Psalm 104

The Lord’s Greatness in Creation

1Let all that I am praise the Lord.

O Lord my God, how great you are!

You are robed with honor and majesty.

2You are dressed in a robe of light.

You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;

3you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.

You make the clouds your chariot;

you ride upon the wings of the wind.

4The winds are your messengers;

flames of fire are your servants.*104:4 Greek version reads He sends his angels like the winds, / his servants like flames of fire. Compare Heb 1:7.

5You placed the world on its foundation

so it would never be moved.

6You clothed the earth with floods of water,

water that covered even the mountains.

7At your command, the water fled;

at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.

8Mountains rose and valleys sank

to the levels you decreed.

9Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,

so they would never again cover the earth.

10You make springs pour water into the ravines,

so streams gush down from the mountains.

11They provide water for all the animals,

and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12The birds nest beside the streams

and sing among the branches of the trees.

13You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,

and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.

14You cause grass to grow for the livestock

and plants for people to use.

You allow them to produce food from the earth—

15wine to make them glad,

olive oil to soothe their skin,

and bread to give them strength.

16The trees of the Lord are well cared for—

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

17There the birds make their nests,

and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.

18High in the mountains live the wild goats,

and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.*104:18 Or coneys, or rock badgers.

19You made the moon to mark the seasons,

and the sun knows when to set.

20You send the darkness, and it becomes night,

when all the forest animals prowl about.

21Then the young lions roar for their prey,

stalking the food provided by God.

22At dawn they slink back

into their dens to rest.

23Then people go off to their work,

where they labor until evening.

24O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!

In wisdom you have made them all.

The earth is full of your creatures.

25Here is the ocean, vast and wide,

teeming with life of every kind,

both large and small.

26See the ships sailing along,

and Leviathan,*104:26 The identification of Leviathan is disputed, ranging from an earthly creature to a mythical sea monster in ancient literature. which you made to play in the sea.

27They all depend on you

to give them food as they need it.

28When you supply it, they gather it.

You open your hand to feed them,

and they are richly satisfied.

29But if you turn away from them, they panic.

When you take away their breath,

they die and turn again to dust.

30When you give them your breath,*104:30 Or When you send your Spirit. life is created,

and you renew the face of the earth.

31May the glory of the Lord continue forever!

The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!

32The earth trembles at his glance;

the mountains smoke at his touch.

33I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.

I will praise my God to my last breath!

34May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

35Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth;

let the wicked disappear forever.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 105

The Lord’s Greatness in the Exodus

1Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.

Let the whole world know what he has done.

2Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.

Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

3Exult in his holy name;

rejoice, you who worship the Lord.

4Search for the Lord and for his strength;

continually seek him.

5Remember the wonders he has performed,

his miracles, and the rulings he has given,

6you children of his servant Abraham,

you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

7He is the Lord our God.

His justice is seen throughout the land.

8He always stands by his covenant—

the commitment he made to a thousand generations.

9This is the covenant he made with Abraham

and the oath he swore to Isaac.

10He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,

and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:

11“I will give you the land of Canaan

as your special possession.”

12He said this when they were few in number,

a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.

13They wandered from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another.

14Yet he did not let anyone oppress them.

He warned kings on their behalf:

15“Do not touch my chosen people,

and do not hurt my prophets.”

16He called for a famine on the land of Canaan,

cutting off its food supply.

17Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—

Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

18They bruised his feet with fetters

and placed his neck in an iron collar.

19Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,*105:19 Hebrew his word.

the Lord tested Joseph’s character.

20Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;

the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.

21Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household;

he became ruler over all the king’s possessions.

22He could instruct*105:22 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads bind or imprison. the king’s aides as he pleased

and teach the king’s advisers.

23Then Israel arrived in Egypt;

Jacob lived as a foreigner in the land of Ham.

24And the Lord multiplied the people of Israel

until they became too mighty for their enemies.

25Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites,

and they plotted against the Lord’s servants.

26But the Lord sent his servant Moses,

along with Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians,

and wonders in the land of Ham.

28The Lord blanketed Egypt in darkness,

for they had defied*105:28 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads had not defied. his commands to let his people go.

29He turned their water into blood,

poisoning all the fish.

30Then frogs overran the land

and even invaded the king’s bedrooms.

31When the Lord spoke, flies descended on the Egyptians,

and gnats swarmed across Egypt.

32He sent them hail instead of rain,

and lightning flashed over the land.

33He ruined their grapevines and fig trees

and shattered all the trees.

34He spoke, and hordes of locusts came—

young locusts beyond number.

35They ate up everything green in the land,

destroying all the crops in their fields.

36Then he killed the oldest son in each Egyptian home,

the pride and joy of each family.

37The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold;

and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled.

38Egypt was glad when they were gone,

for they feared them greatly.

39The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering

and gave them a great fire to light the darkness.

40They asked for meat, and he sent them quail;

he satisfied their hunger with manna—bread from heaven.

41He split open a rock, and water gushed out

to form a river through the dry wasteland.

42For he remembered his sacred promise

to his servant Abraham.

43So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy,

his chosen ones with rejoicing.

44He gave his people the lands of pagan nations,

and they harvested crops that others had planted.

45All this happened so they would follow his decrees

and obey his instructions.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 106

A Confession of Israel’s Sins

1Praise the Lord!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!

His faithful love endures forever.

2Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?

Who can ever praise him enough?

3There is joy for those who deal justly with others

and always do what is right.

4Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people;

come near and rescue me.

5Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.

Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;

let me praise you with those who are your heritage.

6Like our ancestors, we have sinned.

We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!

7Our ancestors in Egypt

were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds.

They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them.

Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.*106:7 Hebrew at the sea, the sea of reeds.

8Even so, he saved them—

to defend the honor of his name

and to demonstrate his mighty power.

9He commanded the Red Sea*106:9 Hebrew sea of reeds; also in 106:22. to dry up.

He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert.

10So he rescued them from their enemies

and redeemed them from their foes.

11Then the water returned and covered their enemies;

not one of them survived.

12Then his people believed his promises.

Then they sang his praise.

13Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done!

They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!

14In the wilderness their desires ran wild,

testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.

15So he gave them what they asked for,

but he sent a plague along with it.

16The people in the camp were jealous of Moses

and envious of Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.

17Because of this, the earth opened up;

it swallowed Dathan

and buried Abiram and the other rebels.

18Fire fell upon their followers;

a flame consumed the wicked.

19The people made a calf at Mount Sinai*106:19 Hebrew at Horeb, another name for Sinai.;

they bowed before an image made of gold.

20They traded their glorious God

for a statue of a grass-eating bull.

21They forgot God, their savior,

who had done such great things in Egypt—

22such wonderful things in the land of Ham,

such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.

23So he declared he would destroy them.

But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the Lord and the people.

He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.

24The people refused to enter the pleasant land,

for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.

25Instead, they grumbled in their tents

and refused to obey the Lord.

26Therefore, he solemnly swore

that he would kill them in the wilderness,

27that he would scatter their descendants*106:27 As in Syriac version; Hebrew reads he would cause their descendants to fall. among the nations,

exiling them to distant lands.

28Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor;

they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!

29They angered the Lord with all these things,

so a plague broke out among them.

30But Phinehas had the courage to intervene,

and the plague was stopped.

31So he has been regarded as a righteous man

ever since that time.

32At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord,

causing Moses serious trouble.

33They made Moses angry,*106:33 Hebrew They embittered his spirit.

and he spoke foolishly.

34Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land,

as the Lord had commanded them.

35Instead, they mingled among the pagans

and adopted their evil customs.

36They worshiped their idols,

which led to their downfall.

37They even sacrificed their sons

and their daughters to the demons.

38They shed innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters.

By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan,

they polluted the land with murder.

39They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,

and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

40That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people,

and he abhorred his own special possession.

41He handed them over to pagan nations,

and they were ruled by those who hated them.

42Their enemies crushed them

and brought them under their cruel power.

43Again and again he rescued them,

but they chose to rebel against him,

and they were finally destroyed by their sin.

44Even so, he pitied them in their distress

and listened to their cries.

45He remembered his covenant with them

and relented because of his unfailing love.

46He even caused their captors

to treat them with kindness.

47Save us, O Lord our God!

Gather us back from among the nations,

so we can thank your holy name

and rejoice and praise you.

48Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

who lives from everlasting to everlasting!

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord!