Psalm 51:18
New International Version
May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

New Living Translation
Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

English Standard Version
Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;

Berean Standard Bible
In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.

King James Bible
Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

New King James Version
Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.

New American Standard Bible
By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.

NASB 1995
By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.

NASB 1977
By Thy favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Legacy Standard Bible
By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Amplified Bible
By Your favor do good to Zion; May You rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Christian Standard Bible
In your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem.

American Standard Version
Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Do good in your pleasure to Zion and build the walls of Jerusalem.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Do good, O Lord, to Sion in thy good pleasure; and let the walls of Jerusalem be built.

Contemporary English Version
Please be willing, Lord, to help the city of Zion and to rebuild its walls.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

English Revised Version
Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Favor Zion with your goodness. Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Good News Translation
O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

International Standard Version
Show favor to Zion in your good pleasure; and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Do good in Thy favour unto Zion; Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Literal Standard Version
Do good in Your good pleasure with Zion, | You build the walls of Jerusalem.

Majority Standard Bible
In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.

New American Bible
Treat Zion kindly according to your good will; build up the walls of Jerusalem.

NET Bible
Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! Fortify the walls of Jerusalem!

New Revised Standard Version
Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,

New Heart English Bible
Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Webster's Bible Translation
Do good in thy good pleasure to Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

World English Bible
Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Young's Literal Translation
Do good in Thy good pleasure with Zion, Thou dost build the walls of Jerusalem.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. 18In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.…

Cross References
Psalm 69:35
For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it.

Psalm 102:16
For the LORD will rebuild Zion; He has appeared in His glory.

Psalm 122:7
May there be peace within your walls, and prosperity inside your fortresses."

Psalm 147:2
The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the exiles of Israel.

Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.


Treasury of Scripture

Do good in your good pleasure to Zion: build you the walls of Jerusalem.

Do

Psalm 25:22
Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

Psalm 102:16
When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

Psalm 122:6-9
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee…

thy

Luke 12:32
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Ephesians 1:5,9
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, …

Philippians 2:13
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

build

Nehemiah 2:17
Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

Isaiah 58:12
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Daniel 9:25
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

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Psalm 51
1. David prays for remission of sins, whereof he makes a deep confession
6. He prays for sanctification
16. God delights not in sacrifice, but in sincerity
18. He prays for the church














(18) Do good.--The last two verses have occasioned much controversy. They do not fit in well with the theory of Davidic authorship, Theodoret long ago saying that they better suited the exiles in Babylon. They seem at first sight to contradict what has just been asserted of sacrifice. On both grounds they have been regarded as a liturgical addition, such as doubtless the compiler made, without any sense of infringement of the rights of authorship. On the other hand, it is not only these two verses which harmonise with the feelings of the restored exiles, but the whole psalm, and the contradiction in regard to the worth of sacrifices is only apparent. While vindicating spiritual religion, the psalmist no more abrogates ceremonies than the prophets do. As soon as their performance is possible they will be resumed.

Verses 18, 19. - That this is an addition made to the original psalm, during the time of the Babylonian exile, or later, for liturgical purposes, has been maintained by a large number of the commentators who ascribe the rest of the psalm to David. The chief ground for the supposition is the prayer in ver. 18, "Build thou the walls of Jerusalem," which has been supposed to imply that the walls were in ruins, whereas under David they should have been, it is thought, in good condition. But it has been pointed out, very justly, that the fortifications of Jerusalem were not complete in David's time, and that both he and Solomon added considerably to them (2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 9:15, 19). David may well have thought that, as a punishment for his sin, God might interfere with the work which he was doing for the benefit of his people, and hence have felt it needful to pray, "Do good unto Zion: build thou the wails of Jerusalem." Verse 18. - Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. It is characteristic of David to pass from prayer for himself to prayer for the people committed to him, and especially to do so at or near the end of a psalm (see Psalm 5:11, 12; Psalm 25:22; Psalm 28:9; Psalm 40:16). And he closely connects - nay, identifies - the people with their capital city (see Psalm 46:4; Psalm 48:11: 69:35, etc.). Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Josephus says that David encompassed the whole city of Jerusalem with walls ('Ant. Jud.,' 7:3, § 2); and we are told, in the Second Book of Samuel, that he "built round about from Mille and inward." It has been argued that his walls were just approaching their completion at the time of his great sin (Christian Observer, No. 333).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
In Your good pleasure,
בִ֭רְצוֹנְךָ (ḇir·ṣō·wn·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7522: Goodwill, favor, acceptance, will

cause Zion
צִיּ֑וֹן (ṣî·yō·wn)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6726: Zion -- a mountain in Jerusalem, also a name for Jerusalem

to prosper;
הֵיטִ֣יבָה (hê·ṭî·ḇāh)
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3190: To be good, well, glad, or pleasing

build up
תִּ֝בְנֶ֗ה (tiḇ·neh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 1129: To build

the walls
חוֹמ֥וֹת (ḥō·w·mō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 2346: A wall of protection

of Jerusalem.
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ (yə·rū·šā·lim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3389: Jerusalem -- probably 'foundation of peace', capital city of all Israel


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OT Poetry: Psalm 51:18 Do well in your good pleasure (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 51:17
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