Praise the Lord,^(A) my soul.

² I will praise the Lord all my life;^(B)
    I will sing praise^(C) to my God as long as I live.^(D)
3 Do not put your trust in princes,^(E)
    in human beings,^(F) who cannot save.
⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;^(G)
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.^(H)
5 Blessed are those^(I) whose help^(J) is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

⁶ He is the Maker of heaven^(K) and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful^(L) forever.
⁷ He upholds^(M) the cause of the oppressed^(N)
    and gives food to the hungry.^(O)
The Lord sets prisoners free,^(P)
8     the Lord gives sight^(Q) to the blind,^(R)
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,^(S)
    the Lord loves the righteous.^(T)
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner^(U)
    and sustains the fatherless^(V) and the widow,^(W)
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

¹⁰ The Lord reigns^(X) forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

¹³ The carpenter^(A) measures with a line
    and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
    and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,^(B)
    human form in all its glory,
    that it may dwell in a shrine.^(C)
14 He cut down cedars,
    or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
    or planted a pine,^(D) and the rain made it grow.
¹⁵ It is used as fuel^(E) for burning;
    some of it he takes and warms himself,
    he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships^(F) it;
    he makes an idol and bows^(G) down to it.
¹⁶ Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
    over it he prepares his meal,
    he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
    “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.^(H)”
¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
    he bows down to it and worships.^(I)
He prays^(J) to it and says,
    “Save^(K) me! You are my god!”
¹⁸ They know nothing, they understand^(L) nothing;
    their eyes^(M) are plastered over so they cannot see,
    and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
¹⁹ No one stops to think,
    no one has the knowledge or understanding^(N) to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;^(O)
    I even baked bread over its coals,
    I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable^(P) thing from what is left?
    Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”^(Q)
20 Such a person feeds on ashes;^(R) a deluded^(S) heart misleads him;
    he cannot save himself, or say,
    “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?^(T)”