Psalm 146–147

Praise to Yahweh for His Help

146Praise Yah.^a

Praise Yahweh, O my soul.

²I will praise Yahweh while I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I am still alive.

³Do not place trust in princes,

in a son of humankind with whom there is no deliverance.

⁴His breath departs; he returns to his plot;^b

on that day his plans perish.

⁵Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is on Yahweh as his God,

⁶who made heaven and earth,

the sea and all that is in them,

the one who keeps faith^c forever,

⁷who executes justice for the oppressed,

who gives food for the hungry.

Yahweh sets prisoners free;

⁸Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind;

Yahweh raises up those bowed down;

Yahweh loves the righteous;

⁹Yahweh protects^d the strangers.

He helps up the orphan and the widow,

but the way of the wicked he thwarts.^e

¹⁰Yahweh will reign forever,

Your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.^f

Praise Yah.^g

Praise to Yahweh for His Providence

147Praise Yah.^a

For it is good to sing praises to our God;

for it is pleasant; praise is fitting.

²Yahweh is building Jerusalem;

he gathers the scattered ones of Israel.

³He is the one who heals the brokenhearted,

and binds up their wounds.

⁴He counts the number of the stars;

he gives names to all of them.

⁵Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;

his understanding is unlimited.

⁶Yahweh helps the afflicted up;

he brings the wicked down to the ground.

⁷Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving;

sing praises to our God with lyre,

⁸who covers the heavens with clouds,

who provides rain for the earth,

who causes grass to grow on the mountains.

⁹He gives to the animal its food,

and to the young ravens that cry.

¹⁰He does not delight in the strength of the horse;

he takes no pleasure in the legs of the man.

¹¹Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him,

the ones who hope^b for his loyal love.

¹²Laud Yahweh, O Jerusalem;

praise your God, O Zion,

¹³for he strengthens the bars of your gates.

He blesses your children within you;

¹⁴he makes your border peaceful;

he satisfies you with the finest of wheat.^c

¹⁵He sends out his command^d to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

¹⁶He gives snow like wool;

he scatters frost like ashes;

¹⁷he throws his hail like crumbs.

Who can stand before his cold?^e

¹⁸He sends out his word and melts them;

he blows his breath, the water flows.

¹⁹He declares his word to Jacob,

his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.

²⁰He has not done so for any nation,

and they do not know his ordinances.

Praise Yah.^f