Psalm 103-107

Contemporary English Version

³ The Lord forgives our sins,
heals us when we are sick,
⁴     and protects us from death.
His kindness and love
    are a crown on our heads.
⁵ Each day that we live,^[a]
    he provides for our needs
and gives us the strength
    of a young eagle.

⁶ For all who are mistreated,
    the Lord brings justice.
⁷ He taught his Law to Moses
and showed all Israel
    what he could do.

^8 (A) The Lord is merciful!
He is kind and patient,
    and his love never fails.
⁹ The Lord won't always be angry
    and point out our sins;
¹⁰ he doesn't punish us
    as our sins deserve.

¹¹ How great is God's love for all
    who worship him?
Greater than the distance
    between heaven and earth!
¹² How far has the Lord taken
    our sins from us?
Farther than the distance
    from east to west!

¹³ Just as parents are kind
    to their children,
the Lord is kind
    to all who worship him,
¹⁴ because he knows
    we are made of dust.
¹⁵ We humans are like grass
or wild flowers
    that quickly bloom.
¹⁶ But a scorching wind blows,
and they quickly wither
    to be forever forgotten.

¹⁷ The Lord is always kind
    to those who worship him,
and he keeps his promises
to their descendants
¹⁸ who faithfully obey him.

¹⁹ God has set up his kingdom
in heaven, and he rules
    the whole creation.
²⁰ All of you mighty angels,
who obey God's commands,
    come and praise your Lord!
²¹ All of you thousands
who serve and obey God,
    come and praise your Lord!
²² All of God's creation
and all that he rules,
    come and praise your Lord!
With all my heart
    I praise the Lord!

⁵ You built foundations
for the earth, and it
    will never be shaken.
⁶ You covered the earth
with the ocean that rose
    above the mountains.
⁷ Then your voice thundered!
And the water flowed
⁸     down the mountains
and through the valleys
    to the place you prepared.
⁹ Now you have set boundaries,
so that the water will never
    flood the earth again.

¹⁰ You provide streams of water
    in the hills and valleys,
¹¹ so that the donkeys
and other wild animals
    can satisfy their thirst.
¹² Birds build their nests nearby
    and sing in the trees.
¹³ From your home above
you send rain on the hills
    and water the earth.
¹⁴ You let the earth produce
    grass for cattle,
    plants for our food,
¹⁵     wine to cheer us up,
    olive oil for our skin,
    and grain for our health.

¹⁶ Our Lord, your trees
    always have water,
and so do the cedars
    you planted in Lebanon.
¹⁷ Birds nest in those trees,
and storks make their home
    in the fir trees.
¹⁸ Wild goats find a home
    in the tall mountains,
and small animals can hide
    between the rocks.

¹⁹ You created the moon
    to tell us the seasons.
The sun knows when to set,
²⁰     and you made the darkness,
so the animals in the forest
    could come out at night.
²¹ Lions roar as they hunt
    for the food you provide.
²² But when morning comes,
    they return to their dens,
²³ then we go out to work
    until the end of day.

²⁴ Our Lord, by your wisdom
    you made so many things;
the whole earth is covered
    with your living creatures.
²⁵ But what about the ocean
    so big and wide?
It is alive with creatures,
    large and small.
^26 (C) And there are the ships,
    as well as Leviathan,^[b]
the monster you created
    to splash in the sea.

²⁷ All of these depend on you
    to provide them with food,
²⁸ and you feed each one
with your own hand,
    until they are full.
²⁹ But when you turn away,
    they are terrified;
when you end their life,
    they die and rot.
³⁰ You created all of them
    by your Spirit,
and you give new life
    to the earth.

³¹ Our Lord, we pray
that your glory
    will last forever
and that you will be pleased
    with what you have done.
³² You look at the earth,
    and it trembles.
You touch the mountains,
    and smoke goes up.
³³ As long as I live,
I will sing and praise you,
    the Lord God.
³⁴ I hope my thoughts
    will please you,
because you are the one
    who makes me glad.

³⁵ Destroy all wicked sinners
from the earth
    once and for all.
With all my heart
I praise you, Lord!
    I praise you!

⁴ Trust the Lord
    and his mighty power.
⁵ Remember his miracles
and all his wonders
    and his fair decisions.
⁶ You belong to the family
    of Abraham, his servant;
you are his chosen ones,
    the descendants of Jacob.

⁷ The Lord is our God,
bringing justice
    everywhere on earth.
⁸ He will never forget
his agreement or his promises,
    not in thousands of years.
* ^9 (E) God made an eternal promise
^{10     (F)} to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
¹¹ when he said, “I'll give you
    the land of Canaan.”

¹² At the time there were
only a few of us,
    and we were homeless.
¹³ We wandered from nation
to nation, from one country
    to another.
^14 (G) God did not let anyone
    mistreat our people.
Instead he protected us
    by punishing rulers
¹⁵ and telling them,
“Don't touch my chosen leaders
    or harm my prophets!”

^16 (H) God kept crops from growing
until food was scarce
    everywhere in the land.
^17 (I) But he had already sent Joseph,
    sold as a slave into Egypt,
^18 (J) with chains of iron
    around his legs and neck.

¹⁹ Joseph remained a slave
until his own words
    had come true,
and the Lord had finished
    testing him.
^20 (K) Then the king of Egypt
    set Joseph free
^21 (L) and put him in charge
    of everything he owned.
²² Joseph was in command
    of the officials,
and he taught the leaders
    how to use wisdom.

^23 (M) Jacob and his family
came and settled in Egypt
    as foreigners.
^24 (N) They were the Lord's people,
so he let them grow stronger
    than their enemies.
²⁵ They served the Lord,
and he made the Egyptians plan
    hateful things against them.
^26 (O) God sent his servant Moses.
He also chose and sent Aaron
²⁷     to his people in Egypt,
and they worked miracles
    and wonders there.
^28 (P) Moses and Aaron obeyed God,
and he sent darkness
    to cover Egypt.
^29 (Q) God turned their rivers
into streams of blood,
    and the fish all died.
^30 (R) Frogs were everywhere,
    even in the royal palace.
^31 (S) When God gave the command,
flies and gnats
    swarmed all around.

^32 (T) In place of rain,
God sent hailstones
    and flashes of lightning.
³³ He destroyed their grapevines
    and their fig trees,
and he made splinters
    of all the other trees.
^34 (U) God gave the command,
and more grasshoppers came
    than could be counted.
³⁵ They ate every green plant
and all the crops that grew
    in the land of Egypt.
^36 (V) Then God took the life
    of every first-born son.

^37 (W) When God led Israel from Egypt,
they took silver and gold,
    and no one was left behind.
³⁸ The Egyptians were afraid
    and gladly let them go.
^39 (X) God hid them under a cloud
and guided them by fire
    during the night.

^40 (Y) When they asked for food,
he sent more birds
    than they could eat.
^41 (Z) God even split open a rock,
and streams of water
    gushed into the desert.
⁴² God never forgot
his sacred promise
    to his servant Abraham.

⁴³ When the Lord rescued
his chosen people from Egypt,
    they celebrated with songs.
^44 (AA) The Lord gave them the land
and everything else
    the nations had worked for.
⁴⁵ He did this so that his people
would obey all his laws.
    Shout praises to the Lord!

⁴ Remember me, Lord,
when you show kindness
    by saving your people.
⁵ Let me prosper with the rest
    of your chosen ones,
as they celebrate with pride
    because they belong to you.

⁶ We and our ancestors
    have sinned terribly.
^7 (AC) When they were in Egypt,
    they paid no attention
to your marvelous deeds
    or your wonderful love.
And they turned against you
    at the Red Sea.^[c]

⁸ But you were true to your name,
and you rescued them to prove
    how mighty you are.
^9 (AD) You said to the Red Sea,^[d]
    “Dry up!”
Then you led your people across
    on land as dry as a desert.
¹⁰ You saved all of them
¹¹ and drowned every one
    of their enemies.
^12 (AE) Then your people trusted you
    and sang your praises.

¹³ But they soon forgot
what you had done
    and rejected your advice.
^14 (AF) They became greedy for food
and tested you there
    in the desert.
¹⁵ So you gave them
    what they wanted,
but later you destroyed them
    with a horrible disease.

^16 (AG) Everyone in camp was jealous
of Moses and of Aaron,
    your chosen priest.
¹⁷ Dathan and Abiram rebelled,
and the earth opened up
    and swallowed them.
¹⁸ Then fire broke out
and destroyed all
    of their followers.

^19 (AH) At Horeb your people
made and worshiped the statue
²⁰     of a bull, instead of you,
    their glorious God.
²¹ You worked powerful miracles
    to save them from Egypt,
but they forgot about you
²² and the fearsome things
    you did at the Red Sea.^[e]
23 You were angry and started
    to destroy them,
but Moses, your chosen leader,
    begged you not to do it.

^24 (AI) They would not trust
    you, Lord,
and they did not like
    the promised land.
²⁵ They would not obey you,
and they grumbled
    in their tents.
²⁶ So you threatened them
by saying, “I'll kill you
    out here in the desert!
^27 (AJ) I'll scatter your children
    everywhere in the world.”

^28 (AK) Your people became followers
    of a god named Baal Peor,
and they ate sacrifices
    offered to the dead.^[f]
29 They did such terrible things
that you punished them
    with a deadly disease.
³⁰ But Phinehas^[g] helped them,
    and the sickness stopped.
³¹ Now he will always
    be highly honored.

^32 (AL) At Meribah Spring^[h]
they turned against you
    and made you furious.
³³ Then Moses got into trouble
    for speaking in anger.

^34 (AM) Our Lord, they disobeyed you
by refusing to destroy
    the nations.
³⁵ Instead they were friendly
with those foreigners
    and followed their customs.
³⁶ Then they fell into the trap
    of worshiping idols.
^37 (AN) They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons
^{38     (AO)} and to the gods of Canaan.
Then they poured out the blood
of these innocent children
    and made the land filthy.
³⁹ By doing such gruesome things,
    they also became filthy.

^40 (AP) Finally, Lord, you were angry
and terribly disgusted
    with your people.
⁴¹ So you put them in the power
    of nations that hated them.
⁴² They were mistreated and abused
    by their enemies,
⁴³ but you saved them
    time after time.
They were determined to rebel,
and their sins caused
    their downfall.

⁴⁴ You answered their prayers
    when they were in trouble.
⁴⁵ You kept your agreement
    and were so merciful
⁴⁶ that their enemies
    had pity on them.

^47 (AQ) Save us, Lord God!
Bring us back
    from among the nations.
Let us celebrate and shout
    in praise of your holy name.

⁴⁸ Lord God of Israel,
you deserve to be praised
    forever and ever.
Let everyone say, “Amen!
    Shout praises to the Lord!”

⁴ Some of you were lost
in the scorching desert,
    far from a town.
⁵ You were hungry and thirsty
    and about to give up.
⁶ You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,
    and he rescued you.
⁷ At once he brought you
    to a town.
⁸ You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things
    he does for all of us.
⁹ To everyone who is thirsty,
    he gives something to drink;
to everyone who is hungry,
    he gives good things to eat.

¹⁰ Some of you were prisoners
suffering in deepest darkness
    and bound by chains,
¹¹ because you had rebelled
against God Most High
    and refused his advice.
¹² You were worn out
from working like slaves,
    and no one came to help.
¹³ You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,
    and he rescued you.
¹⁴ He brought you out
of the deepest darkness
    and broke your chains.

¹⁵ You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things
    he does for all of us.
¹⁶ He breaks down bronze gates
    and shatters iron locks.

¹⁷ Some of you had foolishly
committed a lot of sins
    and were in terrible pain.
¹⁸ The very thought of food
was disgusting to you,
    and you were almost dead.
¹⁹ You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,
    and he rescued you.
²⁰ By the power of his own word,
he healed you and saved you
    from destruction.

²¹ You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things
    he does for all of us.
²² You should celebrate
    by offering sacrifices
and singing joyful songs
    to tell what he has done.

²³ Some of you made a living
    by sailing the mighty sea,
²⁴ and you saw the miracles
    the Lord performed there.
²⁵ At his command a storm arose,
    and waves covered the sea.
²⁶ You were tossed to the sky
    and to the ocean depths,
until things looked so bad
    that you lost your courage.
²⁷ You staggered like drunkards
    and gave up all hope.
²⁸ You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,
    and he rescued you.
²⁹ He made the storm stop
    and the sea be quiet.
³⁰ You were happy because of this,
and he brought you to the port
    where you wanted to go.

³¹ You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things
    he does for all of us.
³² Honor the Lord
when you and your leaders
    meet to worship.

³³ If you start doing wrong,
the Lord will turn rivers
    into deserts,
^34 (AS) flowing streams
    into scorched land,
and fruitful fields
    into beds of salt.

³⁵ But the Lord can also turn
    deserts into lakes
and scorched land
    into flowing streams.
³⁶ If you are hungry,
you can settle there
    and build a town.
³⁷ You can plant fields
and vineyards that produce
    a good harvest.
³⁸ The Lord will bless you
with many children
    and with herds of cattle.

³⁹ Sometimes you may be crushed
    by troubles and sorrows,
until only a few of you
    are left to survive.
⁴⁰ But the Lord will take revenge
    on those who conquer you,
and he will make them wander
    across desert sands.
⁴¹ When you are suffering
    and in need,
he will come to your rescue,
and your families will grow
    as fast as a herd of sheep.
⁴² You will see this because
    you obey the Lord,
but everyone who is wicked
    will be silenced.

⁴³ Be wise! Remember this
and think about the kindness
    of the Lord.