Psalm 146:1–147:11

¹Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

²I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have being.

³Put not your trust in princes,

in a son of man, in whom there is no help.

⁴When his breath departs he returns to his earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

⁵Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

⁶who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them;

who keeps faith for ever;

⁷who executes justice for the oppressed;

who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

⁸the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

the Lord loves the righteous.

⁹The Lord watches over the sojourners,

he upholds the widow and the fatherless;

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰The Lord will reign for ever,

thy God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord!

PSALM 147

¹Praise the Lord!

For it is good to sing praises to our God;

for he is gracious, and a song of praise is seemly.

²The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

³He heals the brokenhearted,

and binds up their wounds.

⁴He determines the number of the stars,

he gives to all of them their names.

⁵Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;

his understanding is beyond measure.

⁶The Lord lifts up the downtrodden,

he casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

make melody to our God upon the lyre!

⁸He covers the heavens with clouds,

he prepares rain for the earth,

he makes grass grow upon the hills.

⁹He gives to the beasts their food,

and to the young ravens which cry.

¹⁰His delight is not in the strength of the horse,

nor his pleasure in the legs of a man;

¹¹but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,

in those who hope in his steadfast love.