Psalm 113-118

Easy-to-Read Version

113 Praise the Lord!
Servants of the Lord, praise him!
    Praise the Lord’s name.
² May the Lord’s name be praised
    now and forever.
³ May the Lord’s name be praised
    from where the sun rises to where it goes down.
⁴ The Lord is higher than all nations.
    His glory rises to the skies.
⁵ There is no one like the Lord our God.
    He sits on his throne high in heaven.
⁶ He is so high above us that he must look down
    to see the sky and the earth.
⁷ He lifts the poor out of the dirt
    and rescues beggars from the garbage dump.
⁸ He puts them in important positions,
    giving them a place among the leaders of his people.
⁹ He gives children to the woman whose home is empty.
    He makes her a happy mother.

Praise the Lord!

114 The people of Israel escaped from Egypt.
    Yes, Jacob’s descendants left that foreign country.
² Then Judah became God’s special people,
    and Israel became his kingdom.
³ The Red Sea saw this and ran away.
    The Jordan River turned and ran.
⁴ The mountains danced like rams.
    The hills danced like lambs.

⁵ Red Sea, why did you run away?
    Jordan River, why did you turn and run away?
⁶ Mountains, why did you dance like rams?
    Hills, why did you dance like lambs?

⁷ The earth shook in front of the Lord,
    the God of Jacob.
⁸ He is the one who caused water to flow from a rock.
    He made a spring of water flow from that hard rock.

115 Lord, you should receive the honor, not us.
    The honor belongs to you
    because of your faithful love and loyalty.
² Why should the nations wonder
    where our God is?
³ Our God is in heaven,
    and he does whatever he wants.
⁴ The “gods” of those nations are only statues
    that some human made from gold and silver.
⁵ Those statues have mouths, but cannot talk.
    They have eyes, but cannot see.
⁶ They have ears, but cannot hear.
    They have noses, but cannot smell.
⁷ They have hands, but cannot feel.
    They have feet, but cannot walk.
    No sounds come from their throats.
⁸ The people who make and trust in those statues
    will become like them!

⁹ People of Israel, trust in the Lord!
    He is your strength and shield.
¹⁰ Aaron’s family, trust in the Lord!
    He is your strength and shield.
¹¹ Followers of the Lord, trust in the Lord!
    He is your strength and shield.

¹² The Lord remembers us.
    He will bless us.
He will bless Israel.
    He will bless Aaron’s family.
¹³ The Lord will bless his followers,
    great and small.

¹⁴ May the Lord give more and more to you
    and to your children.
¹⁵ May you receive blessings from the Lord,^[a]
    who made heaven and earth.
¹⁶ Heaven belongs to the Lord,
    but he gave the earth to people.
¹⁷ The dead don’t praise him.
    Those in the grave don’t praise the Lord.
¹⁸ But we will praise the Lord
    now and forever!

Praise the Lord!

116 I love the Lord for hearing me,
    for listening to my prayers.
² Yes, he paid attention to me,
    so I will always call to him whenever I need help.
³ Death’s ropes were around me.
    The grave was closing in on me.
    I was worried and afraid.
⁴ Then I called on the Lord’s name.
    I said, “Lord, save me!”
⁵ The Lord is good and merciful;
    our God is so kind.
⁶ The Lord takes care of helpless people.
    I was without help, and he saved me.
⁷ My soul, relax!
    The Lord is caring for you.
⁸ Lord, you saved my soul from death.
    You stopped my tears.
    You kept me from falling.
⁹ I will continue to serve the Lord
    in the land of the living.

¹⁰ I continued believing even when I said,
    “I am completely ruined!”
¹¹ Yes, even when I was upset and said,
    “There is no one I can trust!”

¹² What can I give the Lord
    for all that he has done for me?
¹³ He saved me,
    so I will give him a drink offering,
    and I will call on the Lord’s name.
¹⁴ I will give the Lord what I promised.
    I will go in front of all his people now.

¹⁵ Very dear to the Lord are the lives of his followers.
    He cares when they face death.
¹⁶ Lord, I am your servant!
    Yes, I am your slave, as my mother was.
    You set me free from the chains of death.
¹⁷ I will give you a thank offering.
    I will call on the Lord’s name.
¹⁸ I will stand before the gathering of his people
    and give the Lord what I promised.
¹⁹ I will do this in Jerusalem,
    in the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple.

Praise the Lord!

117 Praise the Lord, all you nations.
    Praise him, all you people.
² He loves us very much!
    The Lord will be faithful to us forever!

Praise the Lord!

118 Praise the Lord because he is good!
    His faithful love will last forever!
² Israel, say it:
    “His faithful love will last forever!”
³ Aaron’s family,^[b] say it:
    “His faithful love will last forever!”
⁴ You people worshiping the Lord, say it:
    “His faithful love will last forever!”

⁵ I was in trouble, so I called to the Lord for help.
    The Lord answered and made me free.
⁶ The Lord is with me, so I will not be afraid.
    No one on earth can do anything to harm me.
⁷ The Lord is my helper.
    I will see my enemies defeated.
⁸ It is better to trust in the Lord
    than to trust in people.
⁹ It is better to trust in the Lord
    than to trust in great leaders.

¹⁰ Many enemies surrounded me,
    but with the Lord’s power I defeated them.
¹¹ They surrounded me again and again,
    but I defeated them with the Lord’s power.
¹² They surrounded me like a swarm of bees,
    but they were quickly destroyed like a fast-burning bush.
    I defeated them with the Lord’s power.

¹³ My enemy attacked me and almost destroyed me,
    but the Lord helped me.
¹⁴ The Lord is my strength and my reason for singing.^[c]
    He saved me!
¹⁵ You can hear the victory celebration in the homes of those who live right.
    The Lord has shown his great power again!
¹⁶ The Lord’s arm is raised in victory.
    The Lord has shown his great power again.

¹⁷ I will live and not die,
    and I will tell what the Lord has done.
¹⁸ The Lord punished me,
    but he did not let me die.
¹⁹ Gates of goodness, open for me,
    and I will come in and worship the Lord.
²⁰ Those are the Lord’s gates,
    and only good people can go through them.
²¹ Lord, I thank you for answering my prayer.
    I thank you for saving me.

²² The stone that the builders rejected
    became the cornerstone.
²³ The Lord made this happen,
    and we think it is wonderful!
²⁴ This is the day the Lord has made.
    Let us rejoice and be happy today!

²⁵ The people say, “Praise the Lord!
    The Lord saved us!^[d]
26 Welcome to the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
    The priests answer, “We welcome you to the Lord’s house!
²⁷ The Lord is God, and he accepts us.
    Tie up the lamb for the sacrifice and carry it to the horns of the altar.”

²⁸ Lord, you are my God, and I thank you.
    My God, I praise you!
²⁹ Praise the Lord because he is good.
    His faithful love will last forever.