Psalm 90:13
New International Version
Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.

New Living Translation
O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants!

English Standard Version
Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!

Berean Standard Bible
Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.

King James Bible
Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

New King James Version
Return, O LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants.

New American Standard Bible
Do return, LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.

NASB 1995
Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.

NASB 1977
Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Thy servants.

Legacy Standard Bible
Return, O Yahweh; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your slaves.

Amplified Bible
Turn, O LORD [from Your fierce anger]; how long will it be? Be compassionate toward Your servants—revoke Your sentence.

Christian Standard Bible
LORD—how long? Turn and have compassion on your servants.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
LORD—how long? Turn and have compassion on Your servants.

American Standard Version
Return, O Jehovah; how long? And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

Contemporary English Version
Help us, LORD! Don't wait! Pity your servants.

English Revised Version
Return, O LORD; how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Return, LORD! How long...? Change your plans about [us,] your servants.

Good News Translation
How much longer will your anger last? Have pity, O LORD, on your servants!

International Standard Version
Please return, LORD! When will it be? Comfort your servants.

Majority Standard Bible
Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.

NET Bible
Turn back toward us, O LORD! How long must this suffering last? Have pity on your servants!

New Heart English Bible
Relent, LORD. How long? Have compassion on your servants.

Webster's Bible Translation
Return, O LORD, how long? and repent thou concerning thy servants.

World English Bible
Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Turn back, O YHWH, until when? And regret concerning Your servants.

Young's Literal Translation
Turn back, O Jehovah, till when? And repent concerning Thy servants.

Smith's Literal Translation
Turn back, O Jehovah, how long? and have pity upon thy servants.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Return, O Lord, how long? and be entreated in favour of thy servants.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Return, O Lord, how long? And may you be persuaded on behalf of your servants.

New American Bible
Relent, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!

New Revised Standard Version
Turn, O LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Return, O LORD. How long? Wouldst thou not comfort thy servants?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Return, LORD JEHOVAH. How long will you not comfort your Servants?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Return, O LORD; how long? And let it repent Thee concerning Thy servants.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Return, O Lord, how long? and be intreated concerning thy servants.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
I Will Sing of His Love Forever
12So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom. 13Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants. 14Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.…

Cross References
Exodus 32:12
Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people.

Deuteronomy 32:36
For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.

Isaiah 64:9
Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people!

Joel 2:17
Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Jeremiah 31:18-20
I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God. / After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ / Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

Lamentations 5:21
Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,

Hosea 14:1-2
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. / Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.

Zechariah 1:3
So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’

2 Chronicles 6:25
then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to them and their fathers.

Nehemiah 1:9
but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’

Luke 15:20-24
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. / The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ / But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ...

James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

Romans 11:23
And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.


Treasury of Scripture

Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent you concerning your servants.

return

Psalm 6:4
Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.

Psalm 80:14
Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

Jeremiah 12:15
And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

how

Psalm 89:46
How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

let it

Psalm 106:45
And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

Psalm 135:14
For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

Exodus 32:14
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

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Changed Compassion Pity Purpose Relent Repent Servants Sorry Turn
Psalm 90
1. Moses, setting forth God's providence
3. Complains of human fragility
7. Divine chastisement
10. and brevity of life
12. He prays for the knowledge and sensible experience of God's good providence.














Return, O LORD
The plea "Return, O LORD" is a heartfelt cry for God's presence and intervention. The Hebrew word for "return" is "שׁוּב" (shuv), which conveys a sense of turning back or restoring. This word is often used in the context of repentance or a change of direction. Here, it reflects a deep yearning for God to turn His attention back to His people, suggesting a period of perceived distance or absence. Historically, this cry can be seen as a reflection of Israel's experiences of exile or divine judgment, where the people longed for God's favor and presence to be restored.

How long?
The phrase "How long?" is a common biblical expression of lament and impatience, found frequently in the Psalms. It captures the human experience of waiting for God's intervention and the struggle with divine timing. The Hebrew "עַד־מָתַי" (ad-matay) emphasizes the urgency and desperation of the plea. This question resonates with believers who have experienced prolonged periods of trial or suffering, echoing the universal cry for God's timely response.

Have compassion on Your servants
The request "Have compassion on Your servants" is a plea for God's mercy and loving-kindness. The Hebrew word for "compassion" is "נָחַם" (nacham), which can also mean to comfort or console. This reflects a deep trust in God's character as compassionate and merciful. The term "Your servants" denotes a relationship of covenant and loyalty, highlighting the psalmist's identity as belonging to God. This plea is rooted in the understanding that God's compassion is a source of hope and restoration for His people, aligning with the broader biblical narrative of God's redemptive love.

(13) Return.--Better, turn, either from anger (Exodus 32:12), or merely as in Psalm 6:4, "turn to thy servant."

Plainly we have here the experience of some particular epoch, and a prayer for Israel. From his meditation on the shortness of human existence the poet does not pass to a prayer for a prolonged life for himself, like Hezekiah, but for some intervention in relief of the suffering community of which he forms. part.

How long?--See Note, Psalm 74:9.

Let it repent thee.--Better, have pity on. (See Deuteronomy 32:36.) . . .

Verse 13. - Return, O Lord, how long? rather, turn, O Lord; i.e. "turn from thy anger - how long will it be ere thou turnest?" And let it repent thee concerning thy servants. God "is not a man, that he should repent" (Numbers 23:19); and yet from time to time "it repents him concerning his servants" (Deuteronomy 32:36; Psalm 135:14). He relents, that is, from his fierce anger, allows himself to be appeased, and has compassion upon those who have provoked him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Return,
שׁוּבָ֣ה (šū·ḇāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

O LORD!
יְ֭הוָה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

How long will it be?
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

Have compassion
וְ֝הִנָּחֵ֗ם (wə·hin·nā·ḥêm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 5162: To sigh, breathe strongly, to be sorry, to pity, console, rue, to avenge

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Your servants.
עֲבָדֶֽיךָ׃ (‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant


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OT Poetry: Psalm 90:13 Relent Yahweh! (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 90:12
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