Translations
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
As the mountains encircle Yerushalayim, so YHWH encircles His people, from this moment and unto the age.
As the mountains stand as a surrounding wall around Jerusalem, so Yahweh stands around His people, from this day forward and forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.
Footnotes
The geographical image is precise: Jerusalem sits in a basin ringed by higher ridges, the Mount of Olives to the east, Mount Scopus to the north, the hills of Judah to the west and south. Any ancient pilgrim arriving on foot would have experienced this encirclement viscerally. The theology moves from landscape to covenant: as those mountains are simply there, immovable and surrounding, so Yahweh is simply there around His people. The phrase me'attah ve'ad olam ('from now and unto the age') recurs in the Psalter and in the Aaronic liturgy as a signature of Yahweh's enduring faithfulness. F.O.G. renders it 'from this moment and unto the age' to capture the literal phrasing; F.O.G.M. 'from this day forward' gives it a covenantal declaration quality.
