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Psalm 134
New English Translation

Psalm 134[a]

A song of ascents.[b]

134 Attention![c] Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve[d] in the Lord’s temple during the night.
2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth,
bless you[e] from Zion.[f]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 134:1 sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).
  2. Psalm 134:1 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
  3. Psalm 134:1 tn Heb “Look!”
  4. Psalm 134:1 tn Heb “stand.”
  5. Psalm 134:3 tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine singular, suggesting that the servants addressed in vv. 1-2 are responding to the psalmist.
  6. Psalm 134:3 tn Heb “may the Lord bless you from Zion, the maker of heaven and earth.”
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Psalm 133
Psalm 135
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Psalm 146-150
New English Translation

Psalm 146[a]

146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147[j]

147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,[k] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals[l] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power;[m]
there is no limit to his wisdom.[n]
6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks[o] the wicked to the ground.
7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.[p]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
8 He covers[q] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.[r]
9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.[s]
10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.[t]
11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,[u]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion.
13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children[v] within you.
14 He[w] brings peace to your territory.[x]
He abundantly provides for you[y] the best grain.
15 He[z] sends his command through the earth;[aa]
swiftly his order reaches its destination.[ab]
16 He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.[ac]
17 He throws his hailstones[ad] like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?[ae]
18 He then orders it all to melt;[af]
he breathes on it,[ag] and the water flows.
19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148[ah]

148 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the sky.
Praise him in the heavens.
2 Praise him, all his angels.[ai]
Praise him, all his heavenly assembly.[aj]
3 Praise him, O sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shiny stars.[ak]
4 Praise him, O highest heaven,
and you waters above the sky.[al]
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he gave the command and they came into existence.
6 He established them so they would endure;[am]
he issued a decree that will not be revoked.[an]
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,
8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds,[ao]
O stormy wind that carries out his orders,[ap]
9 you mountains and all you hills,
you fruit trees and all you cedars,
10 you animals and all you cattle,
you creeping things and birds,
11 you kings of the earth and all you nations,
you princes and all you leaders[aq] on the earth,
12 you young men and young women,
you elderly, along with you children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty extends over the earth and sky.
14 He has made his people victorious,[ar]
and given all his loyal followers reason to praise—
the Israelites, the people who are close to him.[as]
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 149[at]

149 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song.
Praise him in the assembly of the godly.[au]
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator.
Let the people[av] of Zion delight in their King.[aw]
3 Let them praise his name with dancing.
Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he exalts the oppressed by delivering them.[ax]
5 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication.[ay]
Let them shout for joy upon their beds.[az]
6 May the praises of God be in their mouths
and a two-edged sword in their hands,
7 in order to take[ba] revenge on the nations,
and punish foreigners.
8 The godly bind[bb] their enemies’ kings in chains,
and their nobles in iron shackles,
9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies[bc] have been sentenced.[bd]
All his loyal followers will be vindicated.[be]
Praise the Lord.

Psalm 150[bf]

150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength![bg]
2 Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with the blast of the horn;
praise him with the lyre and the harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with clanging cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 146:1 sn Psalm 146. The psalmist urges his audience not to trust in men, but in the Lord, the just king of the world who cares for the needy.
  2. Psalm 146:3 tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”
  3. Psalm 146:4 tn Heb “his spirit goes out, it returns to his ground; in that day his plans die.” The singular refers to the representative man mentioned in v. 3b.
  4. Psalm 146:6 tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”
  5. Psalm 146:7 tn Heb “executes justice for the oppressed.”
  6. Psalm 146:8 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).
  7. Psalm 146:9 sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by resident foreigners, the fatherless, and widows. Cf. Exod 22:21; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:18-19; 24:14, 17; 27:19; Jer 22:3; Zech 7:10; Mal 3:5.
  8. Psalm 146:9 tn Heb “he makes the way of the wicked twisted.” The “way of the wicked” probably refers to their course of life (see Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1). God makes their path tortuous in the sense that he makes them pay the harmful consequences of their actions.
  9. Psalm 146:10 tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.”
  10. Psalm 147:1 sn Psalm 147. The psalmist praises the Lord for he is the sovereign ruler of the world who cares for the needs of his covenant people.
  11. Psalm 147:1 tn Or “for.”
  12. Psalm 147:3 tn Heb “the one who heals.”
  13. Psalm 147:5 tn Heb “and great of strength.”
  14. Psalm 147:5 tn Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.”
  15. Psalm 147:6 tn Heb “brings down.”
  16. Psalm 147:7 tn Heb “sing to the Lord with thanksgiving.”
  17. Psalm 147:8 tn Heb “the one who covers.”
  18. Psalm 147:8 tn Heb “hills.”
  19. Psalm 147:9 tn Heb “which cry out.”
  20. Psalm 147:10 tn Heb “he does not desire the strength of the horse, he does not take delight in the legs of the man.” Here “the horse” refers to the war horse used by ancient Near Eastern chariot forces, and “the man” refers to the warrior whose muscular legs epitomize his strength.
  21. Psalm 147:11 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
  22. Psalm 147:13 tn Heb “your sons.”
  23. Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “the one who.”
  24. Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “he makes your boundary peace.”
  25. Psalm 147:14 tn Heb “satisfies you with.”
  26. Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “the one who.”
  27. Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “the one who sends his word, the earth.” The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “earth”) is an adverbial accusative; one must supply a preposition before it (such as “through” or “to”) in the English translation.
  28. Psalm 147:15 tn Heb “swiftly his word runs.”
  29. Psalm 147:16 tn Heb “the one who gives snow like wool, frost like ashes he scatters.”
  30. Psalm 147:17 tn Heb “his ice.”
  31. Psalm 147:17 tn Heb “Before his cold, who can stand?”
  32. Psalm 147:18 tn Heb “he sends his word and melts them.”
  33. Psalm 147:18 tn Heb “he blows his breath.”
  34. Psalm 148:1 sn Psalm 148. The psalmist calls upon all creation to praise the Lord, for he is the creator and sovereign king of the world.
  35. Psalm 148:2 tn Or “heavenly messengers.”
  36. Psalm 148:2 tn Heb “all his host.”
  37. Psalm 148:3 tn Heb “stars of light.”
  38. Psalm 148:4 sn The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. See also Ps 104:3. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 47.
  39. Psalm 148:6 tn Or “forever and ever.”
  40. Psalm 148:6 tn Heb “and it will not pass away.”
  41. Psalm 148:8 tn In Ps 119:83 the noun refers to “smoke,” but here, where the elements of nature are addressed, the clouds, which resemble smoke, are probably in view.
  42. Psalm 148:8 tn Heb “[that] does his word.”
  43. Psalm 148:11 tn Or “judges.”
  44. Psalm 148:14 tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the Lord gives his people military victory.
  45. Psalm 148:14 tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.
  46. Psalm 149:1 sn Psalm 149. The psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise him because he is just and avenges them.
  47. Psalm 149:1 tn Heb “his praise in the assembly of the godly ones.”
  48. Psalm 149:2 tn Heb “sons.”
  49. Psalm 149:2 sn The Lord is the King here, as the parallelism in the previous line (“their creator”) indicates.
  50. Psalm 149:4 tn Heb “he honors the oppressed [with] deliverance.”
  51. Psalm 149:5 tn Heb “in glory.” Here “glory” probably refers to the “honor” that belongs to the Lord’s people as a result of their deliverance (see v. 4).
  52. Psalm 149:5 tn The significance of the reference to “beds” is unclear. Perhaps the point is that they should rejoice at all times, even when falling asleep or awaking.
  53. Psalm 149:7 tn Heb “to do.”
  54. Psalm 149:8 tn Heb “to bind.”
  55. Psalm 149:9 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the enemies of the people of God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  56. Psalm 149:9 tn Heb “to do against them judgment [that] is written.”
  57. Psalm 149:9 tn Heb “it is honor for all his godly ones.” The judgment of the oppressive kings will bring vindication and honor to God’s people (see vv. 4-5).
  58. Psalm 150:1 sn Psalm 150. The Psalter concludes with a resounding call for praise from everything that has breath.
  59. Psalm 150:1 tn Heb “the sky of his strength.”
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