Psalm 113–115

Psalm 113

¹Praise the Lord!

Yes, give praise, O servants of the Lord.

Praise the name of the Lord!

²Blessed be the name of the Lord

now and forever.

³Everywhere—from east to west—

praise the name of the Lord.

⁴For the Lord is high above the nations;

his glory is higher than the heavens.

⁵Who can be compared with the Lord our God,

who is enthroned on high?

⁶He stoops to look down

on heaven and on earth.

⁷He lifts the poor from the dust

and the needy from the garbage dump.

⁸He sets them among princes,

even the princes of his own people!

⁹He gives the childless woman a family,

making her a happy mother.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 114

¹When the Israelites escaped from Egypt—

when the family of Jacob left that foreign land—

²the land of Judah became God’s sanctuary,

and Israel became his kingdom.

³The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way!

The water of the Jordan River turned away.

⁴The mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs!

⁵What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way?

What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?

⁶Why, mountains, did you skip like rams?

Why, hills, like lambs?

⁷Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,

at the presence of the God of Jacob.

⁸He turned the rock into a pool of water;

yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.

Psalm 115

¹Not to us, O Lord, not to us,

but to your name goes all the glory

for your unfailing love and faithfulness.

²Why let the nations say,

“Where is their God?”

³Our God is in the heavens,

and he does as he wishes.

⁴Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,

shaped by human hands.

⁵They have mouths but cannot speak,

and eyes but cannot see.

⁶They have ears but cannot hear,

and mouths but cannot breathe.

⁷They have hands but cannot feel,

and feet but cannot walk,

and throats but cannot make a sound.

⁸And those who make idols are just like them,

as are all who trust in them.

⁹O Israel, trust the Lord!

He is your helper and your shield.

¹⁰O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord!

He is your helper and your shield.

¹¹All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord!

He is your helper and your shield.

¹²The Lord remembers us and will bless us.

He will bless the people of Israel

and bless the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

¹³He will bless those who fear the Lord,

both great and lowly.

¹⁴May the Lord richly bless

both you and your children.

¹⁵May you be blessed by the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

¹⁶The heavens belong to the Lord,

but he has given the earth to all humanity.

¹⁷The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord,

for they have gone into the silence of the grave.

¹⁸But we can praise the Lord

both now and forever!

Praise the Lord!