In this last strophe (verses 8-10) the psalmist assures himself of God’s help and denounces his enemies, predicting their punishment.

Depart from me: either “Go away” or “Stay away.”

Workers of evil, like “evildoers” in 5.5, is a very general term for people who are sinful, wicked, bad.

My weeping must often be rendered by a clause such as “the LORD hears me when I cry” or “… when I cry to him for help.”

Line a of verse 9 states the fact, and line b, which parallels it with each word, gives the consequence. Good News Translation expresses the consequence in line b through the use of “and will” in the second line.

Supplication (or “cry for help”) translates a word meaning “request for favor or help” and must often be rendered “ask for help” or “beg for help,” since crying is often restricted to “weeping” and “shouting.”

Accepts translates a verb meaning “receive,” used here in the sense of a favorable response to the psalmist’s pleas. So Good News Translation translates “will answer.”

It is to be noticed that in these two verses Revised Standard Version has translated the verbs in 8b and 9a with the past tense, and in 9b with the present tense; Good News Translation, however, has the present tense in 8b and 9a, and the future tense in 9b. Some use the past tense for all three (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant), and New Jerusalem Bible uses the present tense for all three. A translator should feel free to use the tense appropriate for an expression of complete confidence; the psalmist knows that Yahweh listens to his prayer and will answer it.

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 .