Psalm 104–105

Praise to God Who Made the World

104My whole being, praise the Lord.

Lord my God, you are very great.

You are clothed with glory and majesty;

²you wear light like a robe.

You stretch out the skies like a tent.

³You build your room above the clouds.

You make the clouds your chariot,

and you ride on the wings of the wind.

⁴You make the winds your messengers,

and flames of fire are your servants.

⁵You built the earth on its foundations

so it can never be moved.

⁶You covered the earth with oceans;

the water was above the mountains.

⁷But at your command, the water rushed away.

When you thundered your orders, it hurried away.

⁸The mountains rose; the valleys sank.

The water went to the places you made for it.

⁹You set borders for the seas that they cannot cross,

so water will never cover the earth again.

¹⁰You make springs pour into the ravines;

they flow between the mountains.

¹¹They water all the wild animals;

the wild donkeys come there to drink.

¹²Wild birds make nests by the water;

they sing among the tree branches.

¹³You water the mountains from above.

The earth is full of the things you made.

¹⁴You make the grass for cattle

and vegetables for the people.

You make food grow from the earth.

¹⁵You give us wine that makes happy hearts

and olive oil that makes our faces shine.

You give us bread that gives us strength.

¹⁶The Lord’s trees have plenty of water;

they are the cedars of Lebanon, which he planted.

¹⁷The birds make their nests there;

the stork’s home is in the fir trees.

¹⁸The high mountains belong to the wild goats.

The rocks are hiding places for the badgers.

¹⁹You made the moon to mark the seasons,

and the sun always knows when to set.

²⁰You make it dark, and it becomes night.

Then all the wild animals creep around.

²¹The lions roar as they attack.

They look to God for food.

²²When the sun rises, they leave

and go back to their dens to lie down.

²³Then people go to work

and work until evening.

²⁴Lord, you have made many things;

with your wisdom you made them all.

The earth is full of your riches.

²⁵Look at the sea, so big and wide,

with creatures large and small that cannot be counted.

²⁶Ships travel over the ocean,

and there is the sea monster Leviathan,

which you made to play there.

²⁷All these things depend on you

to give them their food at the right time.

²⁸When you give it to them,

they gather it up.

When you open your hand,

they are filled with good food.

²⁹When you turn away from them,

they become frightened.

When you take away their breath,

they die and turn to dust.

³⁰When you breathe on them,

they are created,

and you make the land new again.

³¹May the glory of the Lord be forever.

May the Lord enjoy what he has made.

³²He just looks at the earth, and it shakes.

He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

³⁴May my thoughts please him;

I am happy in the Lord.

³⁵Let sinners be destroyed from the earth,

and let the wicked live no longer.

My whole being, praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

God’s Love for Israel

105Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him.

Tell the nations what he has done.

²Sing to him; sing praises to him.

Tell about all his miracles.

³Be glad that you are his;

let those who seek the Lord be happy.

⁴Depend on the Lord and his strength;

always go to him for help.

⁵Remember the miracles he has done;

remember his wonders and his decisions.

⁶You are descendants of his servant Abraham,

the children of Jacob, his chosen people.

⁷He is the Lord our God.

His laws are for all the world.

⁸He will keep his agreement forever;

he will keep his promises always.

⁹He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham

and the promise he made to Isaac.

¹⁰He made it a law for the people of Jacob;

he made it an agreement with Israel to last forever.

¹¹The Lord said, “I will give you the land of Canaan,

and it will belong to you.”

¹²Then God’s people were few in number.

They were strangers in the land.

¹³They went from one nation to another,

from one kingdom to another.

¹⁴But the Lord did not let anyone hurt them;

he warned kings not to harm them.

¹⁵He said, “Don’t touch my chosen people,

and don’t harm my prophets.”

¹⁶God ordered a time of hunger in the land,

and he destroyed all the food.

¹⁷Then he sent a man ahead of them—

Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

¹⁸They put chains around his feet

and an iron ring around his neck.

¹⁹Then the time he had spoken of came,

and the Lord’s words proved that Joseph was right.

²⁰The king of Egypt sent for Joseph and freed him;

the ruler of the people set him free.

²¹He made him the master of his house;

Joseph was in charge of his riches.

²²He could order the princes as he wished.

He taught the older men to be wise.

²³Then his father Israel came to Egypt;

Jacob ⁿ lived in Egypt. ⁿ

²⁴The Lord made his people grow in number,

and he made them stronger than their enemies.

²⁵He caused the Egyptians to hate his people

and to make plans against his servants.

²⁶Then he sent his servant Moses,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

²⁷They did many signs among the Egyptians

and worked wonders in Egypt.

²⁸The Lord sent darkness and made the land dark,

but the Egyptians turned against what he said.

²⁹So he changed their water into blood

and made their fish die.

³⁰Then their country was filled with frogs,

even in the bedrooms of their rulers.

³¹The Lord spoke and flies came,

and gnats were everywhere in the country.

³²He made hail fall like rain

and sent lightning through their land.

³³He struck down their grapevines and fig trees,

and he destroyed every tree in the country.

³⁴He spoke and grasshoppers came;

the locusts were too many to count.

³⁵They ate all the plants in the land

and everything the earth produced.

³⁶The Lord also killed all the firstborn sons in the land,

the oldest son of each family.

³⁷Then he brought his people out,

and they carried with them silver and gold.

Not one of his people stumbled.

³⁸The Egyptians were glad when they left,

because the Egyptians were afraid of them.

³⁹The Lord covered them with a cloud

and lit up the night with fire.

⁴⁰When they asked, he brought them quail

and filled them with bread from heaven.

⁴¹God split the rock, and water flowed out;

it ran like a river through the desert.

⁴²He remembered his holy promise

to his servant Abraham.

⁴³So God brought his people out with joy,

his chosen ones with singing.

⁴⁴He gave them lands of other nations,

so they received what others had worked for.

⁴⁵This was so they would keep his orders

and obey his teachings.

Praise the Lord!