Psalm 104

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Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is xfaint and ypours out his complaint before the Lord.

102  zHear my prayer, O Lord;

let my cry acome to you!

bDo not hide your face from me

in cthe day of my distress!

dIncline your ear to me;

eanswer me speedily fin the day when I call!

For my days gpass away like smoke,

and my hbones burn like a furnace.

My heart is istruck down like grass and jhas withered;

I kforget to eat my bread.

Because of my loud groaning

my lbones cling to my flesh.

I am like ma desert owl of the wilderness,

like an owl1 of the waste places;

I nlie awake;

I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.

All the day my enemies taunt me;

those who oderide me puse my name for a curse.

For I eat ashes like bread

and qmingle tears with my drink,

10  because of your indignation and anger;

for you have rtaken me up and sthrown me down.

11  My days are like tan evening shadow;

I jwither away like grass.

12  But you, O Lord, are uenthroned forever;

you vare remembered throughout all generations.

13  You will warise and have xpity on Zion;

it is the time to favor her;

ythe appointed time has come.

14  For your servants hold her zstones dear

and have pity on her dust.

15  Nations will afear the name of the Lord,

and all bthe kings of the earth will fear your glory.

16  For the Lord cbuilds up Zion;

he dappears in his glory;

17  he eregards the prayer of the destitute

and does not despise their prayer.

18  Let this be frecorded for ga generation to come,

so that ha people yet to be created may praise the Lord:

19  that he ilooked down from his holy height;

from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

20  to hear jthe groans of the prisoners,

to set free kthose who were doomed to die,

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

and in Jerusalem his praise,

22  when mpeoples gather together,

and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

23  He has broken my strength in midcourse;

he nhas shortened my days.

24  O my God, oI say, take me not away

in the midst of my days

pyou whose years endure

throughout all generations!

25  qOf old you laid the foundation of the earth,

and rthe heavens are the work of your hands.

26  sThey will perish, but tyou will remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

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

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

28  vThe children of your servants wshall dwell secure;

xtheir offspring shall be established before you.

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Of David.

103  yBless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

yBless the Lord, O my soul,

and zforget not all his benefits,

who aforgives all your iniquity,

who bheals all your diseases,

who credeems your life from the pit,

who dcrowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who esatisfies you with good

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

The Lord works grighteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known his hways to Moses,

his iacts to the people of Israel.

The Lord is jmerciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

kHe will not always chide,

nor will he lkeep his anger forever.

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

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11  For nas high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his osteadfast love toward pthose who fear him;

12  as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he qremove our transgressions from us.

13  As ra father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion pto those who fear him.

14  For he knows our frame;1

he sremembers that we are dust.

15  As for man, his days are like tgrass;

he flourishes like ua flower of the field;

16  for vthe wind passes over it, and wit is gone,

and xits place knows it no more.

17  But ythe steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on pthose who fear him,

and his righteousness to zchildren’s children,

18  to those who akeep his covenant

and bremember to do his commandments.

19  The Lord has cestablished his throne in the heavens,

and his dkingdom rules over all.

20  Bless the Lord, O you ehis angels,

you fmighty ones who gdo his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

21  Bless the Lord, all his hhosts,

his iministers, who do his will!

22  jBless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

kBless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great

104  lBless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are mvery great!

nYou are clothed with splendor and majesty,

covering yourself with light as with a garment,

ostretching out the heavens plike a tent.

He qlays the beams of his rchambers on the waters;

he makes sthe clouds his chariot;

he rides on tthe wings of the wind;

he umakes his messengers winds,

his vministers wa flaming fire.

He xset the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be moved.

You ycovered it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

At zyour rebuke they fled;

at athe sound of your thunder they btook to flight.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

to the place that you cappointed for them.

You set da boundary that they may not pass,

so that they emight not again cover the earth.

10  You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills;

11  they fgive 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  gFrom your lofty abode you hwater the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14  You cause ithe grass to grow for the livestock

and jplants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth kfood from the earth

15  and lwine to gladden the heart of man,

moil to make his face shine

and bread to nstrengthen man’s heart.

16  The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,

othe cedars of Lebanon pthat 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 qthe wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for rthe rock badgers.

19  He made the moon to mark the sseasons;1

the sun knows its time for setting.

20  tYou make darkness, and it is night,

when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

21  uThe young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

22  When the sun rises, they steal away

and lie down in their vdens.

23  wMan goes out to his work

and to his labor until the evening.

24  O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In xwisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25  Here is the sea, great and wide,

ywhich teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

26  There go the ships,

and zLeviathan, which you formed to aplay in it.2

27  These ball look to you,

to cgive them their food in due season.

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

when you dopen your hand, they are filled with good things.

29  When you ehide your face, they are fdismayed;

when you gtake away their breath, they die

and hreturn to their dust.

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

and you jrenew the face of the ground.

31  May the glory of the Lord kendure forever;

may the Lord lrejoice in his works,

32  who looks on the earth and it mtrembles,

who ntouches the mountains and they smoke!

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

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

34  May my pmeditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

35  Let qsinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more!

rBless the Lord, O my soul!

sPraise the Lord!

Tell of All His Wondrous Works

105  tOh give thanks to the Lord; ucall upon his name;

vmake known his deeds among the peoples!

Sing to him, sing praises to him;

wtell of all his wondrous works!

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Seek the Lord and his xstrength;

yseek his presence continually!

Remember the zwondrous works that he has done,

his miracles, and athe judgments he uttered,

O offspring of bAbraham, his servant,

children of Jacob, his cchosen ones!

He is the Lord our God;

his djudgments are in all the earth.

He eremembers his covenant forever,

the word that he commanded, for fa thousand generations,

gthe covenant that he made with Abraham,

his hsworn promise to Isaac,

10  which he confirmed to iJacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

11  saying, jTo you I will give the land of Canaan

as kyour portion for an inheritance.

12  When they were lfew in number,

of little account, and msojourners in it,

13  wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

14  he nallowed no one to oppress them;

he orebuked kings on their account,

15  saying, pTouch not my anointed ones,

do my prophets no harm!

16  When he qsummoned a famine on the land

and rbroke all supply1 of bread,

17  he had ssent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who was tsold as a slave.

18  His ufeet were hurt with fetters;

his neck was put in a collar of iron;

19  until vwhat he had said came to pass,

the word of the Lord wtested him.

20  xThe king sent and yreleased him;

the ruler of the peoples set him free;

21  he zmade him lord of his house

and ruler of all his possessions,

22  to bind2 his princes at his pleasure

and to teach his elders wisdom.

23  Then aIsrael came to Egypt;

Jacob bsojourned in cthe land of Ham.

24  And the Lord dmade his people very fruitful

and made them stronger than their foes.

25  He eturned their hearts to hate his people,

to fdeal craftily with his servants.

26  He gsent Moses, his servant,

and Aaron, hwhom he had chosen.

27  iThey performed his signs among them

and miracles in cthe land of Ham.

28  He jsent darkness, and made the land dark;

they kdid not rebel3 against his words.

29  He turned their waters into blood

and lcaused their fish to die.

30  Their land swarmed with frogs,

even in mthe chambers of their kings.

31  He spoke, and there came nswarms of flies,

oand gnats throughout their country.

32  He gave them hail for rain,

and fiery plightning bolts through their land.

33  He struck down their vines and fig trees,

and qshattered the trees of their country.

34  He spoke, and the rlocusts came,

young locusts without number,

35  which devoured all the vegetation in their land

and ate up the fruit of their ground.

36  He sstruck down all the firstborn in their land,

sthe firstfruits of all their strength.

37  Then he brought out Israel with tsilver and gold,

and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

38  uEgypt was glad when they departed,

for vdread of them had fallen upon it.

39  He wspread a cloud for a covering,

and fire to give light by night.

40  xThey asked, and he ybrought quail,

and gave them zbread from heaven in abundance.

41  He opened the rock, and awater gushed out;

it flowed through bthe desert like a river.

42  For he cremembered his holy promise,

and dAbraham, his servant.

43  So he brought his people out with joy,

his dchosen ones with esinging.

44  And he fgave them the lands of the nations,

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

45  that they might gkeep his statutes

and hobserve his laws.

iPraise the Lord!

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good

106  iPraise the Lord!

jOh give thanks to the Lord, kfor he is good,

lfor his steadfast love endures forever!

Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,

or declare all his praise?

Blessed are they who observe justice,

who mdo righteousness at all times!

nRemember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;

help me when you save them,1

that I may look upon the prosperity of your ochosen ones,

that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,

that I may glory with your inheritance.

pBoth we and qour fathers have sinned;

we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.

Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,

did not consider your wondrous works;

they rdid not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,

but srebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Yet he saved them tfor his name’s sake,

uthat he might make known his mighty power.

He vrebuked the Red Sea, and it wbecame dry,

and he xled them through the deep as through a desert.

10  So he ysaved them from the hand of the foe

and zredeemed them from the power of the enemy.

11  And athe waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them was left.

12  Then bthey believed his words;

they csang his praise.

13  But they soon dforgot his works;

they did not wait for ehis counsel.

14  But they had fa wanton craving in the wilderness,

and gput God to the test in the desert;

15  he hgave them what they asked,

but sent ia wasting disease among them.

16  When men in the camp jwere jealous of Moses

and Aaron, kthe holy one of the Lord,

17  lthe earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

and covered the company of Abiram.

18  mFire also broke out in their company;

the flame burned up the wicked.

19  They nmade a calf in Horeb

and worshiped a metal image.

20  They oexchanged the glory of God2

for the image of an ox that eats grass.

21  They pforgot God, their Savior,

who had done great things in Egypt,

22  wondrous works in qthe land of Ham,

and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

23  Therefore rhe said he would destroy them

had not Moses, his schosen one,

tstood in the breach before him,

to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

24  Then they udespised vthe pleasant land,

having wno faith in his promise.

25  They xmurmured in their tents,

and did not obey the voice of the Lord.

26  Therefore he yraised his hand and swore to them

that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

27  and would make their offspring fall among the nations,

zscattering them among the lands.

28  Then they ayoked themselves to the aBaal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to bthe dead;

29  they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,

and a plague broke out among them.

30  Then cPhinehas stood up and intervened,

and the plague was stayed.

31  And that was dcounted to him as righteousness

from generation to generation forever.

32  They eangered him at the waters of Meribah,

and it went ill with Moses on their account,

33  for they fmade his spirit bitter,3

and he gspoke rashly with his lips.

34  They did not hdestroy the peoples,

ias the Lord commanded them,

35  but they jmixed with the nations

and learned to do as they did.

36  They served their idols,

which became ka snare to them.

37  They lsacrificed their sons

and their daughters to mthe demons;

38  they poured out innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,

and the land was npolluted with blood.

39  Thus they obecame unclean by their acts,

and pplayed the whore in their deeds.

40  Then qthe anger of the Lord was kindled against rhis people,

and he abhorred his rheritage;

41  he sgave them into the hand of the nations,

so that those who hated them ruled over them.

42  Their enemies toppressed them,

and they were brought into subjection under their power.

43  uMany times he delivered them,

but they were rebellious in their vpurposes

and were wbrought low through their iniquity.

44  Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,

when he xheard their cry.

45  For their sake he yremembered his covenant,

and zrelented according to athe abundance of his steadfast love.

46  He caused them to be bpitied

by all those who held them captive.

47  cSave us, O Lord our God,

and dgather us from among the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise.

48  eBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

eAnd let all the people say, Amen!

fPraise the Lord!