Good News Translation (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem) ends this strophe with verse 12; Revised Standard Version, McCullough, and Toombs end it with verse 13.

Yahweh provides water for the animals. In verse 10a the word translated the valleys is understood by New Jerusalem Bible to mean “in torrents” (Weiser “in streams”). New English Bible has “gullies” and New Jerusalem Bible “ravines.” It may mean either the course taken by the water as it rushes down, or else the water itself (Dahood has “springs and torrents”). Good News Translation in verse 10 supplies “rivers” as the subject, for a more natural sequence; this may not be necessary in some languages. Or else, “their water” (referring back to “springs” of the preceding verse) may be more satisfactory.

In verse 11a every beast of the field means all the wild animals. In languages in which the donkey is not known, the translator has the following choices: (a) borrow the term from a major language; (b) use a generic term with some kind of qualifier; (c) substitute a local animal. If the animal is unfamiliar, it is usually recommended that an illustration be provided somewhere in the publication, particularly near the first occurrence of the word. The importance of providing such an illustration is due to the repeated references to this animal.

The pastoral picture of peace and plenty includes the birds (literally “the birds of the heavens”) building their nests and singing in the nearby trees. Notice that Revised Standard Version By them in verse 12a could be taken to mean “By the wild asses”; it should be clear to the reader that it means “By the streams.” It is important in the process of editing a translation to read the text aloud. Readers sometimes fail to observe punctuation, and they run lines together, so that Good News Translation‘s “… donkeys quench their thirst” may be read together with the following line, “In the trees near by.” If this is a common problem, this kind of misreading can be avoided in the present case by switching verse 12a and 12b.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .