☰ Psalms 101
101
1  A psalm of David.
I will sing about loyalty and justice!
To you, O Lord, I will sing praises!
2  I will walk in1 the way of integrity.
When will you come to me?
I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace.2
3  I will not even consider doing what is dishonest.3
I hate doing evil;4
I will have no part of it.5
4  I will have nothing to do with a perverse person;6
I will not permit7 evil.
5  I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.
I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude.8
6  I will favor the honest people of the land,9
and allow them to live with me.10
Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me.11
7  Deceitful people will not live in my palace.12
Liars will not be welcome in my presence.13
8  Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,
and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord. 14
1 101:2 sn: Psalm 101. The psalmist, who appears to be a king, promises to promote justice in his land and vows to rid his royal court of evildoers. 2 101:2 tn: Heb “take notice of.” 3 101:3 tn: Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.” 4 101:3 tn: Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.” 5 101:3 tn: Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew mss. The form appears to be derived from a verbal root שׂוּט (sut, “to fall away; to swerve”; see Ps 40:4). 6 101:4 tn: Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.” 7 101:4 tn: Heb “a perverse heart will turn aside from me.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse (see Ps 18:26). It appears frequently in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used of evil people ( 22:5), speech ( 8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6). 8 101:5 tn: Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court. 9 101:6 tn: Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.” 10 101:6 tn: Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.” 11 101:6 tn: The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.” 12 101:7 tn: Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.” 13 101:7 tn: Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.” 14 101:8 tn: Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”
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