לְדָוִד מִזְמוֹר חֶסֶד־וּמִשְׁפָּט אָשִׁירָה לְךָ יְהוָה אֲזַמֵּרָה׃ 101:1
Psal. 101:1 A psalm of David's:
I shall sing of kindness and justice.
I will sing praises to You, Lord.
אַשְׂכִּילָה בְּדֶרֶךְ תָּמִים מָתַי תָּבוֹא אֵלָי אֶתְהַלֵּךְ בְּתָם־לְבָבִי בְּקֶרֶב בֵּיתִי׃ 101:2
Psal. 101:2 Let me prosper on the wholesome path
-- when will You come to me?
Let me walk with integrity of my heart within my own house.
לֹא־אָשִׁית לְנֶגֶד עֵינַי דְּבַר־בְּלִיָּעַל עֲשֹׂה־סֵטִים שָׂנֵאתִי לֹא יִדְבַּק בִּי׃ 101:3
Psal. 101:3 Let me not set any improper thing in front of my eyes;
I hate the act of falling away; let it not cling to me.
לֵבָב עִקֵּשׁ יָסוּר מִמֶּנִּי רָע לֹא אֵדָע׃ 101:4
Psal. 101:4 Let a perverse heart depart from me;
let me not know evil.
מְלֹושְׁנִי) [מְלָשְׁנִי] בַסֵּתֶר רֵעֵהוּ אֹותֹו אַצְמִית גְּבַהּ־עֵינַיִם וּרְחַב לֵבָב אֹתֹו לֹא אוּכָל׃ 101:5
Psal. 101:5 A slanderer of his neighbor in secret, him let me destroy;
any haughty of eyes and proud of heart, let me not endure him.
The word before the left parenthesis is thought to be misspelled, having an unnecessary vav. I believe the word is spelled properly and means a slanderer, that is one who is slandering (often or continually). This word follows a typical template for spelling biblical Hebrew nouns and participles that are constructed from verb roots.
עֵינַי בְּנֶאֶמְנֵי־אֶרֶץ לָשֶׁבֶת עִמָּדִי הֹלֵךְ בְּדֶרֶךְ תָּמִים הוּא יְשָׁרְתֵנִי׃ 101:6
Psal. 101:6 My eyes are on the faithful of the land, to dwell with me;
one walking on the wholesome path, let him minister to me.
לֹא־יֵשֵׁב בְּקֶרֶב בֵּיתִי עֹשֵׂה רְמִיָּה דֹּבֵר שְׁקָרִים לֹא־יִכּוֹן לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי׃ 101:7
Psal. 101:7 Let a worker of deceit not dwell within my house;
let a speaker of lies not be established in front of my eyes.
לַבְּקָרִים אַצְמִית כָּל־רִשְׁעֵי־אָרֶץ לְהַכְרִית מֵעִיר־יְהוָה כָּל־פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן׃ 101:8
Psal. 101:8 Every morning let me destroy all the wicked of the land,
cutting off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.
I have translated most of the imperfect verbs in this psalm (and there are many) as being part of a prayer rather than as promises or vows. Therefore, if you reexamine some of these verses, you should notice I have many instances of “let,” “let me,” or “let him, rather than “will,” “I will,” or “he will.” I believe the result is more self-consistent throughout the psalm.
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