Psalm 112-117
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Psalm 112[a]
The Blessings of the Just
1 Hallelujah!
Blessed the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commands.(A)
2 His descendants shall be mighty in the land,
a generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his righteousness[b] shall endure forever.
4 Light shines through the darkness for the upright;(B)
gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
5 It is good for the man gracious in lending,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For he shall never be shaken;
the righteous shall be remembered forever.(C)
7 He shall not fear an ill report;
his heart is steadfast, trusting the Lord.
8 His heart is tranquil, without fear,
till at last he looks down on his foes.
9 Lavishly he gives to the poor;
his righteousness shall endure forever;(D)
his horn[c] shall be exalted in honor.
10 The wicked sees and is angry;
gnashes his teeth and wastes away;
the desire of the wicked come to nothing.
Psalm 113[d]
Praise of God’s Care for the Poor
1 Hallelujah!
I
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.(E)
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
both now and forever.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting(F)
let the name of the Lord be praised.
II
4 High above all nations is the Lord;
above the heavens his glory.(G)
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
enthroned on high,
6 (H)looking down on heaven and earth?
7 He raises the needy from the dust,
lifts the poor from the ash heap,(I)
8 Seats them with princes,
the princes of the people,
9 Gives the childless wife a home,
the joyful mother of children.(J)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 114[e]
The Lord’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 When Israel came forth from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from an alien people,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel, God’s domain.(K)
3 [f]The sea saw and fled;
the Jordan turned back.(L)
4 The mountains skipped like rams;
the hills, like lambs.(M)
5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Jordan, that you turned back?
6 Mountains, that you skipped like rams?
You hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth, before the Lord,(N)
before the God of Jacob,
8 [g]Who turned the rock into pools of water,
flint into a flowing spring.(O)
Psalm 115[h]
The Greatness of the True God
I
1 Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name give glory
because of your mercy and faithfulness.(P)
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”[i](Q)
3 Our God is in heaven
and does whatever he wills.(R)
II
4 Their idols are silver and gold,(S)
the work of human hands.(T)
5 They have mouths but do not speak,
eyes but do not see.
6 They have ears but do not hear,
noses but do not smell.
7 They have hands but do not feel,
feet but do not walk;
they produce no sound from their throats.
8 Their makers will be like them,
and anyone who trusts in them.
III
9 [j]The house of Israel trusts in the Lord,(U)
who is their help and shield.(V)
10 The house of Aaron trusts in the Lord,
who is their help and shield.
11 Those who fear the Lord trust in the Lord,
who is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us,
will bless the house of Israel,
will bless the house of Aaron,
13 Will bless those who fear the Lord,
small and great alike.
14 May the Lord increase your number,
yours and your descendants.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
maker of heaven and earth.
16 [k]The heavens belong to the Lord,
but he has given the earth to the children of Adam.(W)
17 [l]The dead do not praise the Lord,
not all those go down into silence.(X)
18 It is we who bless the Lord,
both now and forever.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 116[m]
Thanksgiving to God Who Saves from Death
I
1 I love the Lord, who listened
to my voice in supplication,
2 Who turned an ear to me
on the day I called.
3 I was caught by the cords of death;[n](Y)
the snares of Sheol had seized me;
I felt agony and dread.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“O Lord, save my life!”
II
5 Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
yes, our God is merciful.(Z)
6 The Lord protects the simple;
I was helpless, but he saved me.
7 Return, my soul, to your rest;
the Lord has been very good to you.(AA)
8 For my soul has been freed from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.(AB)
9 I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.[o](AC)
III
10 [p]I kept faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted!”(AD)
11 I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars!”(AE)
12 How can I repay the Lord
for all the great good done for me?
13 I will raise the cup of salvation[q]
and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 [r]Dear in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his devoted.(AF)
16 Lord, I am your servant,
your servant, the child of your maidservant;(AG)
you have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer a sacrifice of praise
and call on the name of the Lord.(AH)
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord(AI)
in the presence of all his people,
19 In the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 117[s]
The Nations Called to Praise
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!(AJ)
2 His mercy for us is strong;
the faithfulness of the Lord is forever.
Hallelujah!
Footnotes
- Psalm 112 An acrostic poem detailing the blessings received by those who remain close to God by obedience to the commandments. Among their blessings are children (Ps 112:2), wealth that enables them to be magnanimous (Ps 112:3, 5, 9), and virtue by which they encourage others (Ps 112:4). The just person is an affront to the wicked, whose hopes remain unfulfilled (Ps 112:10). The logic resembles Ps 1; 111.
- 112:3 Righteousness: in the Second Temple period the word acquired the nuance of liberality and almsgiving, cf. Sir 3:30; 7:10; Mt 6:1–4.
- 112:9 His horn: the symbol for vitality and honor.
- Psalm 113 A hymn exhorting the congregation to praise God’s name, i.e., the way in which God is present in the world; the name is mentioned three times in Ps 113:1–3. The divine name is especially honored in the Temple (Ps 113:1) but its recognition is not limited by time (Ps 113:2) and space (Ps 113:3), for God is everywhere active (Ps 113:4–5) especially in rescuing the lowly faithful (Ps 113:7–9).
- Psalm 114 A hymn celebrating Israel’s escape from Egypt, journey through the wilderness, and entry into the promised land, and the miracles of nature that bore witness to God’s presence in their midst. In the perspective of the Psalm, the people proceed directly from Egypt into the promised land (Ps 114:1–2). Sea and Jordan, which stood like soldiers barring the people from their land, flee before the mighty God as the earth recoils from the battle (Ps 114:3–4). The poet taunts the natural elements as one taunts defeated enemies (Ps 114:5–6).
- 114:3–4 Pairs of cosmic elements such as sea and rivers, mountains and hills, are sometimes mentioned in creation accounts. Personified here as warriors, the pairs tremble in fear before the Divine Warrior. The quaking also recalls the divine appearance in the storm at Sinai (Ex 19:16–19) and elsewhere (Jgs 5:4–5; Ps 18:7–15).
- 114:8 The miracles of giving drink to the people in the arid desert, cf. Ex 17:1–7; Is 41:17–18.
- Psalm 115 A response to the enemy taunt, “Where is your God?” This hymn to the glory of Israel’s God (Ps 115:1–3) ridicules the lifeless idols of the nations (Ps 115:4–8), expresses in a litany the trust of the various classes of the people in God (Ps 115:9–11), invokes God’s blessing on them as they invoke the divine name (Ps 115:12–15), and concludes as it began with praise of God. Ps 135:15–18 similarly mocks the Gentile gods and has a similar litany and hymn (Ps 135:19–21).
- 115:2 Where is their God?: implies that God cannot help them.
- 115:9–11 The house of Israel…the house of Aaron…those who fear the Lord: the laity of Israelite birth, the priests, and the converts to Judaism, cf. Ps 118:2–4; 135:19–21. In the New Testament likewise “those who fear the Lord” means converts to Judaism (cf. Acts 10:2, 22, 35; 13:16, 26).
- 115:16 The heavens: the Septuagint reads here “the heaven of heavens” or “the highest heavens,” i.e., above the firmament. See note on Ps 148:4.
- 115:17 See note on Ps 6:5.
- Psalm 116 A thanksgiving in which the psalmist responds to divine rescue from mortal danger (Ps 116:3–4) and from near despair (Ps 116:10–11) with vows and Temple sacrifices (Ps 116:13–14, 17–19). The Greek and Latin versions divide the Psalm into two parts: Ps 116:1–9 and Ps 116:10–19, corresponding to its two major divisions.
- 116:3 The cords of death: death is personified here; it attempts to capture the psalmist with snares and nets, cf. Ps 18:6.
- 116:9 The land of the living: the phrase elsewhere is an epithet of the Jerusalem Temple (cf. Ps 27:13; 52:5; Is 38:11). Hence the psalmist probably refers to being present to God in the Temple.
- 116:10 I kept faith, even when I said: even in the days of despair, the psalmist did not lose all hope.
- 116:13 The cup of salvation: probably the libation of wine poured out in gratitude for rescue, cf. Ex 25:29; Nm 15:5, 7, 10.
- 116:15 Dear in the eyes of the Lord: the meaning is that the death of God’s faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death, cf. Ps 72:14. In Wis 3:5–6, God accepts the death of the righteous as a sacrificial burnt offering.
- Psalm 117 This shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy. The supremacy of Israel’s God has been demonstrated to them by the people’s secure existence, which is owed entirely to God’s gracious fidelity.
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.