The Book of Psalms

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

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- Chapter 116 -

The Lord has heard my voice

Alleluia. I have loved: therefore, the Lord will heed the voice of my prayer.(a)

For he has inclined his ear to me. And in my days, I will call upon him.

The sorrows of death have surrounded me, and the perils of Hell have found me. I have found tribulation and sorrow.

And so, I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, free my soul.

Merciful is the Lord, and just. And our God is compassionate.

The Lord is the keeper of little ones. I was humbled, and he freed me.

Turn again, my soul, to your rest. For the Lord has done good to you.

For he has rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from slipping.

I will please the Lord in the land of the living.

Footnotes

(a)114:1 In this case, ‘quoniam’ does not mean ‘because,’ but more like ‘therefore.’ Here is a common translation problem. A Latin word is very often translated, and properly so, by one particular English word. Then along comes a context in which that Latin word actually means something else. It should be translated in this other context by another English word. But it is a common translation mistake not to do so. In this verse, the statement ‘I have loved,’ is followed, not by the reason that I loved, but by the result of that choice. I do not choose to love because I think that God will answer my prayers, but rather when I choose to love, the result is that God will answer my prayers.(Conte)

Alleluia. I had confidence, because of what I was saying, but then I was greatly humbled.

I said in my excess, “Every man is a liar.”

What shall I repay to the Lord, for all the things that he has repaid to me?

I will take up the cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

I will repay my vows to the Lord, in the sight of all his people.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones.

O Lord, because I am your servant, your servant and the son of your handmaid, you have broken my bonds.

I will sacrifice to you the sacrifice of praise, and I will invoke the name of the Lord.

I will repay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people,

in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem.