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Psalm 103

Of David.

103 Let my whole being[a] bless the Lord!
    Let everything inside me bless his holy name!
Let my whole being bless the Lord
    and never forget all his good deeds:
    how God forgives all your sins,
    heals all your sickness,
    saves your life from the pit,
    crowns you with faithful love and compassion,
    and satisfies you with plenty of good things
        so that your youth is made fresh like an eagle’s.

The Lord works righteousness;
    does justice for all who are oppressed.
God made his ways known to Moses;
    made his deeds known to the Israelites.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
    very patient, and full of faithful love.
God won’t always play the judge;
    he won’t be angry forever.
10 He doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
    or repay us according to our wrongdoing,
11     because as high as heaven is above the earth,
    that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
12 As far as east is from west—
    that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.
13 Like a parent feels compassion for their children—
    that’s how the Lord feels compassion for those who honor him.
14 Because God knows how we’re made,
    God remembers we’re just dust.

15 The days of a human life are like grass:
    they bloom like a wildflower;
16     but when the wind blows through it, it’s gone;
    even the ground where it stood doesn’t remember it.
17 But the Lord’s faithful love is from forever ago to forever from now
        for those who honor him.
    And God’s righteousness reaches to the grandchildren
18         of those who keep his covenant
        and remember to keep his commands.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

20 You divine messengers,
    bless the Lord!
You who are mighty in power and keep his word,
        who obey everything he says,
    bless him!
21 All you heavenly forces,
    bless the Lord!
All you who serve him and do his will,
    bless him!
22 All God’s creatures,
    bless the Lord!
Everywhere, throughout his kingdom,
        let my whole being
    bless the Lord!

Psalm 104

104 Let my whole being[b] bless the Lord!
    Lord my God, how fantastic you are!
    You are clothed in glory and grandeur!
You wear light like a robe;
    you open the skies like a curtain.
You build your lofty house on the waters;
    you make the clouds your chariot,
    going around on the wings of the wind.
You make the winds your messengers;
    you make fire and flame your ministers.
You established the earth on its foundations
    so that it will never ever fall.
You covered it with the watery deep like a piece of clothing;
    the waters were higher than the mountains!
But at your rebuke they ran away;
    they fled in fear at the sound of your thunder.
They flowed over the mountains,
    streaming down the valleys
    to the place you established for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross
    so they’ll never again cover the earth.

10 You put gushing springs into dry riverbeds.
    They flow between the mountains,
11         providing water for every wild animal—
        the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Overhead, the birds in the sky make their home,
    chirping loudly in the trees.
13 From your lofty house, you water the mountains.
    The earth is filled full by the fruit of what you’ve done.
14 You make grass grow for cattle;
    you make plants for human farming
        in order to get food from the ground,
15         and wine, which cheers people’s hearts,
        along with oil, which makes the face shine,
        and bread, which sustains the human heart.
16 The Lord’s trees are well watered—
    the cedars of Lebanon, which God planted,
17     where the birds make their nests,
    where the stork has a home in the cypresses.
18 The high mountains belong to the mountain goats;
    the ridges are the refuge of badgers.
19 God made the moon for the seasons,
    and the sun too, which knows when to set.
20 You bring on the darkness and it is night,
    when every forest animal prowls.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they gather together
    and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go off to their work,
    to do their work until evening.

24 Lord, you have done so many things!
    You made them all so wisely!
The earth is full of your creations!
25 And then there’s the sea, wide and deep,
    with its countless creatures—
    living things both small and large.
26 There go the ships on it,
    and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it!
27 All your creations wait for you
    to give them their food on time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled completely full!
29 But when you hide your face, they are terrified;
    when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to dust.
30 When you let loose your breath, they are created,
    and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.

31 Let the Lord’s glory last forever!
    Let the Lord rejoice in all he has made!
32 He has only to look at the earth, and it shakes.
    God just touches the mountains, and they erupt in smoke.

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I’m still alive.
34 Let my praise be pleasing to him;
    I’m rejoicing in the Lord!
35 Let sinners be wiped clean from the earth;
    let the wicked be no more.
But let my whole being bless the Lord!
    Praise the Lord!

Psalm 105

105 Give thanks to the Lord;
    call upon his name;
    make his deeds known to all people!
Sing to God;
    sing praises to the Lord;
    dwell on all his wondrous works!
Give praise to God’s holy name!
    Let the hearts rejoice of all those seeking the Lord!
Pursue the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face always!
Remember the wondrous works he has done,
    all his marvelous works, and the justice he declared—
    you who are the offspring of Abraham, his servant,
        and the children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

The Lord—he is our God.
    His justice is everywhere throughout the whole world.
God remembers his covenant forever,
    the word he commanded to a thousand generations,
        which he made with Abraham,
        the solemn pledge he swore to Isaac.
10 God set it up as binding law for Jacob,
    as an eternal covenant for Israel,
11     promising, “I hereby give you the land of Canaan
    as your allotted inheritance.”

12 When they were few in number—
        insignificant, just immigrants—
13         wandering from nation to nation,
        from one kingdom to the next,
14     God didn’t let anyone oppress them.
    God punished kings for their sake:
15     “Don’t touch my anointed ones;
    don’t harm my prophets!”

16 When God called for a famine in the land,
    destroying every source of food,
17         he sent a man ahead of them,
            who was sold as a slave: it was Joseph.
18 Joseph’s feet hurt in his shackles;
        his neck was in an iron collar,
19     until what he predicted actually happened,
        until what the Lord had said proved him true.[c]
20 The king sent for Joseph and set him free;
    the ruler of many people released him.
21 The king made Joseph master of his house and ruler over everything he owned,
22     to make sure his princes acted according to his will,
    and to teach wisdom to his advisors.
23 That’s how Israel came to Egypt,
    how Jacob became an immigrant in the land of Ham.

24 God made his people very fruitful,
    more powerful than their enemies,
25     whose hearts God changed so they hated his people
    and dealt shrewdly with his servants.
26 God sent Moses his servant
    and the one he chose, Aaron.
27 They put God’s signs on Egypt,[d]
    his marvelous works on the land of Ham.
28 God sent darkness, and it became dark,
    but the Egyptians rejected his word.
29 God turned their waters into blood
    and killed their fish.
30 God made their land swarm with frogs[e]
    even in the bedrooms of their king!
31 God spoke, and the insects came—
    gnats throughout their whole country!
32 God turned their rain into hail
    along with lightning flashes throughout their land.
33 God destroyed their vines and their fig trees;
    shattered the trees of their countryside.
34 God spoke, and the locusts came—
    countless grasshoppers came!
35     They devoured all the plants in their land;
        they devoured the fruit of their soil.
36 God struck down all the oldest sons throughout their land;
    struck down their very pride and joy.
37 Then God brought Israel out, filled with silver and gold;
    not one of its tribes stumbled.
38 Egypt celebrated when they left,
    because the dread of Israel had come upon them.

39 God spread out clouds as a covering;
    gave lightning to provide light at night.
40 The people asked, and God brought quail;
    God filled them full with food from heaven.
41 God opened the rock and out gushed water—
    flowing like a river through the desert!
42 Because God remembered his holy promise
    to Abraham his servant,
43     God brought his people out with rejoicing,
    his chosen ones with songs of joy.
44 God gave them the lands of other nations;
    they inherited the wealth of many peoples—
45         all so that they would keep his laws
        and observe his instructions.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 106

106 Praise the Lord!
    Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
    because his faithful love endures forever.
Who could possibly repeat all of the Lord’s mighty acts
    or publicly recount all his praise?

The people who uphold justice,
    who always do what is right, are truly happy!
Remember me, Lord, with the favor you show your people.
    Visit me with your saving help
        so I can experience the good things your chosen ones experience,
        so I can rejoice in the joy of your nation,
        so I can praise along with your possession.

We have sinned—right along with our ancestors.
    We’ve done what is wrong.
    We’ve acted wickedly.
Our ancestors in Egypt didn’t understand your wondrous works.
    They didn’t remember how much faithful love you have.
    So they rebelled by the sea—at the Reed Sea.[f]
But God saved them for the sake of his good name,
    to make known his mighty power.
God scolded the Reed Sea, and it dried right up;
    he led them through the deeps like they were a dry desert.
10 God saved them from hostile powers;
    he redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 But the waters covered over their foes—
    not one of them survived!
12 So our ancestors trusted God’s words;
    they sang God’s praise.

13 But how quickly they forgot what he had done!
    They wouldn’t wait for his advice.
14 They were overcome with craving in the desert;
    they tested God in the wastelands.
15 God gave them what they asked for;
    he sent food[g] to satisfy their appetites.

16 But then they were jealous of Moses in the camp,
    jealous too of Aaron, the Lord’s holy one.
17 So the earth opened up, swallowing Dathan,
    and covering over Abiram’s crowd.
18 Fire blazed throughout that whole group;
    flames burned up the wicked.

19 They made a calf at Horeb,
    bowing down to a metal idol.
20 They traded their glorious God[h]
    for an image of a bull that eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them—
    the one who had done great things in Egypt,
22     wondrous works in the land of Ham,
    awesome deeds at the Reed Sea.
23 So God determined that he would destroy them—
    except for the fact that Moses, his chosen one,
    stood in the way, right in front of him,
    and turned God’s destructive anger away.

24 But then they rejected the land that was so desirable.
    They didn’t trust God’s promise.
25 They muttered in their tents
    and wouldn’t listen to the Lord’s voice.
26 So God raised his hand against them,
    making them fall in the desert,
27     scattering their offspring among the nations,
    casting them across many lands.

28 They joined themselves to Baal-peor
    and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 They made God angry by what they did,
    so a plague broke out against them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and prayed,
    and the plague was contained.
31 That’s why Phinehas is considered righteous,
    generation after generation, forever.

32 But they angered God at Meribah’s waters,
    and things went badly for Moses because of them,
33     because they made him bitter
    so that he spoke rashly with his lips.

34 They didn’t destroy the nations
    as the Lord had ordered them to do.
35 Instead, they got mixed up with the nations,
    learning what they did
36     and serving those false gods,
    which became a trap for them.
37 They sacrificed their own sons and daughters to demons!
38 They shed innocent blood,
        the blood of their own sons and daughters—
    the ones they sacrificed to Canaan’s false gods—
        so the land was defiled by the bloodshed.
39 They made themselves unclean by what they did; they prostituted themselves by their actions.

40 So the Lord’s anger burned against his people;
    he despised his own possession.
41 God handed them over to the nations;
    people who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
    and they were humbled under their power.
43 God delivered them numerous times,
    but they were determined to rebel,
    and so they were brought down by their own sin.
44 But God saw their distress
    when he heard their loud cries.
45 God remembered his covenant for their sake,
    and because of how much faithful love he has,
    God changed his mind.
46 God allowed them to receive compassion
    from all their captors.

47 Lord our God, save us!
    Gather us back together from among all the nations
        so we can give thanks to your holy name
        and rejoice in your praise!

48 Bless the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from forever ago to forever from now!
    And let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord!

BOOK V

(Psalms 107–150)

Psalm 107

107 “Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
        because his faithful love lasts forever!”
That’s what those who are redeemed by the Lord say,
    the ones God redeemed from the power of their enemies,
    the ones God gathered from various countries,
    from east and west, north and south.

Some of the redeemed had wandered into the desert, into the wasteland.
    They couldn’t find their way to a city or town.
They were hungry and thirsty;
    their lives were slipping away.
So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
    and God delivered them from their desperate circumstances.
    God led them straight to human habitation.
Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and his wondrous works for all people,
    because God satisfied the one who was parched with thirst,
    and he filled up the hungry with good things!

10 Some of the redeemed had been sitting in darkness and deep gloom;
    they were prisoners suffering in chains
11     because they had disobeyed God’s instructions
    and rejected the Most High’s plans.
12 So God humbled them with hard work.
    They stumbled, and there was no one to help them.
13 So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
    and God saved them from their desperate circumstances.
14 God brought them out from the darkness and deep gloom;
    he shattered their chains.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and his wondrous works for all people,
16     because God has shattered bronze doors
    and split iron bars in two!

17 Some of the redeemed were fools because of their sinful ways.
    They suffered because of their wickedness.
18 They had absolutely no appetite for food;
    they had arrived at death’s gates.
19 So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
    and God saved them from their desperate circumstances.
20 God gave the order and healed them;
    he rescued them from their pit.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and his wondrous works for all people.
22 Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices
    and declare what God has done in songs of joy!

23 Some of the redeemed had gone out on the ocean in ships,
    making their living on the high seas.
24 They saw what the Lord had made;
    they saw his wondrous works in the depths of the sea.
25 God spoke and stirred up a storm
    that brought the waves up high.
26 The waves went as high as the sky;
    they crashed down to the depths.
The sailors’ courage melted at this terrible situation.
27     They staggered and stumbled around like they were drunk.
    None of their skill was of any help.
28 So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
    and God brought them out safe from their desperate circumstances.
29 God quieted the storm to a whisper;
    the sea’s waves were hushed.
30 So they rejoiced because the waves had calmed down;
    then God led them to the harbor they were hoping for.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and his wondrous works for all people.
32 Let them exalt God in the congregation of the people
    and praise God in the assembly of the elders.

33 God turns rivers into desert,
    watery springs into thirsty ground,
34     fruitful land into unproductive dirt,
        when its inhabitants are wicked.
35 But God can also turn the desert into watery pools,
    thirsty ground into watery springs,
36     where he settles the hungry.
They even build a city and live there!
37     They plant fields and vineyards
    and obtain a fruitful harvest.
38 God blesses them, and they become many.
    God won’t even let their cattle diminish.
39 But when they do diminish—
    when they’re brought down by oppression, trouble, and grief—
40     God pours contempt on their leaders,
        making them wander aimlessly in the wastelands.
41 But God raises the needy from their suffering;
    he makes their families as numerous as sheep!

42 Those who do right see it and celebrate,
    but every wicked person shuts their mouth.
43 Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things,
    carefully considering the Lord’s faithful love.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 103:1 Or soul; also in 103:2, 22
  2. Psalm 104:1 Or soul; also in 104:35
  3. Psalm 105:19 Heb uncertain
  4. Psalm 105:27 Correction; MT they put on them the words of God’s signs
  5. Psalm 105:30 Correction; DSS (11QPsa) their land swarmed with frogs
  6. Psalm 106:7 Or Red Sea; also in 106:9, 22
  7. Psalm 106:15 LXX
  8. Psalm 106:20 Or their Glory

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