Logos Bible Study

Psalm 103:8–13

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103:8The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient10 and demonstrates great loyal love.11

103:9He does not always accuse,

and does not stay angry.12

103:10He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;13

he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.14

103:11For as the skies are high above the earth,

so his loyal love towers15 over his faithful followers.16

103:12As far as the eastern horizon17 is from the west,18

so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions19 from us.

103:13As a father has compassion on his children,20

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.21

Read in Logos
Psalm 103:12: as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Footnotes

  1. 10 Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
  2. 11 Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
  3. 12 The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see נטר).
  4. 13 Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”
  5. 14 Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”
  6. 15 For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 (), , .
  7. 16 Heb “those who fear him.”
  8. 17 Heb “sunrise.”
  9. 18 Or “sunset.”
  10. 19 The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
  11. 20 Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
  12. 21 Heb “those who fear him.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.

He will not always accuse us

or be angry forever.

He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve

or repaid us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his faithful love

toward those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed

our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

NLTNew Living Translation

The Lord is compassionate and merciful,

slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

He will not constantly accuse us,

nor remain angry forever.

He does not punish us for all our sins;

he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

For his unfailing love toward those who fear him

is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

He has removed our sins as far from us

as the east is from the west.

The Lord is like a father to his children,

tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Yahweh is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger and abundant in loyal love.

He does not dispute continually,

nor keep his anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

nor repaid us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so his loyal love prevails over those who fear him.

As far as east is from west,

so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions.

As a father pities his children,

so Yahweh pities those who fear him.

KJV 1900King James Version

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always chide:

Neither will he keep his anger for ever.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins;

Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth,

So great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

As far as the east is from the west,

So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Like as a father pitieth his children,

So the Lord pitieth them that fear him.