Psalm 146-150

Easy-to-Read Version

146 Praise the Lord!
    My soul, praise the Lord!
² I will praise the Lord all my life.
    I will sing praises to him as long as I live.
³ Don’t depend on your leaders for help.
    Don’t depend on people, because they cannot save you.
⁴ People die and are buried.
    Then all their plans to help are gone.
⁵ It is a great blessing for people to have the God of Jacob to help them.
    They depend on the Lord their God.
⁶ He made heaven and earth.
    He made the sea and everything in it.
He can be trusted to do what he says.
⁷ He does what is right for those who have been hurt.
    He gives food to the hungry.
The Lord frees people locked up in prison.
⁸     The Lord makes the blind see again.
The Lord helps those who are in trouble.
    The Lord loves those who do right.
⁹ The Lord protects strangers in our country.
    He cares for widows and orphans,
    but he destroys the wicked.
¹⁰ The Lord will rule forever!
    Zion, your God will rule forever and ever!

Praise the Lord!

147 Praise the Lord because he is good.
    Sing praises to our God.
    It is good and pleasant to praise him.
² The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem.
    He brings back the Israelites who were taken as prisoners.
³ He heals their broken hearts
    and bandages their wounds.
⁴ He counts the stars
    and knows each of them by name.
⁵ Our Lord is great and powerful.
    There is no limit to what he knows.
⁶ The Lord supports the humble,
    but he shames the wicked.
⁷ Give thanks to the Lord.
    Praise our God with harps.
⁸ He fills the sky with clouds.
    He sends rain to the earth.
    He makes the grass grow on the mountains.
⁹ He gives food to the animals.
    He feeds the young birds that cry out.
¹⁰ War horses and powerful soldiers
    are not what he cares about.
¹¹ The Lord enjoys people who worship him
    and trust in his faithful love.
¹² Jerusalem, praise the Lord!
    Zion, praise your God!
¹³ He makes your gates strong,
    and he blesses the people in your city.
¹⁴ He brought peace to your country,
    so you have plenty of grain for food.
¹⁵ He gives a command to the earth,
    and it quickly obeys.
¹⁶ He makes the snow fall until the ground is as white as wool.
    He makes sleet blow through the air like dust.
¹⁷ He makes hail fall like rocks from the sky.
    No one can stand the cold he sends.
¹⁸ Then he gives another command, and warm air begins to blow.
    The ice melts, and water begins to flow.

¹⁹ He gave his commands to Jacob.
    He gave his laws and rules to Israel.
²⁰ He did not do this for any other nation.
    He did not teach his laws to other people.

Praise the Lord!

148 Praise the Lord!
Angels above,
    praise the Lord from heaven!
² Praise him, all you angels!
    Praise him, all his army^[a]!
³ Sun and moon, praise him!
    Stars and lights in the sky, praise him!
⁴ Praise him, highest heaven!
    Waters above the sky, praise him!
⁵ Let them praise the Lord’s name,
    because he gave the command and created them all!
⁶ He made all these continue forever.
    He made the laws that will never end.
⁷ Everything on earth, praise him!
    Great sea animals and all the oceans, praise the Lord!
⁸ Praise him, fire and hail, snow and clouds,
    and the stormy winds that obey him.
⁹ Praise him, mountains and hills,
    fruit trees and cedar trees.
¹⁰ Praise him, wild animals and cattle, reptiles and birds.
¹¹ Praise him, kings of the earth and all nations,
    princes and all rulers on earth.
¹² Praise him, young men and women,
    old people and children.
¹³ Praise the Lord’s name!
    Honor his name forever!
His name is greater than any other.
    He is more glorious than heaven and earth.
¹⁴ He made his people strong.
    His loyal followers praise him.
Israel, his precious people, praise the Lord!

149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song^[b] to the Lord!
    Sing his praise in the assembly of his followers.
² Let Israel be happy with their Maker.
    Let the people of Zion rejoice with their King.
³ Let them praise him by dancing
    and playing their tambourines and harps.
⁴ The Lord is happy with his people.
    He did a wonderful thing for his humble people.
    He saved them!
⁵ Let his followers rejoice in this victory!
    Let them sing for joy, even in their beds!

⁶ Let the people shout praise to God.
    And with a sharp sword in their hand,
⁷ let them take revenge on the other nations.
    Let them go punish those people.
⁸ They will put their kings in chains
    and their leaders in chains of iron.
⁹ They will punish those nations as God commanded.
    This is an honor for all his followers.

Praise the Lord!

150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple!
    Praise him in heaven, his strong fortress!
² Praise him for the great things he does!
    Praise him for all his greatness!
³ Praise him with trumpets and horns!
    Praise him with harps and lyres!
⁴ Praise him with tambourines and dancing!
    Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes!
⁵ Praise him with loud cymbals!
    Praise him with crashing cymbals!

⁶ Everything that breathes, praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!