Psalm 113
EasyEnglish Bible
Hallelujah, God helps weak people[a]
113 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Servants of the Lord, praise him!
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 Everyone should praise the Lord
now and for ever!
3 The Lord deserves that people praise him,
from where the sun rises in the east,
to where it goes down in the west.
4 The Lord rules over all nations.
His glory is great
higher than the heavens!
5 There is nobody like the Lord our God.
He sits on his throne high above us.
6 He bends down to look below,
at the sky and the earth.
7 He lifts poor people out of the dirt.
And he lifts up weak people from the ashes.
8 He gives them a seat with princes,
the princes who rule his own people.
9 He makes the wife who cannot give birth
into a happy mother of children.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Footnotes
- 113:1 The Jews call the next 6 psalms, 113 to 118, ‘the Egyptian hallel.’ ‘Hallel’ is a Hebrew word that means ‘to praise’. Hallelujah means ‘Praise the Lord!’ Jews say these 6 psalms when they eat the Passover meal. That is when they remember how God brought the Israelite people out of Egypt, where they had been slaves.
Psalm 113
New English Translation
Psalm 113[a]
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
3 From east to west[b]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[c]
5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[d]
6 He bends down to look[e]
at the sky and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[f]
8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman of the family[g]
a happy mother of children.[h]
Praise the Lord.
Footnotes
- Psalm 113:1 sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.
- Psalm 113:3 tn Heb “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” The extent is not temporal (“from sunrise to sunset”) but spatial (“from the place where the sun rises [the east] to the place where it sets [the west].” In the phenomenological language of OT cosmology, the sun was described as rising in the east and setting in the west.
- Psalm 113:4 tn Heb “above the sky [is] his splendor.”
- Psalm 113:5 tn Heb “the one who makes high to sit.”
- Psalm 113:6 tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”
- Psalm 113:7 sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.
- Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “of the house.”
- Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “sons.”
Psalm 113
New King James Version
The Majesty and Condescension of God
113 Praise[a] the Lord!
(A)Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 (B)Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore!
3 (C)From the rising of the sun to its going down
The Lord’s name is to be praised.
4 The Lord is (D)high above all nations,
(E)His glory above the heavens.
5 (F)Who is like the Lord our God,
Who dwells on high,
6 (G)Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?
7 (H)He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the (I)needy out of the ash heap,
8 That He may (J)seat him with princes—
With the princes of His people.
9 (K)He grants the [b]barren woman a home,
Like a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
Footnotes
- Psalm 113:1 Heb. Hallelujah
- Psalm 113:9 childless
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
