Psalm 146-147

Common English Bible

    Let my whole being^[a] praise the Lord!
² I will praise the Lord with all my life;
    I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

³ Don’t trust leaders;
    don’t trust any human beings—
    there’s no saving help with them!
⁴ Their breath leaves them,
    then they go back to the ground.
    On that very same day, their plans die too.

⁵ The person whose help is the God of Jacob—
    the person whose hope rests on the Lord their God—
    is truly happy!
⁶ God: the maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever,
⁷     who gives justice to people who are oppressed,
    who gives bread to people who are starving!
The Lord: who frees prisoners.
⁸     The Lord: who makes the blind see.
    The Lord: who straightens up those who are bent low.
    The Lord: who loves the righteous.
⁹     The Lord: who protects immigrants,
        who helps orphans and widows,
        but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!

¹⁰ The Lord will rule forever!
    Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!

Praise the Lord!

² The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, gathering up Israel’s exiles.
³ God heals the brokenhearted
    and bandages their wounds.
⁴ God counts the stars by number,
    giving each one a name.
⁵ Our Lord is great and so strong!
    God’s knowledge can’t be grasped!
⁶ The Lord helps the poor,
    but throws the wicked down on the dirt!

⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanks;
    sing praises to our God with a lyre!
⁸ God covers the skies with clouds;
    God makes rain for the earth;
God makes the mountains sprout green grass.
⁹     God gives food to the animals—
    even to the baby ravens when they cry out.
¹⁰ God doesn’t prize the strength of a horse;
    God doesn’t treasure the legs of a runner.
¹¹ No. The Lord treasures the people
who honor him,
    the people who wait for his faithful love.

¹² Worship the Lord, Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, Zion!
¹³ Because God secures the bars on your gates,
    God blesses the children you have there.
¹⁴ God establishes your borders peacefully.
    God fills you full with the very best wheat.

¹⁵ God issues his command to the earth—
    God’s word speeds off fast!
¹⁶ God spreads snow like it was wool;
    God scatters frost like it was ashes;
¹⁷ God throws his hail down like crumbs—
    who can endure God’s freezing cold?
¹⁸ Then God issues his word and melts it all away!
    God makes his winds blow;
    the water flows again.

¹⁹ God proclaims his word to Jacob;
    his statutes and rules to Israel.
²⁰ God hasn’t done that with any other nation;
    those nations have no knowledge of God’s rules.^[b]

Praise the Lord!