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Psalm 107:10-16
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 107:10-16
New Catholic Bible
10 [a]Some sat in darkness and the shadow of death,[b]
bound in misery and in chains,
11 because they had rebelled against the words of God
and spurned the plan of the Most High.
12 He humbled their hearts with hard labor;[c]
when they stumbled, no one was there to offer help.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their need,
and he rescued them from their distress.
14 He brought them forth from darkness and the shadow of death
and tore their chains to pieces.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness
and for the wonders he does for people.
16 He has broken down gates of bronze
and cut through iron bars.
Footnotes
- Psalm 107:10 The psalmist evokes God’s deliverance of his people from foreign bondage, especially in the return from the Exile (see Isa 43:5f; 49:12; Zec 8:7f). In addition, guilt, darkness, grinding toil, and the constriction of chains, gates, and bars are apt figures for the fallen state of human beings.
- Psalm 107:10 See Pss 105:18; 149:8; Isa 42:7; 49:9. The Exile was a chastisement (see Lev 26:41ff; Job 33:19; 36:8ff; Prov 3:12), announced by the Prophets. Shadow of death: see note on Ps 23:4.
- Psalm 107:12 Humbled their hearts with hard labor: i.e., a labor that broke their spirit. Another translation is: “subjected them to bitter labor.”
