Psalm 90 v 10 - Under God's protection

Simon Marmion (Flemish, active 1450 - 1489) - The Beast Acheron
Ms 30, Getty Museum

Non accédet ad te malum: et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.

There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary is:

accedo, cessi, cessum, ere 3 to come to, approach, draw nigh

malus, a, um, adj., bad, evil, wicked; grievous, sore, severe; subst., malum, i, n., evil, sin; woe, harm, misfortune. 

flagellum, i, n. scourge, whip; a plague, affliction.

appropinquo, avi, atum, are , to draw near, approach

tabernaculum, i, n. a tent, pavilion, tabernacle

A word by word translation therefore runs:

Non (not) accédet (he will approach) ad (to) te (you) malum (substantive: evil/harm): et (and) flagéllum (scourge/plague) non (not) appropinquábit (it will approach) tabernáculo (to the tent) tuo (your).

The Douay-Rheims translates the verse as: ‘There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling’.  

The verse can be seen as a continuation of the response of the second choir started in the second half of the previous verse, viz ‘You have made the most High your refuge’ so that, ‘No evil shall befall thee: nor any plague come near thy dwelling'.

Tabernaculum

The substitution of 'dwelling' for 'tent', though common to pretty much all of the English translations, loses I think, some important nuances.  

First, as Dom Britt pointed out in his commentary on the psalm, it is a possible allusion to the protection the Israelites enjoyed from the plagues inflicted on Egypt at the time of the Exodus.  The Hebrew Masoretic Text is certainly more explicit than the Septuagint-Vulgate text tradition in suggesting that the evil being protected from is a plague, and St Jerome’s version from the Hebrew made this more explicit by using the word ‘lepra’ instead of flagellum in the second phrase, while the Pian translation used ‘plaga’.

The tabernacle of God

The verse can also be seen, though, as an allusion to the tabernacle of the Lord, that travelled with the Israelites, and signifying the presence of heaven on earth.

St Augustine took up this idea, seeing it as an allusion to the Church as the city of God, to which we are guided both by the Gospels and the example of Christ: 

The Holy City is not the Church of this country only, but of the whole world as well: not that of this age only, but from Abel himself down to those who shall to the end be born and believe in Christ, the whole assembly of the Saints, belonging to one city; which city is Christ's body, of which Christ is the Head. There, too, dwell the Angels, who are our fellow citizens: we toil, because we are as yet pilgrims: while they within that city are awaiting our arrival. 

Letters have reached us too from that city, apart from which we are wandering: those letters are the Scriptures, which exhort us to live well. Why do I speak of letters only? 

The King himself descended, and became a path to us in our wanderings: that walking in Him, we may neither stray, nor faint nor fall among robbers, nor be caught in the snares that are set near our path...

Reconciling the scourges of life and God's protection

This verse deals with the benefits that come to those who make God their refuge, continuing the thought from the previous verse.  But how can we reconcile the promise of freedom from evil (sin),  scourges or plague (punishment) with what we actually experience?

St Cassiodorus explained the seeming contradiction by applying it to Christ:

Here is powerfully recounted the blessed state of the humanity He assumed; for he says that though the Lord endured both taunts and scourges from the Jews in this world, no evil could approach His dwelling, that is, His holy body. He spoke rightly, for the scourge is divine vengeance, which is wont to restrain human crimes. As we read elsewhere: Many are the scourges of sinners." 

So the scourge is said with the greatest truth not to have visited Him, for He was known to live a spotless life; the scourge mentioned here is that which punishes sins and exacts vengeance for wicked deeds, so by mention of the scourge, there is a denial that sin drew near to the Lord Christ...

St Robert Bellarmine, however, suggests two more direct lines of response for our consideration.  The first is that while even those who trust in God can fall into sin, and suffer punishments in this life, such events are ultimately providential for us, in that God brings good out of the evil resulting in an increase in our sanctity, as it did in the case of the great penitent saints like King David himself, St Mary Magdalene and St Peter:

…their very sins will tend to their improvement, making them more humble and caution and more inflamed by the love of God, in proportion to extent they are indebted to his grace and mercy.

The second line of response is that the promise relates to our future life in heaven, not this fleeting one.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

For the next part in this series, go here.

Psalm 90 v 9: Hope for the Resurrection?

Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.

Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.

Verse 9 of Psalm 90 functions as a reminder of our hope of heaven, and echoes the last verse of Psalm 4, said before it at Compline.

Looking at the Latin

Key vocabulary:

quoniam, for, because, since, seeing that, whereas

spes, spei, f, hope;  the object of hope; the thing hoped for; security

altissimus i m the Most High

pono, posii, itum, ere 3,  to put, place, lay, set.

refugium, ii, n. a refuge, a place of refuge; fortress, high tower, dwelling place, hiding place, etc.

Accordingly, a word by word translation runs:

Quóniam (For) tu (you) es (you are), Dómine (Lord), spes (the hope) mea (my): * altíssimum (the most high) posuísti (you have set) refúgium (the refuge) tuum (your).

An interjection from the sidelines?

The voice of the speaker(s) suddenly changes in this verse – the psalmist was being spoken to in the previous verse, in the first phrase he becomes the speaker again. 

The second phrase, though, jumps back again, and reads as an answer to the first by a second choir or speaker, hence the change in tense from present (es) to perfect (posuisti).  

St Robert Bellarmine notes the seeming disconnection of this verse from what comes before and suggests that it should be read as a kind of ‘oorah’ interjection – yes, its all true!

The table below provides a selection of the English translations so you can get a flavour of the possible nuances of interpretation.  Note that the Monastic Diurnal (MD) has expunged the distinction of tenses, and made the entire thing perfect tense.

DR	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
MD	Because thou hast made the Lord thy hope, and the Most High thy refuge
Brenton	For thou, Lord, art my hope; thou hast set thine house of defence very high.
RSV	Because you have made the LORD your refuge, the Most High your habitation
Coverdale	For thou, Lord, art my hope; thou hast set thine house of defence very high
Knox	He, the Lord, is thy refuge; thou hast found a stronghold in the most High.
Grail	you who have said: "Lord, my refuge!" and have made the Most High your dwelling.

God our hope

One of the intriguing things about the ancient Compline psalms is the way they link to each other so neatly.  

We have already seen this in relation to verse 7 of Psalm 90, which echoes verse 7 of Psalm 3, and this verse builds on that link.

The first and most obvious link relating to today's verse is to Psalm 4, which precedes it at Compline:

Ps 90:9 Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.

Ps 4:10 Quóniam tu, Dómine, singuláriter in spe constituísti me.

In Psalm 4, the speaker of the psalm called us to repentance, and spoke of the process of repentance, and the aids we receive along the way in the sacraments.

In this psalm too, we are being urged to stand firm in the spiritual warfare, and put our trust in God.

There is another thematic link to Psalm 3 here as well though: in the last verse of Psalm 90 were were told that sinners would in the end be punished, since God sees all and judges it.  Psalm 3 puts it rather more bluntly:

90: 7 Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: ad te autem non appropinquábit.	3:7 Non timébo míllia pópuli circumdántis me:  exsúrge, Dómine, salvum me fac, Deus meus.
90: 8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	3:8  Quóniam tu percussísti omnes adversántes mihi sine causa: dentes  peccatórum contrivísti.
90: 9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.

Hope of the resurrection

The context of the verses makes it clear that the psalmist in these three psalms (ps 3, 4&90) is speaking not of our hope for protection in the here and now: God does not promise that we will not be persecuted!

Rather, the psalmist is reminding us that our true hope lies in the Resurrection of Christ, as St Robert Bellarmine makes clear:

When the Lord rose again, the other members which lay in the death of sin gained the hope of resurrection. What the rest of the body needed to hope for was anticipated by the Head. But the holy man conceived this hope of resurrection because the Lord Saviour Himself by His death is seen to have set His refuge in the most High. 

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

For the next part in this series, continue on here.

Psalm 90 v8 - Justice will prevail

The Last Judgment by Hieronymus Bosch
Source: Wikicommons

Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.

But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.

Verse 8 of Psalm 90 builds on the previous verse's promise of victory to those who persevere: it is a reminder that God sees all and will judge all.

Looking at the Latin

The Vulgate (and neo-Vulgate of the verse) is:

Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.

The key vocabulary:

verumtamen,  surely, indeed, verily, in truth.

oculus, i,  the eye

considero, avi, atum, are,  look at closely, to observe with the eyes or mind, to regard, contemplate; to lie in wait

retributio, onis, f,  reward, recompense, requital, either as a reward or punishment

peccator, oris, m. a sinner, transgressor; the wicked, the godless.

video, vidi, visum, ere 2,  to see, behold; consider; experience, undergo, suffer, realize; keep watch, look for, meditate on

Word by word: 

Verúmtamen (but surely/ in truth) óculis (with the eyes) tuis (your) considerábis (you will see/contemplate) et (and) retributiónem (the punishment/recompense) peccatórum (of sinners) vidébis (you will see).

The most poetic of the English translations, I think, is Coverdale’s ‘Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly’.  

The literal sense is, just as earlier the just are promised the reward of living in heaven, so also will they see their enemies punished.

The vengeance of God 

The commentaries of the Fathers and Doctors on this verse may at first blush strike the modern reader as somewhat un-PC  in that they focus on the punishment of sinners; they even depict seeing the punishment of those who have persecuted us as one of the rewards God will grant the just.

St Robert Bellarmine for example suggests that:

A fresh source of joy to the just man, who not only has been promised a victory, but that he will, furthermore, have great pleasure in seeing his enemies laid low, and punished according to their deserts, a promise that is sometimes fulfilled even in this world. Thus, the children of Israel saw the Egyptians cast dead on the shores of the Red Sea; Moses and Aaron saw Dathan and Abiron swallowed up alive; Ezechias saw the prostrate corpses of Sennacherib's army; and Judith, with God's people, saw the head of Holofernes cut off, and his whole army scattered and routed; but this promise will be completely fulfilled on the day of judgment, when we shall see all our enemies prostrate on the ground, naked and unarmed, without any strength whatever, and consigned to eternal punishment...you will then see plainly the reward the wicked get for all their labor.

To understand this perspective we need to remember firstly, I would suggest, that while we are required to forgive those who sin against us, that doesn't mean that we forget what they have done.

More fundamentally, the verse reminds us that the current state of affairs, where evil often seems to flourish, and the just suffer, is not the natural order of things, at the last, justice will prevail.  Bellarmine's commentary continues:

Hence will arise a beautiful order of things, that now seem in general disorder and confusion. For, while punishment should follow sin, and virtue should be rewarded, it often happens that the just are afflicted, and bad men honored; and thus sorrow comes from virtue, joy from sin; but, on the last day, all things will be righted and put in their proper place; guilt will meet its punishment, and that in proportion to its enormity; while, on the contrary, justice shall be rewarded in proportion to its merits, too; and then will be accomplished what is prophesied in Psalm 57, "The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge;" that is, when he shall see the sinner duly punished; not that he will rejoice in their misfortunes, but for the vindication of the divine justice and wisdom, that will appear so conspicuous in the punishment of the wicked.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

You can find the next part of this series here.

Psalm 90 v7 - Victory in the battle

Illustration from a Speculum Virginum ("Mirror of Virgins") from ca 1200.
Source: Wikicommons

Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: ad te autem non appropinquábit.

A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.

Verse 7 of Psalm 90 has a particular poignancy in the context of the Office as it echoes and responds to the other psalm of the spiritual warfare said each day in the Office, the first psalm of the day at Matins, Psalm 3. 

Looking at the Latin

The Vulgate of verse 7 is:

Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: ad te autem non appropinquábit

Key vocab

cado, cecidi, casum, ere 3 to fall, esp. in battle; to bow down, fall down, prostrate one's self; to happen, fall

latus, eris, n., the side or flank of men or animals; A latere, on or at the side of; The side or lateral surface of a thing.

mille, num. adj., a thousand; pi. subst.,

millia, mm, n., thousands; used generally in the sense of an indefinitely large number,a host, multitude.

dexter, tera, terum; the right hand.

appropinquo, avi, atum, are to draw near, approach.

Word by word then:

Cadent (they fall) a (from/on) látere (the side/flank of) tuo (you) mille (a thousand), et (and) decem (ten) míllia (million) a (from) dextris (the right hand) tuis (your): ad (to) te (you) autem (but) non (not) appropinquábit (he will draw near).

The Douay-Rheims translates the verse as ‘A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you’.  The Collegeville translation that appears in the Monastic Diurnal interpolates the word evil here, saying, ‘yet no evil shall come nigh to thee’, which in this case helps give the sense of the verse.

The spiritual warfare

There is a key link between this psalm and Psalm 3 at the start of each day in verse 7 of the psalms, in the allusion to thousands of enemies surrounding the psalmist, who is nonetheless protected by God:

Ps 3: 7  Non timébo míllia pópuli circumdántis me: * exsúrge, Dómine, salvum me fac, Deus meus.

I will not fear thousands of the people, surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.

Ps 90:7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.

A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.

The verse represents a powerful promise indeed.

But the Fathers and Theologians point out however that though the person who trusts in God is promised protection, it is also made clear that many will fall: few indeed will make it through safely.

The side of Christ

St Augustine's commentary on the verse starts by suggesting that this part of the psalm refers primarily to Christ and religious, who will sit in judgment of the world at the end:

To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said?...For the members, the body, and the head, are not separate from one another: the body and the head are the Church and her Saviour...to some He promised that they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles, who left all things, and followed Him....Those judges then are the heads of the Church, the perfect. To such He said, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor. 

Those who stand at the right hand, St Cassiodorus suggests, are those who offer counsel to the king:

The side of the Lord Saviour is the circle of just persons who as He promised the apostles will pass judgment with him at the resurrection. Even today when as judges we make a request of the emperor or the king, we say to him: "Set us at your right hand"; the phrase suggests: "We offer you counsel with the most faithful devotion." Lotus (side) is so named because it lurks (lateat) beneath the arm. 

Who then falls?

St Augustine's commentary on the psalm goes on to argue that those who fall are those who did not persevere in the face of trials.  St Cassiodorus adds to this the particular risk of those who thing they deserve more than their deeds merit - religious who assume that because they have made vows that is enough, without seeking to attain true holiness for example, and those who delude themselves.

A salutary reminder.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

You can find the next part of this series here.