31 Heb “my soul.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is often used as a metonymy for the life and the animating vitality in the body: “my life” ( 659 נֶפֶשׁ 3.c).
32 Heb “fainting away from me.” The verb הִתְעַטֵּף (hit’attef, “to faint away”) is used elsewhere to describe (1) the onset of death when a person’s life begins to slip away (Lam 2:12), (2) the loss of one’s senses due to turmoil (Ps 107:5), and (3) the loss of all hope of surviving calamity (Pss 77:4; 142:4; 143:4; 742 עַטֵף). All three options are reflected in various English versions: “when my life was ebbing away” (, ), “when my life was slipping away” (), “when I felt my life slipping away” (), “as my senses failed me” (), and “when I had lost all hope” ().
33 Heb “remembered.” The verb זָכַר (zakhar) usually means “to remember, to call to mind” but it can also mean “to call out” (e.g., Nah 2:6) as in the related Akkadian verb zikaru, “to name, to mention.” The idiom “to remember the Lord” here encompasses calling to mind his character and past actions and appealing to him for help (Deut 8:18–19; Ps 42:6–8; Isa 64:4–5; Zech 10:9). glosses the verb as “I remembered the worship of the Lord,” which somewhat misses the point.
34 For similar ideas see 2 Chr 30:27; Pss 77:3; 142:3; 143:4–5.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

To the roots of the mountains I went down,

to the land whose bars closed upon me forever.

Yet you brought up my life from the pit,

O Lord my God.

When my life was fainting away,

I remembered the Lord,

and my prayer came to you,

into your holy temple.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

To the roots of the mountains I sank down;

the earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you, Lord my God,

brought my life up from the pit.

“When my life was ebbing away,

I remembered you, Lord,

and my prayer rose to you,

to your holy temple.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

I sank to the foundations of the mountains,

the earth’s gates shut behind me forever!

Then you raised my life from the Pit, Lord my God!

As my life was fading away,

I remembered the Lord,

and my prayer came to you,

to your holy temple.

NLTNew Living Translation

I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.

I was imprisoned in the earth,

whose gates lock shut forever.

But you, O Lord my God,

snatched me from the jaws of death!

As my life was slipping away,

I remembered the Lord.

And my earnest prayer went out to you

in your holy Temple.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

I went down to the foundations of the mountains;

the Underworld—its bars were around me forever.

But you brought up my life from the pit,

Yahweh my God.

When my life was ebbing away from me,

I remembered Yahweh,

and my prayer came to you,

to your holy temple.

KJV 1900King James Version

I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;

The earth with her bars was about me for ever:

Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord:

And my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

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