Psalm 111-118

Contemporary English Version

⁴ The Lord God is famous
for his wonderful deeds,
    and he is kind and merciful.
⁵ He gives food to his worshipers
and always keeps his agreement
    with them.
⁶ He has shown his mighty power
    to his people
and has given them the lands
    of other nations.

⁷ God is always honest and fair,
    and his laws can be trusted.
⁸ They are true and right
    and will stand forever.
⁹ God rescued his people,
    and he will never break
his agreement with them.
    He is fearsome and holy.

^10 (A) Respect and obey the Lord!
This is the first step
    to wisdom and good sense.^[a]
God will always be respected.

⁵ Life will go well for those
who freely lend
    and are honest in business.
⁶ They won't ever be troubled,
and the kind things they do
    will never be forgotten.
⁷ Bad news won't bother them;
they have decided
    to trust the Lord.
⁸ They are dependable
    and not afraid,
and they will live to see
    their enemies defeated.
^9 (B) They will always be remembered
    and greatly praised,
because they were kind
    and freely gave to the poor.
¹⁰ When evil people see this,
they angrily bite their tongues
    and disappear.
They will never get
    what they really want.

² Let the name of the Lord
    be praised now and forever.
³ From dawn until sunset
the name of the Lord
    deserves to be praised.
⁴ The Lord is far above
    all of the nations;
he is more glorious
    than the heavens.

⁵ No one can compare
    with the Lord our God.
His throne is high above,
⁶ and he looks down to see
    the heavens and the earth.
⁷ God lifts the poor and needy
    from dust and ashes,
⁸ and he lets them take part
    in ruling his people.
⁹ When a wife has no children,
    he blesses her with some,
and she is happy.
    Shout praises to the Lord!

^3 (D) When the sea looked at God,
    it ran away,
and the Jordan River
    flowed upstream.
⁴ The mountains and the hills
    skipped around like goats.

⁵ Ask the sea why it ran away
or ask the Jordan
    why it flowed upstream.
⁶ Ask the mountains and the hills
    why they skipped like goats!

⁷ Earth, you will tremble,
when the Lord God of Jacob
    comes near,
^8 (E) because he turns solid rock
into flowing streams
    and pools of water.

³ Our God is in the heavens,
    doing as he chooses.
^4 (G) The idols of the nations
    are made of silver and gold.
⁵ They have a mouth and eyes,
    but they can't speak or see.
⁶ Their ears can't hear,
    and their noses can't smell.
⁷ Their hands have no feeling,
their legs don't move,
    and they can't make a sound.
⁸ Everyone who made the idols
    and all who trust them
are just as helpless
    as those useless gods.

⁹ People of Israel,
you must trust the Lord
    to help and protect you.
¹⁰ Family of Aaron the priest,
you must trust the Lord
    to help and protect you.
¹¹ All of you worship the Lord,
so you must trust him
    to help and protect you.

¹² The Lord will not forget
    to give us his blessing;
he will bless all of Israel
    and the family of Aaron.
^13 (H) All who worship the Lord,
no matter who they are,
    will receive his blessing.

¹⁴ I pray that the Lord
    will let your family
and your descendants
    always grow strong.
¹⁵ May the Lord who created
the heavens and the earth
    give you his blessing.

¹⁶ The Lord has kept the heavens
    for himself,
but he has given the earth
    to us humans.
¹⁷ The dead are silent
    and cannot praise the Lord,
¹⁸ but we will praise him
now and forevermore.
    Shout praises to the Lord!

⁵ You are kind, Lord,
    so good and merciful.
⁶ You protect ordinary people,
and when I was helpless,
    you saved me
⁷ and treated me so kindly
that I don't need
    to worry anymore.

⁸ You, Lord, have saved
    my life from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
⁹ Now I will walk at your side
    in this land of the living.
^10 (I) I was faithful to you
    when I was suffering,
¹¹ though in my confusion I said,
    “I can't trust anyone!”

¹² What must I give you, Lord,
    for being so good to me?
¹³ I will pour out an offering
    of wine to you,
and I will pray in your name
because you
    have saved me.
¹⁴ I will keep my promise to you
    when your people meet.
¹⁵ You are deeply concerned
when one of your loyal people
    faces death.

¹⁶ I worship you, Lord,
    just as my mother did,
and you have rescued me
    from the chains of death.
¹⁷ I will offer you a sacrifice
to show how grateful I am,
    and I will pray.
¹⁸ I will keep my promise to you
    when your people
¹⁹ gather at your temple
in Jerusalem.
    Shout praises to the Lord!

² Let Israel shout,
    “God is always merciful!”
³ Let the family of Aaron
the priest shout,
    “God is always merciful!”
⁴ Let every true worshiper
of the Lord shout,
    “God is always merciful!”

⁵ When I was really hurting,
    I prayed to the Lord.
He answered my prayer,
    and took my worries away.
^6 (L) The Lord is on my side,
and I am not afraid
    of what others can do to me.
⁷ With the Lord on my side,
I will defeat
    my hateful enemies.
⁸ It is better to trust the Lord
    for protection
than to trust anyone else,
⁹     including strong leaders.

¹⁰ Nations surrounded me,
but I got rid of them
    by the power of the Lord.
¹¹ They attacked from all sides,
but I got rid of them
    by the power of the Lord.
¹² They swarmed around like bees,
but by the power of the Lord,
    I got rid of them
    and their fiery sting.
¹³ Their attacks were so fierce
that I nearly fell,
    but the Lord helped me.
^14 (M) My power and my strength
come from the Lord,
    and he has saved me.

¹⁵ From the tents of God's people
come shouts of victory:
    “The Lord is powerful!
¹⁶ With his mighty arm
the Lord wins victories!
    The Lord is powerful!”

¹⁷ And so my life is safe,
and I will live to tell
    what the Lord has done.
¹⁸ He punished me terribly,
but he did not let death
    lay its hands on me.

¹⁹ Open the gates of justice!
I will enter and tell the Lord
    how thankful I am.

²⁰ Here is the gate of the Lord!
Everyone who does right
    may enter this gate.

²¹ I praise the Lord
for answering my prayers
    and saving me.
^22 (N)(O) The stone that the builders
    tossed aside
has now become
    the most important stone.

²³ The Lord has done this,
    and it is amazing to us.
²⁴ This day belongs to the Lord!
Let's celebrate
    and be glad today.
^25 (P) We'll ask the Lord to save us!
We'll sincerely ask the Lord
    to let us win.

^26 (Q) God bless the one who comes
    in the name of the Lord!
We praise you from here
    in the house of the Lord.

²⁷ The Lord is our God,
    and he has given us light!
Start the celebration!
March with palm branches
    all the way to the altar.^[b]

²⁸ The Lord is my God!
I will praise him and tell him
    how thankful I am.

²⁹ Tell the Lord
    how thankful you are,
because he is kind
    and always merciful.