His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
A Psalm for giving thanks.
1 jMake a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that kthe Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;1
we are his people, and the lsheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates mwith thanksgiving,
and nhis courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; obless his name!
5 pFor the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Do Not Hide Your Face from Me
A Prayer of one afflicted, wwhen he is faint and xpours out his complaint before the Lord.
1 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.
O Lord My God, You Are Very Great
1 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,
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!
Book Five
Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So
1 Oh kgive thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let lthe redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has mredeemed from trouble1
3 and ngathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some owandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 pThen they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 qLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he rsatisfies the longing soul,
and sthe hungry soul he fills with good things.
10 Some tsat in udarkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the vcounsel of the Most High.
12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with wnone to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he xshatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they yloathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer zsacrifices of thanksgiving,
and atell of his deeds in songs of joy!
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For bhe commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
ctheir courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.2
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 dHe made the estorm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters3 were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his fblessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.
39 When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 ghe pours contempt on princes
and hmakes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
42 iThe upright see it and are glad,
and jall wickedness shuts its mouth.
43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
