Psalm 104–105

Psalm 104

GOD THE CREATOR

¹My soul, bless the Lord!

Lord my God, you are very great;

you are clothed with majesty and splendor.^aa

²He wraps himself in light as if it were a robe,

spreading out the sky like a canopy,^ab

³laying the beams of his palace

on the waters above,^ac

making the clouds his chariot,^ad

walking on the wings of the wind,^ae

⁴and making the winds his messengers,^A

flames of fire his servants.^af

⁵He established the earth on its foundations;

it will never be shaken.^ag

⁶You covered it with the deep

as if it were a garment;

the water stood above the mountains.^ah

⁷At your rebuke the water fled;

at the sound of your thunder they hurried away^ai—

⁸mountains rose and valleys sank^B—

to the place you established for them.^aj

⁹You set a boundary they cannot cross;

they will never cover the earth again.^a

¹⁰He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;

they flow between the mountains.^b

¹¹They supply water for every wild beast;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.^c

¹²The birds of the sky live beside the springs;

they make their voices heard among the foliage.^d

¹³He waters the mountains from his palace;

the earth is satisfied by the fruit of your labor.^e

¹⁴He causes grass to grow for the livestock

and provides crops for man to cultivate,

producing food from the earth,^f

¹⁵wine that makes human hearts glad—

making his face shine with oil—

and bread that sustains human hearts.^g

¹⁶The trees of the Lord flourish,^C

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.^h

¹⁷There the birds make their nests;

storks make their homes in the pine trees.ⁱ

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the cliffs are a refuge for hyraxes.^j

¹⁹He made the moon to mark the^D festivals;^E

the sun knows when to set.^k

²⁰You bring darkness, and it becomes night,

when all the forest animals stir.^l

²¹The young lions roar for their prey

and seek their food from God.^m

²²The sun rises; they go back

and lie down in their dens.ⁿ

²³Man goes out to his work

and to his labor until evening.^o

²⁴How countless are your works, Lord!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.^Ap

²⁵Here is the sea, vast and wide,

teeming with creatures beyond number—

living things both large and small.^q

²⁶There the ships move about,

and Leviathan, which you formed to play there.^r

²⁷All of them wait for you

to give them their food at the right time.^s

²⁸When you give it to them,

they gather it;

when you open your hand,

they are satisfied with good things.^t

²⁹When you hide your face,

they are terrified;

when you take away their breath,

they die and return to the dust.^u

³⁰When you send your breath,^B

they are created,^*

and you renew the surface of the ground.^v

³¹May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works.^w

³²He looks at the earth, and it trembles;

he touches the mountains,

and they pour out smoke.^x

³³I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God while I live.^y

³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to him;

I will rejoice in the Lord.^z

³⁵May sinners vanish from the earth

and wicked people be no more.^aa

My soul, bless the Lord!

Hallelujah!

Psalm 105

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS PEOPLE

¹Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

proclaim his deeds among the peoples.^ab

²Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell about all his wondrous works!^ac

³Boast in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.^ad

⁴Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.^ae

⁵Remember the wondrous works he has done,

his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced,^Ca

⁶you offspring of Abraham his servant,

Jacob’s descendants—his chosen ones.^b

⁷He is the Lord our God;

his judgments govern the whole earth.^c

⁸He remembers his covenant forever,

the promise he ordained

for a thousand generations^d—

⁹the covenant he made with Abraham,

swore^D to Isaac,^e

¹⁰and confirmed to Jacob as a decree

and to Israel as a permanent covenant:^f

¹¹“I will give the land of Canaan to you

as your inherited portion.”^g

¹²When they were few in number,

very few indeed,

and resident aliens in Canaan,^h

¹³wandering from nation to nation

and from one kingdom to another,ⁱ

¹⁴he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their behalf:^j

¹⁵“Do not touch my anointed ones,^k

or harm my prophets.”^l

¹⁶He called down famine against the land

and destroyed the entire food supply.^m

¹⁷He had sent a man ahead of them—

Joseph, who was sold as a slave.ⁿ

¹⁸They hurt his feet with shackles;

his neck was put in an iron collar.^o

¹⁹Until the time his prediction came true,

the word of the Lord tested him.^p

²⁰The king sent for him and released him;

the ruler of peoples set him free.^q

²¹He made him master of his household,

ruler over all his possessions^r—

²²binding^A his officials at will

and instructing his elders.^s

²³Then Israel went to Egypt;

Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.^t

²⁴The Lord^C made his people very fruitful;

he made them more numerous than their foes,^u

²⁵whose hearts he turned to hate his people

and to deal deceptively with his servants.^v

²⁶He sent Moses his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.^w

²⁷They performed his miraculous signs among them

and wonders in the land of Ham.^x

²⁸He sent darkness, and it became dark—

for did they not defy his commands?^y

²⁹He turned their water into blood

and caused their fish to die.^z

³⁰Their land was overrun with frogs,

even in their royal chambers.^aa

³¹He spoke, and insects came^ab—

gnats throughout their country.^ac

³²He gave them hail for rain,

and lightning throughout their land.^ad

³³He struck their vines and fig trees

and shattered the trees of their territory.^ae

³⁴He spoke, and locusts came—

young locusts without number.

³⁵They devoured all the vegetation in their land

and consumed the produce of their land.^af

³⁶He struck all the firstborn in their land,

all their first progeny.^ag

³⁷Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,

and no one among his tribes stumbled.^ah

³⁸Egypt was glad when they left,

for the dread of Israel^A had fallen on them.^ai

³⁹He spread a cloud as a covering

and gave a fire to light up the night.^aj

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quail

and satisfied them with bread from heaven.^ak

⁴¹He opened a rock, and water gushed out;

it flowed like a stream in the desert.^a

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise

to Abraham his servant.^b

⁴³He brought his people out with rejoicing,

his chosen ones with shouts of joy.^c

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations,

and they inherited

what other peoples had worked for.^d

⁴⁵All this happened

so that they might keep his statutes

and obey his instructions.^e

Hallelujah!