Psalm 103

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I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David.

101  I will sing of steadfast love and justice;

to you, O Lord, qI will make music.

2  I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh when will you come to me?

I will rwalk swith integrity of heart

within my house;

3  I will not set before my eyes

anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cling to me.

4  A tperverse heart shall be far from me;

I will know nothing of evil.

5  Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly

I will destroy.

uWhoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart

I will not endure.

6  I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me;

he who walks in the way that is blameless

shall minister to me.

7  No one who practices deceit

shall dwell in my house;

no one who utters lies

shall continue before my eyes.

8  Morning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

cutting off all the evildoers

from the vcity of the Lord.

Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, wwhen he is faint and xpours out his complaint before the Lord.

102  yHear my prayer, O Lord;

let my cry come to you!

2  Do not zhide your face from me

in the day of my distress!

Incline your ear to me;

aanswer me speedily in the day when I call!

3  For my days pass away like bsmoke,

and my cbones burn like a furnace.

4  My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;

I forget to eat my bread.

5  Because of my loud groaning

dmy bones cling to my flesh.

6  I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,

like an owl1 of the waste places;

7  I lie awake;

I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.

8  All the day my enemies taunt me;

those who deride me use my name for a curse.

9  For eI eat ashes like bread

and mingle tears with my drink,

10  because of your indignation and anger;

for you have taken me up and thrown me down.

11  My days are like an evening fshadow;

I wither away like grass.

12  But you, O Lord, are genthroned forever;

you are remembered throughout all generations.

13  You will arise and have pity on Zion;

it is the time to favor her;

the appointed time has come.

14  For your servants hold her stones dear

and have pity on her dust.

15  Nations will hfear the name of the Lord,

and iall the kings of the earth will fear your glory.

16  For jthe Lord builds up Zion;

khe appears in his glory;

17  he regards the prayer of the destitute

and does not despise their prayer.

18  Let this be recorded for a generation to come,

so that a people lyet to be created may praise the Lord:

19  that he looked down from his holy height;

from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

20  to mhear the groans of the prisoners,

to set free those who were doomed to die,

21  that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,

and in Jerusalem his praise,

22  when peoples gather together,

and nkingdoms, to worship the Lord.

23  He has broken my strength in midcourse;

he has oshortened my days.

24  “O my God,” I say, “take me not away

in the midst of my days—

you pwhose years endure

throughout all generations!”

25  qOf old you laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26  rThey will perish, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

27  but syou are the same, and your years have no end.

28  The children of your servants shall dwell secure;

their offspring shall be established before you.

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Of David.

103  tBless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

2  Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

3  who uforgives all your iniquity,

who vheals all your diseases,

4  who redeems your life from the pit,

who wcrowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5  who xsatisfies you with good

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

6  The Lord works righteousness

and zjustice for all who are oppressed.

7  He amade known his ways to Moses,

his acts to the people of Israel.

8  The Lord is bmerciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9  cHe will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

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

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11  For das high eas the heavens are above the earth,

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

12  as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

13  fAs a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

14  For he knows our frame;1

he gremembers that we are hdust.

15  As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

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

and its place knows it no more.

17  But the isteadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children’s children,

18  to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

19  The Lord has established his jthrone in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all.

20  Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

21  Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his kministers, who do his will!

22  Bless the Lord, lall his works,

in all places of his dominion.

mBless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great

104  nBless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, oyou are very great!

You are pclothed with splendor and majesty,

2  qcovering yourself with light as with a garment,

rstretching out the heavens like a tent.

3  He lays the beams of his schambers on the waters;

he makes the clouds his chariot;

he rides on the wings of the wind;

4  the makes his messengers winds,

his ministers a flaming fire.

5  He set the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be moved.

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

the waters stood uabove the mountains.

7  At your rebuke they fled;

at the vsound of your thunder they took to flight.

8  wThe mountains rose, the valleys sank down

to the place that you appointed for them.

9  You xset a boundary that they may not pass,

yso that they might not again cover the earth.

10  You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills;

11  they zgive drink to every beast of the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12  Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;

they sing among the branches.

13  From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14  You cause the grass to grow for the livestock

and aplants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth food from the earth

15  and wine to gladden the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine

and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

16  The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

17  In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has her home in the fir trees.

18  The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

19  He made the moon bto mark the seasons;1

the sun knows its time for setting.

20  You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

21  The young lions roar for their prey,

cseeking their food from God.

22  When the sun rises, they steal away

and lie down in their dens.

23  Man goes out to his work

and to his dlabor until the evening.

24  O Lord, how manifold are your works!

eIn wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25  Here is the sea, great and wide,

which teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and fgreat.

26  There go the ships,

and gLeviathan, which you formed to play in it.2

27  hThese all look to you,

to give them their food in due season.

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

when you iopen your hand, they are jfilled with good things.

29  When you khide your face, they are dismayed;

when you ltake away their breath, they die

and mreturn to their dust.

30  When you send forth your Spirit,3 they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.

31  May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord nrejoice in his works,

32  who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who otouches the mountains and they smoke!

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

pI will sing praise to my God while I have being.

34  qMay my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

35  Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more!

rBless the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

Tell of All His Wondrous Works

105  sOh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples!

2  Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!

3  tGlory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord urejoice!

4  Seek the Lord and his strength;

vseek his presence continually!

5  wRemember the wondrous works that he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

6  O offspring of Abraham, his servant,

children of Jacob, xhis chosen ones!

7  He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

8  He yremembers his covenant zforever,

the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

9  athe covenant that he made with Abraham,

bhis sworn promise to Isaac,

10  which he cconfirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

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

as your portion for an inheritance.”

12  When they were few in number,

of little account, and sojourners in it,

13  wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

14  ehe allowed no one to oppress them;

fhe rebuked kings on their account,

15  saying, g“Touch not my anointed ones,

do my prophets no harm!”

16  When he hsummoned a famine on the land

and broke all supply1 of bread,

17  ihe had sent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who was jsold as a slave.

18  kHis feet were hurt with fetters;

his neck was put in a collar of iron;

19  luntil what he had said came to pass,

the word of the Lord tested him.

20  mThe king sent and released him;

the ruler of the peoples set him free;

21  nhe made him lord of his house

and ruler of all his possessions,

22  oto bind2 his princes at his pleasure

and to teach his elders wisdom.

23  Then pIsrael came to Egypt;

Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

24  And qthe Lord made his people very fruitful

and made them stronger than their foes.

25  rHe turned their hearts to hate his people,

to deal craftily with his servants.

26  He ssent Moses, his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27  tThey performed his usigns among them

and miracles in the land of Ham.

28  vHe sent darkness, and made the land dark;

they did not rebel3 against his words.

29  wHe turned their waters into blood

and caused their fish to die.

30  xTheir land swarmed with frogs,

even in the chambers of their kings.

31  He spoke, and ythere came swarms of flies,

and zgnats throughout their country.

32  aHe gave them hail for rain,

and bfiery lightning bolts through their land.

33  He struck down their vines and fig trees,

and shattered the trees of their country.

34  He spoke, and cthe locusts came,

young locusts without number,

35  which devoured all the vegetation in their land

and ate up the fruit of their ground.

36  dHe struck down all the firstborn in their land,

ethe firstfruits of all their strength.

37  fThen he brought out Israel with silver and gold,

and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

38  gEgypt was glad when they departed,

for dread of them had fallen upon it.

39  He spread a hcloud for a covering,

and fire to give light by night.

40  They asked, and ihe brought quail,

and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.

41  jHe opened the rock, and water gushed out;

it flowed through the desert like a river.

42  For he remembered his holy promise,

and Abraham, his servant.

43  So he brought his people out with joy,

his chosen ones kwith singing.

44  And he gave them the lands of the nations,

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

45  that they might keep his statutes

and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord!