I made the following translation of Psalm 34 myself — from the Greek of the Septuagint rather
than from the Hebrew of the more commonly accepted Masoretic text. It is a "dynamic equivalence"
translation that I hope conveys the original author's meaning more fully. As a special bonus, this
translation, like the original Hebrew, is an alphabetic acrostic (the Hebrew alphabet has only 22 letters,
so I skipped a few toward the end). This page contains a
detailed discussion of how I made the translation.
This is the wisdom that will set you free to go home:
- Always I will bless Our Godde;
no matter what comes, her praise is on my lips.- Blessing Our Godde, my soul will be applauded;
the compassionate will hear and be delighted.- Come, glorify Our Godde with me,
and let us blazon his name across Mount Everest.- Dislocated, I sought out Our Godde, and she smiled on my prayer;
from all the lonely places in my life, she released me.- Everyone who approaches him becomes radiant,
and their faces will never fall in shame.- For the beggar who wrote this cried out, and Our Godde heard his prayers,
and from all his dire straits she saved him.- God’s Holy Spirit will cradle those who adore Godde in his arms,
protecting them from all danger.- Having tasted, now behold, for Our Godde is kind and gracious;
blessed is the one who reposes confidence in her.- In awe, adore Our Godde, his holy ones,
for there is no lack of abundance for the ones who adore him.- Kowtowed to before, the rich were beggared and went hungry;
but the ones who seek Our Godde shall not be deprived of any good thing.
Halfway! - Listen to me now, children:
I will teach you to adore Our Godde.- Mortal, who is the person who chooses life,
and loves to behold life’s good days?- No evil will you speak,
and you won’t try to con anyone.- O, turn away from evil, and do good;
O, eagerly seek shalom — hope, health, and peace.- Pleased by the righteous,
Our Godde smiles upon their prayers.- Rightly the face of Our Godde is turned from those who do evil;
he will wipe out their memory from the earth.- So the righteous cried out, and Our Godde heard their prayers,
and from all their dire straits she released them.- To those whose hearts have been shattered Our Godde is close by,
and he will save their spirits from debasement.- Uncounted are the dire straits of righteous people,
and from every one she will release them.- Very truly Our Godde will cradle their very bones;
not one of them will be shattered.- Wretched death is the evil that befalls sinners,
and the ones who detest the righteous will blow it.- Yes, Our Godde will ransom the souls of his children in bondage,
and those who repose their confidence in him will never blow it.![]()