Praise to the Sovereign Lord for His Creation and Providence

104 Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, You are very great:You are clothed with honor and majesty,² Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

³ He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,Who makes the clouds His chariot,Who walks on the wings of the wind,⁴ Who makes His angels spirits,His ministers a flame of fire.

⁵ You who laid the foundations of the earth,So that it should not be moved forever,⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment;The waters stood above the mountains.⁷ At Your rebuke they fled;At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.⁸ They went up over the mountains;They went down into the valleys,To the place which You founded for them.⁹ You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,That they may not return to cover the earth.

¹⁰ He sends the springs into the valleys;They flow among the hills.¹¹ They give drink to every beast of the field;The wild donkeys quench their thirst.¹² By them the birds of the heavens have their home;They sing among the branches.¹³ He waters the hills from His upper chambers;The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

¹⁴ He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,And vegetation for the service of man,That he may bring forth food from the earth,¹⁵ And wine that makes glad the heart of man,Oil to make his face shine,And bread which strengthens man’s heart.¹⁶ The trees of the Lord are full of sap,The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,¹⁷ Where the birds make their nests;The stork has her home in the fir trees.¹⁸ The high hills are for the wild goats;The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.^[a]

¹⁹ He appointed the moon for seasons;The sun knows its going down.²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night,In which all the beasts of the forest creep about.²¹ The young lions roar after their prey,And seek their food from God.²² When the sun rises, they gather togetherAnd lie down in their dens.²³ Man goes out to his workAnd to his labor until the evening.

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are Your works!In wisdom You have made them all.The earth is full of Your possessions—²⁵ This great and wide sea,In which are innumerable teeming things,Living things both small and great.²⁶ There the ships sail about;There is that LeviathanWhich You have made to play there.

²⁷ These all wait for You,That You may give them their food in due season.²⁸ What You give them they gather in;You open Your hand, they are filled with good.²⁹ You hide Your face, they are troubled;You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.³⁰ You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;And You renew the face of the earth.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever;May the Lord rejoice in His works.³² He looks on the earth, and it trembles;He touches the hills, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.³⁴ May my meditation be sweet to Him;I will be glad in the Lord.³⁵ May sinners be consumed from the earth,And the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!Praise the Lord!