Psalms 144

1 David’s. Blessed be Yahweh, my Rock, who teacheth my hands to war, my fingers to fight:

I praise Yahweh, who is [like an overhanging] rock [under which I] ([get refuge/am protected])! He trains my hands so that I can use them to fight battles; he trains my fingers so that I can [shoot arrows in a war].

2 My lovingkindness and my stronghold, my high tower and my deliverer—mine! My buckler, and he in whom I have sought refuge, —He that subdueth my people under me.

He is the one who protects me; he is [like] a fortress [DOU] in which I am safe, he protects me [like] [protect soldiers] [MET], and he gives me refuge. He defeats [other] nations and [then] puts them under my power.

3 O Yahweh! what is the earthborn, And yet thou hast acknowledged him, —the son of a mortal, And yet thou hast taken account of him:

Yahweh, [we] people are [very insignificant/unimportant], so why (are you concerned/do you care about us) [RHQ]? [It is amazing to me that] you pay attention to humans.

4 The earthborn, resembleth, a vapour, his days, are like a passing shadow.

[The time that we live is as short] as [SIM] a puff of wind; our time to live disappears like a shadow does.

5 O Yahweh! bow thy heavens and come down, Touch the mountains, that they smoke:

Yahweh, (tear open/open up) the sky and come down! Touch the mountains in order that smoke will pour out from them!

6 Flash forth lightning, that thou mayest scatter them, Send out thine arrows, that thou mayest confound them:

Cause lightning to flash with the result that [your enemies] will run away! Shoot your arrows [at them] and cause them to (run away/scatter).

7 Put forth thy hands from on high: —Snatch me away and rescue me out of mighty waters, out of the hand of the sons of the alien,

[It is as though my enemies surround me like] a flood; reach your hand down from heaven and rescue me from them [SYN]. They are men from other countries

8 Whose mouth, hath spoken deceit, and, whose right hand, is a right hand of falsehood.

who [SYN] [always] tell lies. [Even in a courtroom where they swear to tell the truth] they tell lies.

9 O God! a new song, will I sing unto thee, —On a harp of ten strings, will I make music to thee:

God, I will sing a new song to you, and I will play my ten-stringed harp [while I sing] to you.

10 Who giveth victory unto kings—Who snatcheth away David his servant, from the calamitous sword.

You enable kings to defeat [their enemies]; and you rescued me, your servant David, from [being killed by] my enemies’ swords.

11 Snatch me away and rescue me out of he hand of the sons of the alien, —whose mouth hath spoken deceit, and, whose right hand, is a right hand of falsehood: —

[So I ask you to] save me from [being killed by] the swords [that those] evil [people carry]. Rescue me from the power [MTY] of those foreigners who [SYN] [always] tell lies, and [who raise] their right hands [in courtrooms when they solemnly declare that they will tell the truth].

12 That, our sons, may be like plants well grown while yet young, —Our daughters, like corner pillars, —carved, in the construction of a palace:

I wish/hope that our young sons will grow up to be like strong plants [SIM], and I wish/hope that our daughters will [grow up to] be [straight and tall] like the pillars [SIM] that stand in the corners of palaces.

13 Our garners, full, pouring out from one kind to another; Our flocks, multiplying by thousands—by myriads, in our open fields:

I wish/hope that our barns will be full of many different crops. I wish/hope that the sheep in our fields will give birth to tens of thousands of baby lambs.

14 Our oxen, well-laden; no breaking in and no departing, —and no loud lament in our places of concourse: —

I wish/hope that our cows will give birth to many calves without having any miscarriages or deaths when they are born (OR, that no enemies will break through our city walls and take us (into exile/to their own countries)). I wish/hope that [there will not be a time when the people in] our streets cry out in distress [because foreign armies are invading].

15 How happy the people that is in such a case! How happy the people that hath Yahweh for its God!

If good things like that happen to a nation, the people will be very happy. The people whose God is Yahweh are the ones who will be happy!