This prayer is addressed to God, who lives in his holy habitation in heaven; this may indicate that the worshiper is not in the central sanctuary (see verse 13). The translation of holy habitation should not mean a temple or a church; an expression like “your house” should be used. Here holy can be translated “your own home”: it is holy because God lives there (see 5.12; 14.2).

Bless thy people Israel: or “cause your people Israel to be prosperous.”

Bless … the ground which thou hast given us: that is, the land of Canaan. Another way to express this is “cause this land that you have given us to produce many crops [or, much fruit].”

As thou didst swear to our fathers: see 1.8.

A land flowing with milk and honey: see 6.3 and verse 9.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Look down from your home in heaven [or, from heaven, where you live] and cause your people Israel to prosper. You promised our ancestors that you would give us a land full of cattle and produce [or crops, or fruit]. You have done what you promised.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .