God’s Word Translation
Psalms 39:12
12Listen to my prayer, O Lord. Open your ear to my cry for help. Do not be deaf to my tears, for I am a foreign resident with you, a stranger like all my ancestors.
Psalms 39:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
- New International Version (NIV)“Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Hear my prayer, O Lord, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
Context of Psalms 39:12
10Remove the sickness you laid upon me. My life is over because you struck me with your hand. 11With stern warnings you discipline people for their crimes. Like a moth you eat away at what is dear to them. Certainly, everyone is like a whisper in the wind. Selah Listen to my prayer, O Lord. Open your ear to my cry for help. Do not be deaf to my tears, for I am a foreign resident with you, a stranger like all my ancestors. 13Look away from me so that I may smile again before I go away and am no more.
Read all of Psalms 39Psalms 39:12 word by word
שִֽׁמְעָ֥ה־תְפִלָּתִ֨י׀ יְהוָ֡ה וְשַׁוְעָתִ֨י׀ הַאֲזִינָה֮ אֶֽל־דִּמְעָתִ֗י אַֽל־תֶּ֫חֱרַ֥שׁ כִּ֤י גֵ֣ר אָנֹכִ֣י עִמָּ֑ךְ תּ֝וֹשָׁ֗ב כְּכָל־אֲבוֹתָֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- my prayerתְּפִלָּהtephillâh · prayerH8605
- O Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- and give earאָזַן'âzan · to listenH238
- unto my cryשַׁוְעָהshav‛âh · cryH7775
- hold not thy peaceחָרֵשׁchârash · be quietH2790
- at my tearsדִּמְעָהdim‛âh · tearsH1832
- a strangerגֵּרgêr gêyr · sojournerH1616
- a sojournerתּוֹשָׁבtôshâb tôshâb · sojournerH8453
- as all my fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
Cross-references for Psalms 39:12
- Psalms 56:8(You have kept a record of my wanderings. Put my tears in your bottle. They are already in your book.)
- Psalms 116:3The ropes of death became tangled around me. The horrors of the grave took hold of me. I experienced pain and agony.
- 2 Samuel 16:12Maybe the Lord will see my misery and turn his curse into a blessing for me today.”
- 2 Kings 20:5“Go back and say to Hezekiah, leader of my people, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I’ve heard your prayer. I’ve seen your tears. Now I’m going to heal you. The day after tomorrow you will go to the Lord’s temple.
- Job 16:20the spokesman for my thoughts. My eyes drip ⌞with tears⌟ to God
- Hebrews 5:7During his life on earth, Jesus prayed to God, who could save him from death. He prayed and pleaded with loud crying and tears, and he was heard because of his devotion to God.
- Psalms 119:19I am a foreigner in this world. Do not hide your commandments from me.
- Leviticus 25:23“Land must never be sold permanently, because the land is mine. To me you are strangers without permanent homes.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15To you we are all like our ancestors— foreigners without permanent homes. Our days are as fleeting as shadows on the ground. There’s no hope ⌞for them⌟.
- 2 Corinthians 5:6So we are always confident. We know that as long as we are living in these bodies, we are living away from the Lord.
- Hebrews 11:13All these people died having faith. They didn’t receive the things that God had promised them, but they saw these things coming in the distant future and rejoiced. They acknowledged that they were living as strangers with no permanent home on earth.
- 1 Peter 1:17So if you call God your Father, live your time as temporary residents on earth in fear. He is the God who judges all people by what they have done, and he doesn’t play favorites.
- 1 Peter 2:11Dear friends, since you are foreigners and temporary residents ⌞in the world⌟, I’m encouraging you to keep away from the desires of your corrupt nature. These desires constantly attack you.
- Genesis 47:9Jacob answered Pharaoh, “The length of my stay on earth has been 130 years. The years of my life have been few and difficult, fewer than my ancestors’ years.”
Commentaries on Psalms 39:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Hear my prayer - Therefore, O Lord, show that mercy upon me which I so much need, and without which I must perish everlastingly. I am a stranger with thee - I have not made this earth my home; I have not trusted in any arm but thine. Though I have sinned, I have never denied thee, and never cast thy words behind my back. I knew that here I had no continuing city. Like my fathers, I looked for a city that has permanent foundations, in a better state of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry - That is, in view of my affliction and my sins; in view, also, of the perplexing questions which have agitated my bosom; the troublous thoughts which passed through my soul, which I did not dare to express before man Psalm 39:1-2, but which I have now expressed before thee. Hold not thy peace - Be not silent. Do not refuse to answer me; to speak peace to me. At my tears - Or rather, at my weeping; as if…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 There is no solid satisfaction to be had in the creature; but it is to be found in the Lord, and in communion with him; to him we should be driven by our disappointments. If the world be nothing but vanity, may God deliver us from having or seeking our portion in it. When creature-confidences fail, it is our comfort that we have a God to go to, a God to trust in. We may see a good God doing all, and ordering all events concerning us; and a…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12A foreigner could not own land (see Leviticus 25:23). The patriarchs had lived as guests in Canaan (Psalm 105:23).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 12-1312-13. Consonant with the tenor of the Psalm, he prays for God's compassionate regard to him as a stranger here; and that, as such was the condition of his fathers, so, like them, he may be cheered instead of being bound under wrath and chastened in displeasure.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 39:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 39
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries