Psalmorum 144
1 Psalmus David. Adversus Goliath. Benedictus Dominus Deus meus, qui docet manus meas ad prælium, et digitos meos ad bellum.
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 Misericordia mea et refugium meum; susceptor meus et liberator meus; protector meus, et in ipso speravi, qui subdit populum meum sub 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 Domine, quid est homo, quia innotuisti ei? aut filius hominis, quia reputas eum?
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 Homo vanitati similis factus est; dies ejus sicut umbra prætereunt.
[The time that we live is as short] as [SIM] a puff of wind; our time to live disappears like a shadow does.
5 Domine, inclina cælos tuos, et descende; tange montes, et fumigabunt.
Yahweh, (tear open/open up) the sky and come down! Touch the mountains in order that smoke will pour out from them!
6 Fulgura coruscationem, et dissipabis eos; emitte sagittas tuas, et conturbabis eos.
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 Emitte manum tuam de alto: eripe me, et libera me de aquis multis, de manu filiorum alienorum:
[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 quorum os locutum est vanitatem, et dextera eorum dextera iniquitatis.
who [SYN] [always] tell lies. [Even in a courtroom where they swear to tell the truth] they tell lies.
9 Deus, canticum novum cantabo tibi; in psalterio decachordo psallam tibi.
God, I will sing a new song to you, and I will play my ten-stringed harp [while I sing] to you.
10 Qui das salutem regibus, qui redemisti David servum tuum de gladio maligno,
You enable kings to defeat [their enemies]; and you rescued me, your servant David, from [being killed by] my enemies’ swords.
11 eripe me, et erue me de manu filiorum alienorum, quorum os locutum est vanitatem, et dextera eorum dextera iniquitatis.
[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 Quorum filii sicut novellæ plantationes in juventute sua; filiæ eorum compositæ, circumornatæ ut similitudo templi.
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 Promptuaria eorum plena, eructantia ex hoc in illud; oves eorum fœtosæ, abundantes in egressibus suis;
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 boves eorum crassæ. Non est ruina maceriæ, neque transitus, neque clamor in plateis eorum.
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 Beatum dixerunt populum cui hæc sunt; beatus populus cujus Dominus Deus ejus.
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!
