Psalm 37 is relatively long. I began to translate last night and knowing that I have many appointments today will not complete the translation until tonight. So, let me share with you my process of translation.

I begin with a site that I have found on the web, Mechon Mamre, because I like their layout of the Hebrew and English side-by-side. The translation is a bit dated and by the spelling, I assume from England. With the text before me, my first task is to clean up the Hebrew, removing all the dashes and commas that appear to me as unnecessary. I then give my attention to the English using a variety of translations: Metsudah, Robert Alter, Richard Levy, Martin Cohen, Benjamin Segal, ArtScroll, JPS, King James.  I seek to avoid gender identification for God or the Psalter unless it is clearly King David. I am fascinated by the variety of choices:  how a word is translated; a sentence punctuated; or whether a pronoun is capitalized or not. Most of these translations also have commentaries, which I use to better understand the translation choices, the structure of the Psalm, and the message articulated. The  study of commentaries often leads to a reevaluation, so what I share is usually a 4th or 5th version. Preparing the translation and commentary takes hours and is a great joy of discovery for me.