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The Lord both kills and gives life;
he brings down to the grave[a] and raises up.[b]
The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy;
he humbles and he exalts.
He lifts the weak[c] from the dust;
he raises[d] the poor from the ash heap
to seat them with princes—
he bestows on them an honored position.[e]
The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord
he placed the world on them.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 2:6 tn Heb “Sheol”; NAB “the nether world”; CEV “the world of the dead.”
  2. 1 Samuel 2:6 tn The first three verbs are participles; the last is a preterite which is normally past consecutive. It is rare, even in poetry, for a preterite verb to follow a participle. The English translations all render the last verb as a participle. They either reason that the preterite continues the force of the participle or assume that it should be repointed as a simple vav plus imperfect (which can be habitual present). If the participles are understood as substantival, then the latter half might mean “the Lord…is one who brings down to [the point of] the grave and then raised up.”
  3. 1 Samuel 2:8 tn Or “lowly”; Heb “insignificant.”
  4. 1 Samuel 2:8 tn The imperfect verbal form, which is parallel to the participle in the preceding line, is best understood here as indicating what typically happens.
  5. 1 Samuel 2:8 tn Heb “he makes them inherit a seat of honor.”