Open English Translation PSA Chapter 104

104 Bless Yahweh, my own inner being.

Yahweh my god, you are very powerful.

You are clothed with splendour and majesty.

2 You wrap yourself in light as if it’s a robe.

You stretched out the heavens like a tent.

3 The floor joists for your rooms are laid across the clouds.

You make the clouds your chariot—

you walk on the wings of the wind.

4 He makes the winds his messengers,

and makes flames of fire his servants.[ref]

5 He laid the foundations of this planet,

and it will never be shaken off.

6 You covered it with deep water like a jacket.

The waters stood above the mountains.

7 Then your rebuke made the waters recede.

They hurried away at the thunderous sound of your voice.

8 The mountains rose up and the valleys sunk down—

all into the places that you’d established for them.

9 You set a boundary that the waters won’t cross again to cover the earth.

10 Now he sends springs to flow into the valleys,

and that flow between the mountains.

11 They supply water for all the animals in the countryside—

the wild donkeys can break their thirst.

12 The birds build their nests beside them.

They chirp away from among the greenery.

13 He waters the mountains from his rooms above.

The land becomes satisfied because of his work.

14 He makes the grass grow for the cattle,

and plants for people to cultivate,

in order to produce food from the land

15 and wine that makes people’s hearts happy,

along with oil that makes faces shine

and bread that sustains the people’s bodies.

16 Yahweh’s trees have everything they need to prosper—

including Lebanon’s cedars that he planted,

17 where the birds make their nests.

The storks make the cypress trees their homes.

18 The high hills are for the wild goats.

Their crevices are a safe place for the rock badgers.

19 He made the moon to mark the months.

The sun knows when it’s time to go down.

20 You make the darkness at night,

when all the animals in the forest move around.

21 The young lions roar for their prey,

and expect God to supply their food.

22 They slink away when the sun comes up

and lie down in their dens.

23 Meanwhile people head off to do their work,

and toil away until evening.

24 Yahweh, you’ve made so many different kinds of things.

You used your wisdom when you made them.

Now the earth is full with your various creatures.

25 The ocean is wide and huge—

Swimming creatures there without number—

both small and large.

26 Ships travel across it.

The sea dragon that you formed plays in it.[ref]

27 All of them look to you

to give them their food at the appropriate time.

28 They gather what you give to them.

≈ When you open your hand, they’re satisfied.

29 When you hide yourself away, they’re upset.

≈ If you take away their breath, they die and return to dust.

30 When you send out your spirit, they’re created,

and you renew the ground’s surface.

31 May Yahweh’s splendour last forever.

May Yahweh find pleasure in everything he’s made and done.

32 He just looks at the world and it trembles.

He touches the mountains and they start smoking.

33 I will sing to Yahweh all my life.

I will sing praises to my god as long as I have breath.

34 May my thoughts please him.

I’m happy about Yahweh.

35 May sinners be destroyed from the world,

and may there be no more wicked people.

I will bless Yahweh with my entire being.

Praise Yah.