Psalms 68

1 To the Overseer. — A Psalm, a song of David. Rise doth God — scattered are His enemies! And those hating Him flee from His face.

God, arise and scatter your enemies, and cause those who hate you to run away from you.

2 As the driving away of smoke Thou drivest away, As the melting of wax before fire, The wicked perish at the presence of God.

Like [wind] blows smoke away, chase your enemies away. Like wax melts when it is near a fire, cause wicked people to (disappear/be destroyed).

3 And the righteous rejoice, they exult before God, And they joy with gladness.

But righteous people should be joyful; they should rejoice when they are in God’s presence; they should be happy, and be very joyful.

4 Sing ye to God — praise His name, Raise up a highway for Him who is riding in deserts, In Jah [is] His name, and exult before Him.

Sing to God; sing to praise him; sing a song (OR, make a road) for him who rides on the clouds; his name is Yahweh; be glad when you are in his presence.

5 Father of the fatherless, and judge of the widows, [Is] God in His holy habitation.

God, who lives in his sacred temple, is [like] [MET] a father to [those who are] orphans, and he is the one who protects widows.

6 God — causing the lonely to dwell at home, Bringing out bound ones into prosperity, Only — the refractory have inhabited a dry place.

For those who have no one to live with, he provides families [to live with]. He frees prisoners and enables them to be successful, but those who rebel [against him] will be forced to live in a very hot and dry land.

7 O God, in Thy going forth before Thy people, In Thy stepping through the wilderness, (Selah)

God, you led your people out [of Egypt], and then you marched with them through the desert.

8 The earth hath shaken, Yea, the heavens have dropped before God, This Sinai — before God, the God of Israel.

After you did that, because when you, the God [worshiped by us] Israeli people, appeared to us at Sinai [Mountain], the earth shook, and rain poured down from the sky.

9 A shower of free-will gifts thou shakest out, O God. Thine inheritance, when it hath been weary, Thou hast established it.

You caused plenty of rain to fall [on your land], [and so] you enabled good crops to grow again on the land that you gave [to us Israelis].

10 Thy company have dwelt in it, Thou preparest in Thy goodness for the poor, O God.

Your people built homes there; and because you were good to them, you provided [food] for those who were poor.

11 The Lord doth give the saying, The female proclaimers [are] a numerous host.

The Lord gave a message, and many women took that message to other places.

12 Kings of hosts flee utterly away, And a female inhabitant of the house apportioneth spoil.

[They proclaimed], “Many kings and their armies are running away [from our army]!” [When our army brought back to their homes] the things that they captured, the women who were at home divided up those things [among themselves and among their families].

13 Though ye do lie between two boundaries, Wings of a dove covered with silver, And her pinions with yellow gold.

Even those women who were in the pens [taking care of] the sheep [received some of those things]; they got statues of doves whose wings were covered with silver and whose feathers were covered with pure yellow gold.

14 When the Mighty spreadeth kings in it, It doth snow in Salmon.

When Almighty [God] scattered the [enemy] kings [and their armies], [the number of weapons that they abandoned there] seemed like there had been a snowstorm on Zalmon (OR, a black) [Mountain].

15 A hill of God [is] the hill of Bashan, A hill of heights [is] the hill of Bashan.

There is a very high mountain in the Bashan [region], a mountain which has many peaks.

16 Why do ye envy, O high hills, The hill God hath desired for His seat? Jehovah also doth tabernacle for ever.

But the [people who live near] that mountain should not [RHQ] envy those who live near [Zion], the mountain on which God chose to live! Yahweh will live there forever!

17 The chariots of God [are] myriads, thousands of changes, The Lord [is] among them, in Sinai, in the sanctuary.

[After we defeated all our enemies], [it was as though] the Lord, surrounded by many thousands of strong chariots, descended from Sinai [Mountain] and came into the sacred temple [in Jerusalem].

18 Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast taken captive captivity, Thou hast taken gifts for men, That even the refractory may rest, O Jah God.

He ascended the sacred mountain [where his temple is], and took with him many people who had been captured [in battles]; and received gifts from the enemies [whom he had defeated]. He received gifts even from those who had rebelled against him, and Yahweh our God will live there [in his sacred temple] forever.

19 Blessed [is] the Lord, day by day He layeth on us. God Himself [is] our salvation. (Selah)

Praise the Lord, who [helps us] carry our heavy loads every day; he is the one who saves/rescues us.

20 God Himself [is] to us a God for deliverances, And Jehovah Lord hath the outgoings of death.

Our God is the God who saves us; He is Yahweh, our Lord, the one who (allows us to escape/prevents us) from being killed [in battles].

21 Only — God doth smite The head of His enemies, The hairy crown of a habitual walker in his guilt.

But God will smash the heads of his enemies, the skulls of those who continue to behave sinfully.

22 The Lord said: 'From Bashan I bring back, I bring back from the depths of the sea.

The Lord said, “I will bring back the [corpses of those who were killed in] Bashan, and I will bring back those who sank deep in the ocean [and drowned].

23 So that thou dashest thy foot in blood, [In the blood of] enemies — the tongue of Thy dogs.'

I will do that in order that you may wash your feet in their blood, and your dogs can [also] lap up some of your enemies’ blood.”

24 They have seen Thy goings, O God, Goings of my God, my king, in the sanctuary.

God, many people see you march triumphantly into your sacred temple, [celebrating that you have defeated your enemies]. You [march like] a king does, and a large crowd walks with you.

25 Singers have been before, Behind [are] players on instruments, In the midst virgins playing with timbrels.

The singers are in front, and the people who play stringed instruments are at the rear, and young women who are beating their tambourines are between them.

26 In assemblies bless ye God, The Lord — from the fountain of Israel.

[They are all singing], “You Israeli people, praise God when you gather together; praise Yahweh, all you who are descendants of Jacob!”

27 There [is] little Benjamin their ruler, Heads of Judah their defence, Heads of Zebulun — heads of Naphtali.

First come [the people of the tribe of] Benjamin, the smallest [tribe], and following them come the leaders of [the tribe of] Judah and their group, and following them come the leaders of [the tribes of] Zebulun and Naphtali.

28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength, Be strong, O God, this Thou hast wrought for us.

God, show people that you are very powerful; show people the power with which you have helped us previously.

29 Because of Thy temple at Jerusalem, To Thee do kings bring a present.

Show that power from your temple in Jerusalem, where kings bring gifts to you.

30 Rebuke a beast of the reeds, a company of bulls, With calves of the peoples, Each humbling himself with pieces of silver, Scatter Thou peoples delighting in conflicts.

Rebuke [your enemies, such as those in Egypt who are like] wild hippopotamuses/animals that live in the reeds; and [powerful nations that are like] bulls that are among their calves [MET]; rebuke/trample them until they bow down and give you gifts of silver. Scatter the people who enjoy making wars.

31 Come do fat ones out of Egypt, Cush causeth her hands to run to God.

Then people will bring gifts of bronze (OR, of cloth) to you from Egypt; the people in Ethiopia will lift up their hands [to praise you].

32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing ye to God, Praise ye the Lord. (Selah)

[You people who are citizens of] kingdoms/countries all over the world, sing to God! Sing praises to the Lord!

33 To him who is riding on the heavens of the heavens of old, Lo, He giveth with His voice a strong voice.

Sing to the God, the one who rides across the sky, the sky that [he created] long ago. Listen as he shouts with a very powerful voice.

34 Ascribe ye strength to God, Over Israel [is] His excellency, and His strength in the clouds.

Proclaim that God is very powerful; he is the king that rules over Israel, and in the skies [he also shows that] he is powerful.

35 Fearful, O God, out of Thy sanctuaries, The God of Israel Himself, Giving strength and might to the people. Blessed [is] God!

God is awesome as he comes out of his sacred temple; he is the God whom [we] Israeli people [worship]. He makes [DOU] his people very powerful. Praise God!