Psalms 144

1 By David. Blessed [is] Jehovah my rock, who is teaching My hands for war, my fingers for battle.

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 kind one, and my bulwark, My tower, and my deliverer, My shield, and in whom I have trusted, Who is subduing 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 Jehovah, what [is] man that Thou knowest him? Son of man, that Thou esteemest 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 Man to vanity hath been like, His days [are] as a shadow passing by.

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

5 Jehovah, incline Thy heavens and come down, Strike against mountains, and 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 Send forth lightning, and scatter them, Send forth Thine arrows, and trouble 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 Send forth Thy hand from on high, Free me, and deliver me from many waters, From the hand of sons of a stranger,

[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 Because their mouth hath spoken vanity, And their 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 I sing to Thee, On a psaltery of ten strings I sing praise 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 is giving deliverance to kings, Who is freeing David His servant from the sword of evil.

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

11 Free me, and deliver me From the hand of sons of a stranger, Because their mouth hath spoken vanity, And their 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 Because our sons [are] as plants, Becoming great in their youth, Our daughters as hewn stones, Polished — the likeness 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 [are] full, bringing out from kind to kind, Our flocks are bringing forth thousands, Ten thousands in our out-places,

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 are carrying, there is no breach, And there is no outgoing, And there is no crying in our broad places.

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 O the happiness of the people that is thus, O the happiness of the people whose God [is] Jehovah!

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!