Psalm 104–105

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Psalm 104³⁶

^104:1Praise the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are magnificent.¹

You are robed in splendor and majesty.

^104:2He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.

He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,

^104:3and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds.²

He makes the clouds his chariot,

and travels along on the wings of the wind.³

^104:4He makes the winds his messengers,

and the flaming fire his attendant.⁴

^104:5He established the earth on its foundations;

it will never be upended.

^104:6The watery deep covered it⁵ like a garment;

the waters reached⁶ above the mountains.⁷

^104:7Your shout made the waters retreat;

at the sound of your thunderous voice they hurried off—

^104:8as the mountains rose up,

and the valleys went down—

to the place you appointed for them.⁸

^104:9You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,

so that they would not cover the earth again.⁹

^104:10He turns springs into streams;¹⁰

they flow between the mountains.

^104:11They provide water for all the animals in the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

^104:12The birds of the sky live beside them;

they chirp among the bushes.¹¹

^104:13He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace;¹²

the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow.¹³

^104:14He provides grass¹⁴ for the cattle,

and crops for people to cultivate,¹⁵

so they can produce food from the ground,¹⁶

^104:15as well as wine that makes people feel so good,¹⁷

and so they can have oil to make their faces shine,¹⁸

as well as food that sustains people’s lives.¹⁹

^104:16The trees of the Lord²⁰ receive all the rain they need,²¹

the cedars of Lebanon which he planted,

^104:17where the birds make nests,

near the evergreens in which the herons live.²²

^104:18The wild goats live in the high mountains;²³

the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.

^104:19He made the moon to mark the months,²⁴

and the sun sets according to a regular schedule.²⁵

^104:20You make it dark and night comes,²⁶

during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.

^104:21The lions roar for prey,

seeking their food from God.²⁷

^104:22When the sun rises, they withdraw

and sleep²⁸ in their dens.

^104:23Men then go out to do their work,

and labor away until evening.²⁹

^104:24How many living things you have made, O Lord!³⁰

You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;³¹

the earth is full of the living things you have made.

^104:25Over here is the deep, wide sea,³²

which teems with innumerable swimming creatures,³³

living things both small and large.

^104:26The ships travel there,

and over here swims the whale³⁴ you made to play in it.

^104:27All of your creatures³⁵ wait for you

to provide them with food on a regular basis.³⁶

^104:28You give food to them and they receive it;

you open your hand and they are filled with food.³⁷

^104:29When you ignore them, they panic.³⁸

When you take away their life’s breath, they die

and return to dust.

^104:30When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,

and you replenish the surface of the ground.

^104:31May the splendor of the Lord endure!³⁹

May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made!⁴⁰

^104:32He looks down on the earth and it shakes;

he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.

^104:33I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist!⁴¹

^104:34May my thoughts⁴² be pleasing to him!

I will rejoice in the Lord.

^104:35May sinners disappear⁴³ from the earth,

and the wicked vanish!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 105⁴⁴

^105:1Give thanks to the Lord!

Call on his name!

Make known his accomplishments among the nations!

^105:2Sing to him!

Make music to him!

Tell about all his miraculous deeds!

^105:3Boast about his holy name!

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

^105:4Seek the Lord and the strength he gives!

Seek his presence continually!

^105:5Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,

his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed,¹

^105:6O children² of Abraham,³ God’s⁴ servant,

you descendants⁵ of Jacob, God’s⁶ chosen ones!

^105:7He is the Lord our God;

he carries out judgment throughout the earth.⁷

^105:8He always remembers his covenantal decree,

the promise he made⁸ to a thousand generations—

^105:9the promise⁹ he made to Abraham,

the promise he made by oath to Isaac!

^105:10He gave it to Jacob as a decree,

to Israel as a lasting promise,¹⁰

^105:11saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

as the portion of your inheritance.”

^105:12When they were few in number,

just a very few, and resident aliens within it,

^105:13they wandered from nation to nation,

and from one kingdom to another.¹¹

^105:14He let no one oppress them;

he disciplined kings for their sake,

^105:15saying,¹² “Don’t touch my chosen¹³ ones!

Don’t harm my prophets!”

^105:16He called down a famine upon the earth;

he cut off all the food supply.¹⁴

^105:17He sent a man ahead of them¹⁵—

Joseph was sold as a servant.

^105:18The shackles hurt his feet;¹⁶

his neck was placed in an iron collar,¹⁷

^105:19until the time when his prediction¹⁸ came true.

The Lord’s word¹⁹ proved him right.²⁰

^105:20The king authorized his release;²¹

the ruler of nations set him free.

^105:21He put him in charge of his palace,²²

and made him manager of all his property,

^105:22giving him authority to imprison his officials²³

and to teach his advisers.²⁴

^105:23Israel moved to²⁵ Egypt;

Jacob lived for a time²⁶ in the land of Ham.

^105:24The Lord²⁷ made his people very fruitful,

and made them²⁸ more numerous than their²⁹ enemies.

^105:25He caused them³⁰ to hate his people,

and to mistreat³¹ his servants.

^105:26He sent his servant Moses,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

^105:27They executed his miraculous signs among them,³²

and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.

^105:28He made it dark;³³

they did not disobey his orders.³⁴

^105:29He turned their water into blood,

and killed their fish.

^105:30Their land was overrun by frogs,

which even got into the rooms of their kings.

^105:31He ordered flies to come;³⁵

gnats invaded their whole territory.

^105:32He sent hail along with the rain;³⁶

there was lightning in their land.³⁷

^105:33He destroyed their vines and fig trees,

and broke the trees throughout their territory.

^105:34He ordered locusts to come,³⁸

innumerable grasshoppers.

^105:35They ate all the vegetation in their land,

and devoured the crops of their fields.³⁹

^105:36He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power.⁴⁰

^105:37He brought his people⁴¹ out enriched⁴² with silver and gold;

none of his tribes stumbled.

^105:38Egypt was happy when they left,

for they were afraid of them.⁴³

^105:39He spread out a cloud for a cover,⁴⁴

and provided a fire to light up the night.

^105:40They asked for food,⁴⁵ and he sent quails;

he satisfied them with food from the sky.⁴⁶

^105:41He opened up a rock and water flowed out;

a river ran through dry regions.

^105:42Yes,⁴⁷ he remembered the sacred promise⁴⁸

he made to Abraham his servant.

^105:43When he led his people out, they rejoiced;

his chosen ones shouted with joy.⁴⁹

^105:44He handed the territory of nations over to them,

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,⁵⁰

^105:45so that they might keep his commands

and obey⁵¹ his laws.

Praise the Lord!

Read in Logos

Footnotes

36 Psalm 104. The psalmist praises God as the ruler of the world who sustains all life.
1 Heb “very great.”
2 Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44–45.
3 Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “ ‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” 5 (1973): 422–24.
4 Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic). In Ugaritic mythology Yam’s messengers appear as flaming fire before the assembly of the gods. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 42.
5 Heb “you covered it.” The masculine suffix is problematic if the grammatically feminine noun “earth” is the antecedent. For this reason some emend the form to a feminine verb with feminine suffix, כִּסַּתָּה (kisattah, “[the watery deep] covered it [i.e., the earth]”), a reading assumed by the present translation.
6 Heb “stood.”
7 Verse 6 refers to the condition described in Gen 1:2 (note the use of the Hebrew term תְּהוֹם [téhom, “watery deep”] in both texts).
8 Heb “from your shout they fled, from the sound of your thunder they hurried off.” Verses 7–8 poetically depict Gen 1:9–10.
9 Heb “a boundary you set up, they will not cross, they will not return to cover the earth.”
10 Heb “[the] one who sends springs into streams.” Another option is to translate, “he sends streams [i.e., streams that originate from springs] into the valleys” (cf. ).
11 Heb “among the thick foliage they give a sound.”
12 Heb “from his upper rooms.”
13 Heb “from the fruit of your works the earth is full.” The translation assumes that “fruit” is literal here. If “fruit” is understood more abstractly as “product; result,” then one could translate, “the earth flourishes as a result of your deeds” (cf. , , ).
14 Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”
15 Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).
16 Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”
17 Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”
18 Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).
19 Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”
20 The trees of the Lord are the cedars of Lebanon (see the next line), which are viewed as special because of their great size and grandeur. The Lebanon forest was viewed elsewhere in the OT as the “garden of God” (see Ezek 31:8).
21 Heb “are satisfied,” which means here that they receive abundant rain (see v. 13).
22 Heb “[the] heron [in the] evergreens [is] its home.” The cedars and evergreens of the Lebanon forest are frequently associated (see, for example, 2 Chr 2:8; Isa 14:8; 37:24; Ezek 31:8).
23 Heb “the high mountains [are] for the goats.”
24 Heb “he made [the] moon for appointed times.” The phrase “appointed times” probably refers to the months of the Hebrew lunar calendar.
25 Heb more metaphorically, “knows its setting.”
26 Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”
27 The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.
28 Heb “lie down.”
29 Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”
30 Heb “How many [are] your works, O Lord.” In this case the Lord’s “works” are the creatures he has made, as the preceding and following contexts make clear.
31 Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”
32 Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”
33 Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”
34 Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.
35 Heb “All of them.” The pronoun “them” refers not just to the sea creatures mentioned in vv. 25–26, but to all living things (see v. 24). This has been specified in the translation as “all of your creatures” for clarity.
36 Heb “to give their food in its time.”
37 Heb “they are satisfied [with] good.”
38 Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”
39 Heb “be forever.”
40 Or “rejoice in his works.”
41 Heb “in my duration.”
42 That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.
43 Or “be destroyed.”
44 Psalm 105. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God because he delivered his people from Egypt in fulfillment of his covenantal promises to Abraham. A parallel version of vv. 1–15 appears in 1 Chr 16:8–22.
1 Heb “and the judgments of his mouth.”
2 Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
3 Some have “Israel,” which appears in the parallel version of this psalm in 1 Chr 16:13.
4 Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 Heb “sons.”
6 Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 Heb “in all the earth [are] his judgments.”
8 Heb “[the] word he commanded.” The text refers here to God’s unconditional covenantal promise to Abraham and the patriarchs, as vv. 10–12 make clear.
9 Heb “which.”
10 Or “eternal covenant.”
11 Heb “and from a kingdom to another nation.”
12 The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
13 Heb “anointed.”
14 Heb “and every staff of food he broke.” The psalmist refers to the famine that occurred in Joseph’s time (see v. 17 and Gen 41:53–57).
15 After the reference to the famine in v. 16, v. 17 flashes back to events that preceded the famine (see Gen 37).
16 Heb “they afflicted his feet with shackles.”
17 Heb “his neck came [into] iron.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with the suffix could mean simply “he” or “his life.” But the nuance “neck” makes good sense here (note the reference to his “feet” in the preceding line). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 (), .
18 Heb “word,” probably referring to Joseph’s prediction about the fate of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker (see Gen 41:9–14).
19 This line may refer to Joseph’s prediction of the famine in response to Pharaoh’s dream. Joseph emphasized to Pharaoh that the interpretation of the dream came from God (see Gen 41:16, 25, 28, 32, 39).
20 Heb “refined him.”
21 Heb “[the] king sent and set him free.”
22 Heb “he made him master of his house.”
23 Heb “to bind his officials by his will.”
24 Heb “and his elders he taught wisdom.”
25 Heb “entered.”
26 Heb “lived as a resident alien.”
27 Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 Heb “him,” referring to “his people.”
29 Heb “his,” referring to “his people.”
30 Heb “their heart.”
31 Or “to deal deceptively.” The Hitpael of נָכַל (nakhal) occurs only here and in Gen 37:18, where it is used of Joseph’s brothers “plotting” to kill him.
32 Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e., the Israelites, see v. 25).
33 Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.” He made it dark. The psalmist begins with the ninth plague (see Exod 10:21–29).
34 Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.
35 Heb “he spoke and flies came.”
36 Heb “he gave their rains hail.”
37 Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”
38 Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”
39 Heb “the fruit of their ground.”
40 Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51). Verses 28–36 recall the plagues in a different order than the one presented in Exodus: v. 28 (plague 9), v. 29 (plague 1), v. 30 (plague 2), v. 31a (plague 4), v. 31b (plague 3), vv. 32–33 (plague 7), vv. 34–35 (plague 8), v. 36 (plague 10). No reference is made in Ps 105 to plagues 5 and 6.
41 Heb “them”; the referent (the Lord’s people) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
42 The word “enriched” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
43 Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”
44 Or “curtain.”
45 Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form should probably be emended to a plural שָׁאֲלוּ (sha’alu, “they asked”), the vav (ו) having fallen off by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the following form).
46 Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see Exod 16:4, 13–15).
47 Or “for.”
48 Heb “his holy word.”
49 Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing cry, his chosen ones.”
50 Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”
51 Heb “guard.”