O Lord Almighty, God of Israel: Lord Almighty may be rendered “Lord who is All-Powerful” or “Chief [or, Master] who is the strongest of all.” In languages where Lord will be rendered “Master,” “Chief,” or even “The One who Rules,” we may begin this verse as follows: “O God of Israel, you are our All-Powerful Master.”

The soul in anguish and the wearied spirit cry out to thee: While soul and spirit can often be distinguished in meaning, here their sense overlaps. They mean essentially the same thing, and are a dramatic, poetic way for the exiled Jews to refer to themselves in this prayer. Good News Translation establishes this by having “we” as the subject, and the crying out done “from the depth of our troubled, weary souls.” Moving this phrase ahead of the subject and verb gives it added intensity in English. Translators are always allowed greater liberties where emotional impact is more important than the basic meaning of the words; while Good News Translation has taken some minor liberties, it has conveyed the essential tone while staying remarkably close to the literal wording. Contemporary English Version is also a helpful model:

• Lord All-Powerful, God of Israel, we are worn out with trouble and distress, and we pray to you for help.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.