Psalm 104–105

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!

PSALM 105

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 that he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

⁶O offspring of Abraham his servant,

sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

⁷He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He is mindful of his covenant for ever,

of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant which 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 sojourners 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, “Touch not my anointed ones,

do my prophets no harm!”

¹⁶When he summoned a famine on the land,

and broke every staff of bread,

¹⁷he had sent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who was 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 tested 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 his princes at his pleasure,

and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel came to Egypt;

Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

²⁴And the Lord made his people very fruitful,

and made them stronger than their foes.

²⁵He turned their hearts to hate his people,

to deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶He sent Moses his servant,

and Aaron whom he had chosen.

²⁷They wrought his signs among them,

and miracles in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and made the land dark;

they rebelled 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 smote their vines and fig trees,

and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came,

and young locusts without number;

³⁵which devoured all the vegetation in their land,

and ate up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He smote all the first-born in their land,

the first issue of all their strength.

³⁷Then he led forth Israel with silver and gold,

and there was none among his 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 bread from heaven in abundance.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and water gushed forth;

it flowed through the desert like a river.

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise,

and Abraham his servant.

⁴³So he led forth his people with joy,

his chosen ones with singing.

⁴⁴And he gave them the lands of the nations;

and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,

⁴⁵to the end that they should keep his statutes,

and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord!