lest he tear as a lion my soul, Rending, and there is no deliverer. 3. O Jehovah, my God, if I have done this, If there is iniquity in my hands, 4. If I have done my well-wisher evil, And draw mine adversary without cause, 5. An enemy pursueth my soul, and overtaketh, And treadeth down to the earth my life, And my honour placeth in the dust. Selah. 6. Rise, O Jehovah, in Thine anger, Be lifted up at the wrath of mine adversaries, And awake Thou for me: Judgment Thou hast commanded: 7. And a company of peoples compass Thee, And over it on high turn Thou back, 8. Jehovah doth judge the peoples; Judge me, O Jehovah, According to my righteousness, And according to mine integrity on me, 9. Let, I pray Thee be ended the evil of the wicked, And establish Thou the righteous, And a trier of hearts and reins is the righteous God. 10. My shield [is] on God, Saviour of the upright in heart! 11. God [is] a righteous judge, And He is not angry at all times. 12. If [one] turn not, His sword he sharpeneth, His bow he hath trodden, He prepareth it, 13. Yea, for him He hath prepared Instruments of death, His arrows for burning pursuers He maketh. 14. Lo, he travaileth [with] iniquity, And he hath conceived perverseness, And hath brought forth falsehood. 15. A pit he hath prepared, and he diggeth it, And he falleth into a ditch he maketh. 16. Return doth his perverseness on his head, And on his crown his violence cometh down. 17. I thank Jehovah, According to His righteousness, And praise the name of Jehovah Most High!" (Psalms 7:1-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.