< Psalms 114 >
1 When Israel came forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
When the Israeli [people] left Egypt, when they who were descendants of Jacob left people who spoke a foreign/different language,
2 Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion.
[the land of] Judah became the place where people worshiped God; and Israel became the land (OR, the [Israeli people] became the people) that he ruled over.
3 The sea saw it, and fled; the Jordan turned backward.
[When they came to] the [Red] Sea, [it was as though the water] saw [them] and ran away! When they came to the Jordan [River], that [water in the] river stopped flowing [so that the Israelis could cross it].
4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like young sheep.
[When they came to Sinai Mountain and there was a big earthquake], [it was as though] the mountains skipped/jumped like goats do and the hills jumped around like lambs do.
5 What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest? thou Jordan, that thou turnest backward?
[If someone asks], “What happened at the [Red] Sea that caused the water to run away? What happened that caused [the water in] the Jordan [River] to stop flowing?
6 Ye mountains, that ye skip like rams; ye hills, like young sheep?
What happened that caused the mountains to skip like goats and caused the hills to jump around like lambs?”
7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
[I would reply that] it was the presence of the Lord that caused those things to happen! [Everyone/Everything on] the earth should tremble in the presence of God, whom (Jacob [worshiped]/the Israeli people [worship])!
8 Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
He is the one who caused pools of water [for the Israeli people to drink to flow] from a rock; he caused a spring [to flow] from a solid rock cliff!