Psalm 104

GOD THE CREATOR

1 My soul, bless the Lord!

Lord my God, you are very great;

you are clothed with majesty and splendor.aa

2 He wraps himself in light as if it were a robe,

spreading out the sky like a canopy,ab

3 laying the beams of his palace

on the waters above,ac

making the clouds his chariot,ad

walking on the wings of the wind,ae

4 and making the winds his messengers,C

flames of fire his servants.af

5 He established the earth on its foundations;

it will never be shaken.ag

6 You covered it with the deep

as if it were a garment;

the water stood above the mountains.ah

7 At your rebuke the water fled;

at the sound of your thunder they hurried awayai—

8 mountains rose and valleys sankD—

to the place you established for them.aj

9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;

they will never cover the earth again.a

10 He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;

they flow between the mountains.b

11 They supply water for every wild beast;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.c

12 The birds of the sky live beside the springs;

they make their voices heard among the foliage.d

13 He waters the mountains from his palace;

the earth is satisfied by the fruit of your labor.e

14 He causes grass to grow for the livestock

and provides crops for man to cultivate,

producing food from the earth,f

15 wine that makes human hearts glad—

making his face shine with oil—

and bread that sustains human hearts.g

16 The trees of the Lord flourish,A

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.h

17 There the birds make their nests;

storks make their homes in the pine trees.i

18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the cliffs are a refuge for hyraxes.j

19 He made the moon to mark theB festivals;C

the sun knows when to set.k

20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night,

when all the forest animals stir.l

21 The young lions roar for their prey

and seek their food from God.m

22 The sun rises; they go back

and lie down in their dens.n

23 Man goes out to his work

and to his labor until evening.o

24 How countless are your works, Lord!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.D,p

25 Here is the sea, vast and wide,

teeming with creatures beyond number—

living things both large and small.q

26 There the ships move about,

and Leviathan, which you formed to play there.r

27 All of them wait for you

to give them their food at the right time.s

28 When you give it to them,

they gather it;

when you open your hand,

they are satisfied with good things.t

29 When you hide your face,

they are terrified;

when you take away their breath,

they die and return to the dust.u

30 When you send your breath,E

they are created,*

and you renew the surface of the ground.v

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works.w

32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles;

he touches the mountains,

and they pour out smoke.x

33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God while I live.y

34 May my meditation be pleasing to him;

I will rejoice in the Lord.z

35 May sinners vanish from the earth

and wicked people be no more.aa

My soul, bless the Lord!

Hallelujah!

Psalm 105

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS PEOPLE

1 Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

proclaim his deeds among the peoples.ab

2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell about all his wondrous works!ac

3 Boast in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.ad

4 Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.ae

5 Remember the wondrous works he has done,

his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced,A,a

6 you offspring of Abraham his servant,

Jacob’s descendants—his chosen ones.b

7 He is the Lord our God;

his judgments govern the whole earth.c

8 He remembers his covenant forever,

the promise he ordained

for a thousand generationsd—

9 the covenant he made with Abraham,

sworeB to Isaac,e

10 and confirmed to Jacob as a decree

and to Israel as a permanent covenant:f

11 “I will give the land of Canaan to you

as your inherited portion.”g

12 When they were few in number,

very few indeed,

and resident aliens in Canaan,h

13 wandering from nation to nation

and from one kingdom to another,i

14 he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their behalf:j

15 “Do not touch my anointed ones,k

or harm my prophets.”l

16 He called down famine against the land

and destroyed the entire food supply.m

17 He had sent a man ahead of them—

Joseph, who was sold as a slave.n

18 They hurt his feet with shackles;

his neck was put in an iron collar.o

19 Until the time his prediction came true,

the word of the Lord tested him.p

20 The king sent for him and released him;

the ruler of peoples set him free.q

21 He made him master of his household,

ruler over all his possessionsr—

22 bindingC his officials at will

and instructing his elders.s

23 Then Israel went to Egypt;

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

24 The LordE made his people very fruitful;

he made them more numerous than their foes,u

25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people

and to deal deceptively with his servants.v

26 He sent Moses his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.w

27 They performed his miraculous signs among them

and wonders in the land of Ham.x

28 He sent darkness, and it became dark—

for did they not defy his commands?y

29 He turned their water into blood

and caused their fish to die.z

30 Their land was overrun with frogs,

even in their royal chambers.aa

31 He spoke, and insects cameab—

gnats throughout their country.ac

32 He gave them hail for rain,

and lightning throughout their land.ad

33 He struck their vines and fig trees

and shattered the trees of their territory.ae

34 He spoke, and locusts came—

young locusts without number.

35 They devoured all the vegetation in their land

and consumed the produce of their land.af

36 He struck all the firstborn in their land,

all their first progeny.ag

37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,

and no one among his tribes stumbled.ah

38 Egypt was glad when they left,

for the dread of IsraelF had fallen on them.ai

39 He spread a cloud as a covering

and gave a fire to light up the night.aj

40 They asked, and he brought quail

and satisfied them with bread from heaven.ak

41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out;

it flowed like a stream in the desert.a

42 For he remembered his holy promise

to Abraham his servant.b

43 He brought his people out with rejoicing,

his chosen ones with shouts of joy.c

44 He gave them the lands of the nations,

and they inherited

what other peoples had worked for.d

45 All this happened

so that they might keep his statutes

and obey his instructions.e

Hallelujah!

Psalm 106

ISRAEL’S UNFAITHFULNESS TO GOD

1 Hallelujah!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his faithful love endures forever.f

2 Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts

or proclaim all the praise due him?g

3 How happy are those who uphold justice,

who practice righteousness at all times.h

4 Remember me, Lord,

when you show favor to your people.i

Come to me with your salvation

5 so that I may enjoy the prosperity

of your chosen ones,

rejoice in the joy of your nation,

and boast about your heritage.j

6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned;

we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.k

7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not grasp

the significance of your wondrous works

or remember your many acts of faithful love;

instead, they rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.l

8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,

to make his power known.m

9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;

he led them through the depths as through a desert.n

10 He saved them from the power of the adversary;

he redeemed them from the power of the enemy.o

11 Water covered their foes;

not one of them remained.p

12 Then they believed his promises

and sang his praise.q

13 They soon forgot his works

and would not wait for his counsel.r

14 They were seized with craving in the wilderness

and tested God in the desert.s

15 He gave them what they asked for,

but sent a wasting disease among them.t

16 In the camp they were envious of Moses

and of Aaron, the Lord’s holy one.u

17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;

it covered the assembly of Abiram.v

18 Fire blazed throughout their assembly;

flames consumed the wicked.w

19 At Horeb they made a calf

and worshiped the cast metal image.x

20 They exchanged their gloryA,B

for the image of a grass-eating ox.y

21 They forgot God their Savior,

who did great things in Egypt,z

22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,C

awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.aa

23 So he said he would have destroyed them—

if Moses his chosen one

had not stood before him in the breach

to turn his wrath away from destroying them.ab

24 They despised the pleasant land

and did not believe his promise.ac

25 They grumbled in their tents

and did not listen to the Lord.ad

26 So he raised his hand against them with an oath

that he would make them fall in the deserta

27 and would disperse their descendantsA

among the nations,

scattering them throughout the lands.b

28 They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor

and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.B,c

29 They angered the Lord with their deeds,

and a plague broke out against them.d

30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,

and the plague was stopped.e

31 It was credited to him as righteousness

throughout all generations to come.f

32 They angered the Lord at the Waters of Meribah,

and Moses sufferedC because of them,g

33 for they embittered his spirit,D

and he spoke rashly with his lips.h

34 They did not destroy the peoples

as the Lord had commanded themi

35 but mingled with the nations

and adopted their ways.j

36 They served their idols,

which became a snare to them.k

37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.l

38 They shed innocent blood—

the blood of their sons and daughters

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;

so the land became polluted with blood.m

39 They defiled themselves by their actions

and prostituted themselves by their deeds.n

40 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against his people,

and he abhorred his own inheritance.o

41 He handed them over to the nations;

those who hated them ruled over them.p

42 Their enemies oppressed them,

and they were subdued under their power.q

43 He rescued them many times,

but they continued to rebel deliberately

and were beaten down by their iniquity.r

44 When he heard their cry,

he took note of their distress,s

45 remembered his covenant with them,

and relented according to the abundance

of his faithful love.t

46 He caused them to be pitied

before all their captors.u

47 Save us, Lord our God,

and gather us from the nations,

so that we may give thanks to your holy name

and rejoice in your praise.v

48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.w

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Hallelujah!x