Psalm 104–105

Psalm 104

God the Creator and Provider

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul.

O Lord my God, you are very great.

You are clothed with honor and majesty,^*

²wrapped in light as with a garment.

You stretch out the heavens like a tent;^*

³you set the beams of your^r chambers on the waters;

you make the clouds your^s chariot;

you ride on the wings of the wind;^*

⁴you make the winds your^t messengers,

fire and flame your^u ministers.^*

⁵You set the earth on its foundations,

so that it shall never be shaken.^*

⁶You cover it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.^*

⁷At your rebuke they flee;

at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

⁸They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys,

to the place that you appointed for them.^*

⁹You set a boundary that they may not pass,

so that they might not again cover the earth.^*

¹⁰You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills,^*

¹¹giving drink to every wild animal;

the wild asses quench their thirst.^*

¹²By the streams^v the birds of the air have their habitation;

they sing among the branches.^*

¹³From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.^*

¹⁴You cause the grass to grow for the cattle

and plants for people to cultivate,

to bring forth food from the earth^*

¹⁵and wine to gladden the human heart,

oil to make the face shine

and bread to strengthen the human heart.^*

¹⁶The trees of the field^w are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has its home in the fir trees.

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.^*

¹⁹You have made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.^*

²⁰You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.^*

²¹The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.^*

²²When the sun rises, they withdraw

and lie down in their dens.

²³People go out to their work

and to their labor until the evening.^*

²⁴O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.^*

²⁵There is the sea, great and wide;

creeping things innumerable are there,

living things both small and great.

²⁶There go the ships

and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.^*

²⁷These all look to you

to give them their food in due season;^*

²⁸when you give to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

²⁹When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.^*

³⁰When you send forth your spirit,^x they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.^*

³¹May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works—^*

³²who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke.^*

³³I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.^*

³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

³⁵Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Praise the Lord!^*

Psalm 105

God’s Faithfulness to Israel

¹O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples.^*

²Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wonderful works.^*

³Glory in his holy name;

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

⁴Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his presence continually.^*

⁵Remember the wonderful works he has done,

his miracles and the judgments he has uttered,^*

⁶O offspring of his servant Abraham,^y

children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.^*

⁸He is mindful of his covenant forever,

of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant that he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,^*

¹⁰which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,^*

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

as your portion for an inheritance.”^*

¹²When they were few in number,

of little account and strangers in it,^*

¹³wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

¹⁴he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their account,^*

¹⁵saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones;

do my prophets no harm.”

¹⁶When he summoned famine against the land

and cut off every supply of bread,^z*

¹⁷he had sent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.^*

¹⁸His feet were hurt with fetters;

his neck was put in a collar of iron;^*

¹⁹until what he had said came to pass,

the word of the Lord kept testing him.^*

²⁰The king sent and released him;

the ruler of the peoples set him free.^*

²¹He made him lord of his house

and ruler of all his possessions,^*

²²to instruct^a his officials at his pleasure

and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel came to Egypt;

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

²⁴And the Lord made his people very fruitful

and made them stronger than their foes,^*

²⁵whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,

to deal craftily with his servants.^*

²⁶He sent his servant Moses

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.^*

²⁷They performed his signs among them

and miracles in the land of Ham.^*

²⁸He sent darkness and made the land dark;

they rebelled^b against his words.^*

²⁹He turned their waters into blood

and caused their fish to die.^*

³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs,

even in the chambers of their kings.^*

³¹He spoke, and there came swarms of flies

and gnats throughout their country.^*

³²He gave them hail for rain

and lightning that flashed through their land.^*

³³He struck their vines and fig trees

and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came,

and young locusts without number;^*

³⁵they devoured all the vegetation in their land

and ate up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the first issue of all their strength.^*

³⁷Then he brought Israel^c out with silver and gold,

and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.^*

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed,

for dread of them had fallen upon it.^*

³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering

and fire to give light by night.^*

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quails

and gave them food from heaven in abundance.^*

⁴¹He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

it flowed through the desert like a river.^*

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise

and Abraham, his servant.^*

⁴³So he brought his people out with joy,

his chosen ones with singing.

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations,

and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,^*

⁴⁵that they might keep his statutes

and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord!^*