Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Of David.
1 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
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!
Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Compassion
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,1 and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why jI made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a kgracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, lplease take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God mappointed a plant2 and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.3 So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching neast wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that ogreat city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, pand also much cattle?”
