Psalm 103–104

PSALM 103

A Psalm of David.

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul;

and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

²Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

³who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

⁴who redeems your life from the Pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

⁵who satisfies you with good as long as you live

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The Lord works vindication

and justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways to Moses,

his acts to the people of Israel.

⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

⁹He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger for ever.

¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor requite us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

¹²as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

¹³As a father pities his children,

so the Lord pities those who fear him.

¹⁴For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

¹⁶for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

¹⁷But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

upon those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children’s children,

¹⁸to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

hearkening to the voice of his word!

²¹Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his ministers that do his will!

²²Bless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

PSALM 104

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, thou art very great!

Thou art clothed with honor and majesty,

²who coverest thyself with light as with a garment,

who hast stretched out the heavens like a tent,

³who hast laid the beams of thy chambers on the waters,

who makest the clouds thy chariot,

who ridest on the wings of the wind,

⁴who makest the winds thy messengers,

fire and flame thy ministers.

⁵Thou didst set the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be shaken.

⁶Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷At thy rebuke they fled;

at the sound of thy thunder they took to flight.

⁸The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

to the place which thou didst appoint for them.

⁹Thou didst set a bound which they should not pass,

so that they might not again cover the earth.

¹⁰Thou makest springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills,

¹¹they give drink to every beast of the field;

the wild asses quench their thirst.

¹²By them the birds of the air have their habitation;

they sing among the branches.

¹³From thy lofty abode thou waterest the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy work.

¹⁴Thou dost cause the grass to grow for the cattle,

and plants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth food from the earth,

¹⁵and wine to gladden the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine,

and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

¹⁶The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon which he planted.

¹⁷In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has her home in the fir trees.

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the badgers.

¹⁹Thou hast made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

²⁰Thou makest darkness, and it is night,

when all the beasts of the forest creep forth.

²¹The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

²²When the sun rises, they get them away

and lie down in their dens.

²³Man goes forth to his work

and to his labor until the evening.

²⁴O Lord, how manifold are thy works!

In wisdom hast thou made them all;

the earth is full of thy creatures.

²⁵Yonder is the sea, great and wide,

which teems with things innumerable,

living things both small and great.

²⁶There go the ships,

and Leviathan which thou didst form to sport in it.

²⁷These all look to thee,

to give them their food in due season.

²⁸When thou givest to them, they gather it up;

when thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things.

²⁹When thou hidest thy face, they are dismayed;

when thou takest away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.

³⁰When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created;

and thou renewest the face of the ground.

³¹May the glory of the Lord endure for ever,

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!