Historical
Psalm 103[a]
Praise of Divine Goodness
1 Of David.
I
Bless the Lord, my soul;
all my being, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, my soul;
and do not forget all his gifts,
3 Who pardons all your sins,
and heals all your ills,
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,(A)
and crowns you with mercy and compassion,
5 Who fills your days with good things,
so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.[b]
II
6 The Lord does righteous deeds,
brings justice to all the oppressed.(B)
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
to the Israelites his deeds.
8 Merciful and gracious is the Lord,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy.(C)
9 He will not always accuse,
and nurses no lasting anger;
10 He has not dealt with us as our sins merit,
nor requited us as our wrongs deserve.
III
11 For as the heavens tower over the earth,
so his mercy towers over those who fear him.(D)
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our sins from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we are formed,
remembers that we are dust.(E)
15 As for man, his days are like the grass;
he blossoms like a flower in the field.(F)
16 A wind sweeps over it and it is gone;
its place knows it no more.
17 But the Lord’s mercy is from age to age,
toward those who fear him.
His salvation is for the children’s children
18 of those who keep his covenant,
and remember to carry out his precepts.
IV
19 The Lord has set his throne in heaven;
his dominion extends over all.
20 Bless the Lord, all you his angels,(G)
mighty in strength, acting at his behest,
obedient to his command.
21 Bless the Lord, all you his hosts,
his ministers who carry out his will.
22 Bless the Lord, all his creatures,
everywhere in his domain.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Psalm 104[c]
Praise of God the Creator
I
1 Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and splendor,
2 robed in light as with a cloak.
You spread out the heavens like a tent;(H)
3 setting the beams of your chambers upon the waters.[d]
You make the clouds your chariot;
traveling on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers;
flaming fire, your ministers.(I)
II
5 [e]You fixed the earth on its foundation,
so it can never be shaken.
6 The deeps covered it like a garment;
above the mountains stood the waters.
7 At your rebuke they took flight;
at the sound of your thunder they fled.(J)
8 They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys
to the place you had fixed for them.
9 You set a limit they cannot pass;
never again will they cover the earth.(K)
III
10 You made springs flow in wadies
that wind among the mountains.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field;(L)
here wild asses quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of heaven nest;
among the branches they sing.
13 You water the mountains from your chambers;
from the fruit of your labor the earth abounds.
14 You make the grass grow for the cattle
and plants for people’s work
to bring forth food from the earth,
15 wine to gladden their hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread to sustain the human heart.
16 [f]The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
the cedars of Lebanon, which you planted.
17 There the birds build their nests;
the stork in the junipers, its home.(M)
18 The high mountains are for wild goats;
the rocky cliffs, a refuge for badgers.
IV
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,(N)
the sun that knows the hour of its setting.
20 You bring darkness and night falls,
then all the animals of the forest wander about.
21 Young lions roar for prey;
they seek their food from God.(O)
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
and settle down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work,
to their labor till evening falls.
V
24 How varied are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.(P)
25 There is the sea, great and wide!
It teems with countless beings,
living things both large and small.(Q)
26 There ships ply their course
and Leviathan,[g] whom you formed to play with.(R)
VI
27 All of these look to you
to give them food in due time.(S)
28 When you give it to them, they gather;
when you open your hand, they are well filled.
29 [h]When you hide your face, they panic.
Take away their breath, they perish
and return to the dust.(T)
30 Send forth your spirit, they are created
and you renew the face of the earth.
VII
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord be glad in his works!
32 Who looks at the earth and it trembles,
touches the mountains and they smoke!(U)
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.(V)
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him;
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners vanish from the earth,
and the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Hallelujah![i]
Psalm 105[j]
God’s Fidelity to the Promise
I
1 Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name;(W)
make known among the peoples his deeds!(X)
2 Sing praise to him, play music;
proclaim all his wondrous deeds!
3 Glory in his holy name;
let hearts that seek the Lord rejoice!
4 Seek out the Lord and his might;
constantly seek his face.(Y)
5 Recall the wondrous deeds he has done,
his wonders and words of judgment,
6 You descendants of Abraham his servant,
offspring of Jacob the chosen one!
II
7 He the Lord, is our God
whose judgments reach through all the earth.
8 He remembers forever his covenant,
the word he commanded for a thousand generations,
9 Which he made with Abraham,
and swore to Isaac,(Z)
10 And ratified in a statute for Jacob,
an everlasting covenant for Israel:
11 “To you I give the land of Canaan,
your own allotted inheritance.”(AA)
III
12 When they were few in number,(AB)
a handful, and strangers there,
13 Wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
14 He let no one oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:[k]
15 [l]“Do not touch my anointed ones,
to my prophets do no harm.”
IV
16 Then he called down a famine on the land,
destroyed the grain that sustained them.[m](AC)
17 He had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.(AD)
18 They shackled his feet with chains;
collared his neck in iron,(AE)
19 Till his prediction came to pass,
and the word of the Lord proved him true.(AF)
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of peoples set him free.(AG)
21 He made him lord over his household,
ruler over all his possessions,(AH)
22 To instruct his princes as he desired,
to teach his elders wisdom.
V
23 Then Israel entered Egypt;(AI)
Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.[n]
24 God greatly increased his people,
made them more numerous than their foes.(AJ)
25 He turned their hearts to hate his people,
to treat his servants deceitfully.(AK)
26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron whom he had chosen.(AL)
27 [o]They worked his signs in Egypt(AM)
and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and it grew dark,
but they rebelled against his word.
29 He turned their waters into blood
and killed their fish.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke and there came swarms of flies,
gnats through all their country.
32 For rain he gave them hail,
flashes of lightning throughout their land.
33 He struck down their vines and fig trees,
shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke and the locusts came,
grasshoppers without number.(AN)
35 They devoured every plant in the land;
they devoured the crops of their fields.
36 He struck down every firstborn in the land,
the first fruits of all their vigor.
37 He brought his people out,
laden with silver and gold;(AO)
no one among the tribes stumbled.
38 Egypt rejoiced when they left,
for fear had seized them.
VI
39 He spread a cloud out as a cover,
and made a fire to light up the night.(AP)
40 They asked and he brought them quail;
with bread from heaven he filled them.(AQ)
41 He split the rock and water gushed forth;
it flowed through the desert like a river.(AR)
42 For he remembered his sacred promise
to Abraham his servant.
43 He brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with shouts of triumph.
44 He gave them the lands of the nations,
they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,(AS)
45 That they might keep his statutes
and observe his teachings.(AT)
Hallelujah!
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.