Psalm 34:13-23
New Catholic Bible
13 Who among you delights in life
and desires many years to enjoy prosperity?[a]
14 Then keep your tongue[b] from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
15 Shun evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
16 [c]The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
17 The face of the Lord is turned against those who do evil,
to erase all memory of them from the earth.
18 [d]The righteous call out, and the Lord hears them;
he rescues them from all their troubles.
19 The Lord remains close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
20 [e]The misfortunes of the righteous man are many,
but the Lord delivers him,[f] from all of them.
21 He watches with care over all his bones;
not a single one will be broken.
22 [g]Evil will bring death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
23 The Lord redeems the lives of those who serve him;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
Footnotes
- Psalm 34:13 This verse is found word for word in an Egyptian text of the 18th dynasty (tomb of Ai) (see 1 Pet 3:10f).
- Psalm 34:14 Tongue: see note on Ps 5:10.
- Psalm 34:16 The eyes and ears of the Lord are attuned to the righteous (see Ps 33:18), but the face of the Lord (see note on Ps 13:2) is against evildoers (see Lev 17:10; Jer 23:30; 1 Pet 3:10-12).
- Psalm 34:18 Compunction and humility are requirements for benefiting from the grace of salvation (see Ps 51:19; Mt 11:29f). The Lord hears the cry of the righteous (see Ps 145:19) and the brokenhearted (see Ps 147:3) and saves them from their afflictions.
- Psalm 34:20 No matter how many are the troubles of the righteous man, the Lord will deliver him (see Job 5:19; 2 Tim 3:11), protecting all his bones, a phrase representative of his whole being. Not a single one will be broken: John applies this text to Jesus on the cross as the righteous man par excellence. Hence, this text is regarded as a prophecy about Christ when he was crucified. Although it was the custom of the Romans to break the legs of a person they had crucified so that death would come more quickly, it was not carried out in this case and not one of Christ’s bones was broken.
- Psalm 34:20 Delivers him: God promises to be our source of power, courage, and wisdom to help us through our troubles; at times he even chooses to take them away from us.
- Psalm 34:22 The wicked will perish in their own evil and be condemned (see Ps 9:16), but the righteous will be saved by the Lord (see Ex 6:6; Lk 1:68; Rev 14:3).
