Logos Bible Study

Psalm 103:8–18

The NET BibleOther versions

English

Arabic

Czech

French

German

Hebrew

Hungarian

Italian

Korean

Latin

Portuguese

Russian

Simplified Chinese

Spanish

Traditional Chinese

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

103:14For he knows what we are made of;22

he realizes23 we are made of clay.24

103:15A person’s life is like grass.25

Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

103:16but when the hot wind26 blows by, it disappears,

and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.

103:17But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,27

and is faithful to their descendants,28

103:18to those who keep his covenant,

who are careful to obey his commands.29

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.”
  13. 22 Heb “our form.”
  14. 23 Heb “remembers.”
  15. 24 Heb “we [are] clay.”
  16. 25 Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.
  17. 26 Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  18. 27 Heb “but the loyal love of the Lord [is] from everlasting to everlasting over those who fear him.”
  19. 28 Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”
  20. 29 Heb “to those who remember his precepts to do them.”

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

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.

For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children’s children,

to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

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;

for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children—

with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

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.

For he knows what we are made of,

remembering that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass—

he blooms like a flower of the field;

when the wind passes over it, it vanishes,

and its place is no longer known.

But from eternity to eternity

the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear him,

and his righteousness toward the grandchildren

of those who keep his covenant,

who remember to observe his precepts.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

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.

For he knows how weak we are;

he remembers we are only dust.

Our days on earth are like grass;

like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

The wind blows, and we are gone—

as though we had never been here.

But the love of the Lord remains forever

with those who fear him.

His salvation extends to the children’s children

of those who are faithful to his covenant,

of those who obey his commandments!

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

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.

For he knows our frame.

He remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like the grass.

As the flower of the field, so he blossoms.

When the wind passes over it, it is no more,

and its place knows it no longer.

But the loyal love of Yahweh

is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to their children’s children,

to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his precepts.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

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.

For he knoweth our frame;

He remembereth that we are dust.

As for man, his days are as grass:

As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;

And the place thereof shall know it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him,

And his righteousness unto children’s children;

To such as keep his covenant,

And to those that remember his commandments to do them.

Public Domain