135  Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord,

^xgive praise, O servants of the Lord,

2  ^ywho stand in the house of the Lord,

in the courts of the house of our God!

3  Praise the Lord, ^zfor the Lord is good;

^asing to his name, ^bfor it is pleasant!¹

4  For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel as ^chis own possession.

5  For I know that ^dthe Lord is great,

and that our Lord is ^eabove all gods.

6  ^fWhatever the Lord pleases, he does,

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all deeps.

7  He it is who ^gmakes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,

who makes lightnings for the rain

and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

8  ^hHe it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

both of man and of beast;

9  who in your midst, O Egypt,

sent ⁱsigns and wonders

against Pharaoh and all his servants;

10  ^jwho struck down many nations

and killed mighty kings,

11  ^kSihon, king of the Amorites,

and ^lOg, king of Bashan,

and ^mall the kingdoms of Canaan,

12  and gave their land as a heritage,

a heritage to his people Israel.

13  ⁿYour name, O Lord, endures forever,

your renown,² O Lord, throughout all ages.

14  For ^othe Lord will vindicate his people

and have compassion on his servants.

15  ^pThe idols of the nations are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

16  ^qThey have mouths, but do not speak;

they have eyes, but do not see;

17  they have ears, but do not hear,

^rnor is there any breath in their mouths.

18  ^sThose who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

19  O house of Israel, bless the Lord!

O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!

20  O house of Levi, bless the Lord!

You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!

21  Blessed be the Lord from Zion,

he who dwells in Jerusalem!

Praise the Lord!

136  ^tGive thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for ^uhis steadfast love endures forever.

2  Give thanks to the ^vGod of gods,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

3  Give thanks to the ^wLord of lords,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

4  to him who alone does great wonders,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

5  to him who ^xby understanding ^ymade the heavens,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

6  to him who ^zspread out the earth above the waters,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

7  to him who ^amade the ^bgreat lights,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

8  the sun to rule over the day,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

9  the moon and stars to rule over the night,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

10  to him who ^cstruck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

11  and ^dbrought Israel out from among them,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

12  with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

13  to him who ^edivided the Red Sea in two,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

14  and made Israel pass through the midst of it,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

15  but ^foverthrew¹ Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

16  to him who ^gled his people through the wilderness,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

17  ^hto him who struck down great kings,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

18  and killed mighty kings,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

19  ⁱSihon, king of the Amorites,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

20  and ^jOg, king of Bashan,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

21  and gave their land as a heritage,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

22  a heritage to Israel his servant,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

23  It is he who remembered us in our low estate,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

24  and rescued us from our foes,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

25  he who ^kgives food to all flesh,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

26  Give thanks to the God of heaven,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

137  By the waters of ^lBabylon,

^mthere we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2  On the willows¹ there

we hung up our lyres.

3  For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4  How shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

5  If I ⁿforget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget its skill!

6  Let my ^otongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

7  ^pRemember, O Lord, against the Edomites

^qthe day of Jerusalem,

how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,

down to its foundations!”

8  O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,

blessed shall he be who ^rrepays you

with what you have done to us!

9  Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones

and ^sdashes them against the rock!

138  ^tI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;

2  I bow down ^utoward your holy temple

and ^vgive thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.¹

3  ^wOn the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.²

4  ^xAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5  and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

6  For though the Lord is ^yhigh, he regards the lowly,

^zbut the haughty he knows from afar.

7  ^aThough I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve my life;

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your right hand delivers me.

8  The Lord will ^bfulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not ^cforsake the work of your hands.

139  O Lord, you have ^dsearched me and known me!

2  You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

3  ^eYou search out my path and my lying down

and are ^facquainted with all my ways.

4  Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5  You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

6  ^gSuch knowledge is ^htoo wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

7  ⁱWhere shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I ^jflee from your presence?

8  ^kIf I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I ^lmake my bed in Sheol, ^myou are there!

9  If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10  even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

11  If I say, ⁿ“Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12  ^oeven the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

13  For ^pyou formed my inward parts;

you ^qknitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.¹

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15  My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in ^ryour book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

17  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

^sHow vast is the sum of them!

18  If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

19  Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O men of blood, depart from me!

20  They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies ^ttake your name in vain.²

21  ^uDo I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

22  I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23  Search me, O God, and know my heart!

^vTry me and know my thoughts!³

24  And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and ^wlead me in the way everlasting!⁴