Psalm 23 in Hebrew
Psalm 23 is only 57 Hebrew words long, and it may be the best-known poem in the Bible. Because most people already know what it says, it is a very good first text. Hebrew reads from right to left, so each line below starts on the right.
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The text and translation
מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָר׃
Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing.
Word by word
- מִזְמוֹר
- psalm
- לְדָוִד
- David
- יְהוָה
- Jehovah
- רֹעִי
- to shepherd
- לֹא
- not
- אֶחְסָר
- to lack
בִּנְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא יַרְבִּיצֵנִי עַל־ מֵי מְנֻחוֹת יְנַהֲלֵנִי׃
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
Word by word
- בִּנְאוֹת
- pasture
- דֶּשֶׁא
- grass
- יַרְבִּיצֵנִי
- to lie down
- עַל
- above
- מֵי
- water
- מְנֻחוֹת
- resting-place
- יְנַהֲלֵנִי
- to guide
נַפְשִׁי יְשׁוֹבֵב יַנְחֵנִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי־ צֶדֶק לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ׃
He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Word by word
- נַפְשִׁי
- soul
- יְשׁוֹבֵב
- to turn back
- יַנְחֵנִי
- to lead
- בְמַעְגְּלֵי
- track, path
- צֶדֶק
- righteousness
- לְמַעַן
- for the sake of
- שְׁמוֹ
- name
גַּם כִּי־ אֵלֵךְ בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת לֹא־ אִירָא רָע כִּי־ אַתָּה עִמָּדִי שִׁבְטְךָ וּמִשְׁעַנְתֶּךָ הֵמָּה יְנַחֲמֻנִי׃
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Word by word
- גַּם
- also
- כִּי
- that, because, when
- אֵלֵךְ
- to go
- בְּגֵיא
- valley
- צַלְמָוֶת
- deep darkness
- לֹא
- not
- אִירָא
- to fear
- רָע
- evil
- כִּי
- that, because, when
- אַתָּה
- you (masc. sg.)
- עִמָּדִי
- with
- שִׁבְטְךָ
- rod; tribe
- וּמִשְׁעַנְתֶּךָ
- staff
- הֵמָּה
- they
- יְנַחֲמֻנִי
- to relent; to comfort
תַּעֲרֹךְ לְפָנַי שֻׁלְחָן נֶגֶד צֹרְרָי דִּשַּׁנְתָּ בַשֶּׁמֶן רֹאשִׁי כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה׃
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
Word by word
- תַּעֲרֹךְ
- to set in order
- לְפָנַי
- face
- שֻׁלְחָן
- table
- נֶגֶד
- in front of
- צֹרְרָי
- to be hostile
- דִּשַּׁנְתָּ
- to anoint
- בַשֶּׁמֶן
- oil
- רֹאשִׁי
- head
- כּוֹסִי
- cup
- רְוָיָה
- saturation
אַךְ טוֹב וָחֶסֶד יִרְדְּפוּנִי כָּל־ יְמֵי חַיָּי וְשַׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית־ יְהוָה לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים׃
Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in Yahweh’s house forever.
Word by word
- אַךְ
- surely
- טוֹב
- good thing
- וָחֶסֶד
- loyal love, kindness
- יִרְדְּפוּנִי
- to pursue
- כָּל
- all, every
- יְמֵי
- day
- חַיָּי
- life
- וְשַׁבְתִּי
- to sit
- בְּבֵית
- house
- יְהוָה
- Jehovah
- לְאֹרֶךְ
- length
- יָמִים
- day
What to notice
- יְהוָה רֹעִי is “Yahweh is my shepherd”, just two words. Hebrew has no word for “is” here, and the final י on רֹעִי means “my”. Many readers say “the Lord” in place of God's name.
- לֹא אֶחְסָר means “I shall lack nothing”. The familiar “I shall not want” is the same thought, in older English.
- בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת is the “valley of the shadow of death”. Many scholars think the second word simply means “deep darkness”, which is a good example of how much translation hides.
- כִּי־ אַתָּה עִמָּדִי means “for you are with me”. Until this moment the psalm has spoken about God as “he”. Here, in the darkest line, it turns and speaks to him directly.
Read it yourself
Urling teaches the words in this text first, so that when you reach it you can read it in Biblical Hebrew. It uses short lessons, and nothing has to be memorised from a list.
Learn to read this in Biblical Hebrew
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Sources
Westminster Leningrad Codex with Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (Ps 23:1–23:6). English: World English Bible.
Text licence: Text public domain; morphology CC BY 4.0 (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project).
Language pack licence: Text public domain; data CC BY 4.0 (credit the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project).
Text: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain). Morphology and lemmas: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project (CC BY 4.0). Glosses: OSHB Hebrew Lexicon index of Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906, public domain; index CC BY 4.0), Strong's (1890) as fallback, with AI-written corrections (marked "ai"). English: World English Bible (public domain, eBible.org).
The introduction and notes on this page were written by Claude (AI). Word glosses are AI-assisted, and so is the English unless the source above names another translator.