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Psalm 68:16–17

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68:16Why do you look with envy,36 O mountains37 with many peaks,

at the mountain where God has decided to live?38

Indeed39 the Lord will live there40 permanently!

68:17God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands.41

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor.42

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Footnotes

  1. 36 The meaning of the Hebrew verb רָצַד (ratsad), translated here “look with envy,” is uncertain; it occurs only here in the OT. See 952–53. A cognate verb occurs in later Aramaic with the meaning “to lie in wait; to watch” ( 1492 רְצַד).
  2. 37 Perhaps the apparent plural form should be read as a singular with enclitic mem (ם; later misinterpreted as a plural ending). The preceding verse has the singular form.
  3. 38 Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.
  4. 39 The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.
  5. 40 The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  6. 41 Heb “thousands of [?].” The meaning of the word שִׁנְאָן (shin’an), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Perhaps the form should be emended to שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan, “at ease”) and be translated here “held in reserve.”
  7. 42 The reads, “the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness,” which is syntactically difficult. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֲדֹנָי בָּא מִסִּינַי (’adonay ba’ missinay; see note b-b and Deut 33:2).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,

at the mount that God desired for his abode,

yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,

thousands upon thousands;

the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,

at the mountain where God chooses to reign,

where the Lord himself will dwell forever?

The chariots of God are tens of thousands

and thousands of thousands;

the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Why gaze with envy, you mountain peaks,

at the mountain God desired for his abode?

The Lord will dwell there forever!

God’s chariots are tens of thousands,

thousands and thousands;

the Lord is among them in the sanctuary

as he was at Sinai.

NLTNew Living Translation

Why do you look with envy, O rugged mountains,

at Mount Zion, where God has chosen to live,

where the Lord himself will live forever?

Surrounded by unnumbered thousands of chariots,

the Lord came from Mount Sinai into his sanctuary.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Why do you look with hostility, O many-peaked mountains?

This mountain God desires for his dwelling.

Yes, Yahweh will abide in it forever.

The chariots of God

are twice ten thousand, with thousands doubled.

The Lord is among them at Sinai, distinctive in victory.

KJV 1900King James Version

Why leap ye, ye high hills?

This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in;

Yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever.

The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels:

The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.