Psalm 34:5-7 New English Translation

⁵Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.^[a]
⁶This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him^[b] from all his troubles.
⁷The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s^[c] loyal followers^[d] and delivers them.^[e]

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Footnotes

Psalm 34:5 tc The translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “they looked to him and were radiant; let their faces not be ashamed.” The MT reads the first verb as a perfect (הִבִּיטוּ, hibbitu), which would be past time, while the LXX (supported by Aquila, the Syriac, Jerome, and some medieval Hebrew mss) reads an imperative (הַבִּיטוּ, habbitu). The MT reads the second verb as a vav plus perfect, while the LXX reads it as an imperative, again a difference of the initial vowel. The third verb is a jussive preceded by אַל (ʾal), which supports reading the first two as imperatives. The second masculine plural pronoun (“your faces”) of the LXX and the Syriac, matches this understanding of the preceding verbs. The MT reading (“their faces”) is consistent with its view of the previous verbs. The reading adopted here interprets the verse as interrupting a testimony given to the congregation with an admonition based on that testimony.
Psalm 34:6 tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.
Psalm 34:7 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Psalm 34:7 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
Psalm 34:7 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same generalizing force as the active participle in the first line. See GKC 329 §111.u.

New English Translation (NET)