Psalm 103-105

New International Reader's Version

⁶ The Lord does what is right and fair
    for all who are treated badly.

⁷ He told Moses all about his plans.
    He let the people of Israel see his mighty acts.
⁸ The Lord is tender and kind. He is gracious.
    He is slow to get angry. He is full of love.
⁹ He won’t keep bringing charges against us.
    He won’t stay angry with us forever.
¹⁰ He doesn’t punish us for our sins as much as we should be punished.
    He doesn’t pay us back in keeping with the evil things we’ve done.
¹¹ He loves those who have respect for him.
    His love is as high as the heavens are above the earth.
¹² He has removed our sins from us.
    He has removed them as far as the east is from the west.
¹³ A father is tender and kind to his children.
    In the same way, the Lord is tender and kind
    to those who have respect for him.
¹⁴ He knows what we are made of.
    He remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ The life of human beings is like grass.
    People grow like the flowers in the field.
¹⁶ When the wind blows on them, they are gone.
    No one can tell that they had ever been there.
¹⁷ But the Lord’s love
    for those who have respect for him
    lasts for ever and ever.
Their children’s children will know
    that he always does what is right.
¹⁸ He always loves those who keep his covenant.
    He always does what is right for those who remember to obey his commands.

¹⁹ The Lord has set up his throne in heaven.
    His kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the Lord, you angels of his.
    Praise him, you mighty ones
    who carry out his orders and obey his word.
²¹ Praise the Lord, all you angels in heaven.
    Praise him, all you who serve him and do what he wants.
²² Let everything the Lord has made praise him
    everywhere in his kingdom.

I will praise the Lord.

104 I will praise the Lord.

Lord my God, you are very great.
    You are dressed in glory and majesty.
² The Lord wraps himself in light as if it were a robe.
    He spreads out the heavens like a tent.
³     He builds his palace high in the heavens.
He makes the clouds serve as his chariot.
    He rides on the wings of the wind.
⁴ He makes the winds serve as his messengers.
    He makes flashes of lightning serve him.

⁵ He placed the earth on its foundations.
    It can never be moved.
⁶ You, Lord, covered it with the oceans like a blanket.
    The waters covered the mountains.
⁷ But you commanded the waters, and they ran away.
    At the sound of your thunder they rushed off.
⁸ They flowed down the mountains.
    They went into the valleys.
    They went to the place you appointed for them.
⁹ You drew a line they can’t cross.
    They will never cover the earth again.

¹⁰ The Lord makes springs pour water into the valleys.
    It flows between the mountains.
¹¹ The springs give water to all the wild animals.
    The wild donkeys satisfy their thirst.
¹² The birds in the sky build nests by the waters.
    They sing among the branches.
¹³ The Lord waters the mountains from his palace high in the clouds.
    The earth is filled with the things he has made.
¹⁴ He makes grass grow for the cattle
    and plants for people to take care of.
    That’s how they get food from the earth.
¹⁵ There is wine to make people glad.
    There is olive oil to make their skin glow.
    And there is bread to make them strong.
¹⁶ The cedar trees of Lebanon belong to the Lord.
    He planted them and gave them plenty of water.
¹⁷ There the birds make their nests.
    The stork has its home in the juniper trees.
¹⁸ The high mountains belong to the wild goats.
    The cliffs are a safe place for the rock badgers.

¹⁹ The Lord made the moon to mark off the seasons.
    The sun knows when to go down.
²⁰ You, Lord, bring darkness, and it becomes night.
    Then all the animals of the forest prowl around.
²¹ The lions roar while they hunt.
    All their food comes from God.
²² The sun rises, and they slip away.
    They return to their dens and lie down.
²³ Then people get up and go to work.
    They keep working until evening.

²⁴ Lord, you have made so many things!
    How wise you were when you made all of them!
    The earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ Look at the ocean, so big and wide!
    It is filled with more creatures than people can count.
    It is filled with living things, from the largest to the smallest.
²⁶ Ships sail back and forth on it.
    Leviathan, the sea monster you made, plays in it.

²⁷ All creatures depend on you
    to give them their food when they need it.
²⁸ When you give it to them,
    they eat it.
When you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
²⁹ When you turn your face away from them,
    they are terrified.
When you take away their breath,
    they die and turn back into dust.
³⁰ When you send your Spirit,
    you create them.
    You give new life to the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord continue forever.
    May the Lord be happy with what he has made.
³² When he looks at the earth, it trembles.
    When he touches the mountains, they pour out smoke.

³³ I will sing to the Lord all my life.
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May these thoughts of mine please him.
    I find my joy in the Lord.
³⁵ But may sinners be gone from the earth.
    May evil people disappear.

I will praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

105 Give praise to the Lord and announce who he is.
    Tell the nations what he has done.
² Sing to him, sing praise to him.
    Tell about all the wonderful things he has done.
³ Praise him, because his name is holy.
    Let the hearts of those who trust in the Lord be glad.
⁴ Seek the Lord and the strength he gives.
    Always seek him.

⁵ Remember the wonderful things he has done.
    Remember his miracles and how he judged our enemies.
⁶ Remember what he has done, you children of his servant Abraham.
    Remember it, you people of Jacob, God’s chosen ones.
⁷ He is the Lord our God.
    He judges the whole earth.

⁸ He will keep his covenant forever.
    He will keep his promise for all time to come.
⁹ He will keep the covenant he made with Abraham.
    He will keep the promise he made to Isaac.
¹⁰ He made it stand as a law for Jacob.
    He made it stand as a covenant for Israel that will last forever.
¹¹ He said, “I will give you the land of Canaan.
    It will belong to you.”

¹² At first there weren’t very many of God’s people.
    There were only a few, and they were strangers in the land.
¹³ They wandered from nation to nation.
    They wandered from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴ But God didn’t allow anyone to treat them badly.
    To keep them safe, he gave a command to kings.
¹⁵ He said to them, “Do not touch my anointed ones.
    Do not harm my prophets.”

¹⁶ He made the people in the land go hungry.
    He destroyed all their food supplies.
¹⁷ He sent a man ahead of them into Egypt.
    That man was Joseph. He had been sold as a slave.
¹⁸ The Egyptians put his feet in chains.
    They put an iron collar around his neck.
¹⁹ He was in prison until what he said would happen came true.
    The word of the Lord proved that he was right.
²⁰ The king of Egypt sent for Joseph and let him out of prison.
    The ruler of many nations set him free.
²¹ He put Joseph in charge of his palace.
    He made him ruler over everything he owned.
²² Joseph was in charge of teaching the princes.
    He taught the elders how to think and live wisely.

²³ Then the rest of Jacob’s family went to Egypt.
    The people of Israel lived as outsiders in the land of Ham.
²⁴ The Lord gave his people so many children
    that there were too many of them for their enemies.
²⁵ He made the Egyptians hate his people.
    The Egyptians made evil plans against them.
²⁶ The Lord sent his servant Moses to the king of Egypt.
    He sent Aaron, his chosen one, along with him.
²⁷ The Lord gave them the power to do signs among the Egyptians.
    They did his wonders in the land of Ham.
²⁸ The Lord sent darkness over the land.
    He did it because the Egyptians had refused to obey his words.
²⁹ He turned their rivers and streams into blood.
    He caused the fish in them to die.
³⁰ Their land was covered with frogs.
    Frogs even went into the bedrooms of the rulers.
³¹ The Lord spoke, and large numbers of flies came.
    Gnats filled the whole country.
³² He turned their rain into hail.
    Lightning flashed all through their land.
³³ He destroyed their vines and fig trees.
    He broke down the trees in Egypt.
³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came.
    There were so many of them they couldn’t be counted.
³⁵ They ate up every green thing in the land.
    They ate up what the land produced.
³⁶ Then he killed the oldest son of every family in Egypt.
    He struck down the oldest of all their sons.

³⁷ He brought the people of Israel out of Egypt.
    The Egyptians loaded them down with silver and gold.
    From among the tribes of Israel no one got tired or fell down.
³⁸ The Egyptians were glad when the people of Israel left.
    They were terrified because of Israel.
³⁹ The Lord spread out a cloud to cover his people.
    He gave them a fire to light up the night.
⁴⁰ They asked for meat, and he brought them quail.
    He fed them well with manna, the bread of heaven.
⁴¹ He broke open a rock, and streams of water poured out.
    They flowed like a river in the desert.

⁴² He remembered the holy promise
    he had made to his servant Abraham.
⁴³ His chosen people shouted for joy
    as he brought them out of Egypt.
⁴⁴ He gave them the lands of other nations.
    He let them take over what others had worked for.
⁴⁵ He did it so they might obey his rules
    and follow his laws.

Praise the Lord.