Psalm 114-116

Living Bible

114 Long ago when the Israelis escaped from Egypt, from that land of foreign tongue, ²then the lands of Judah and of Israel became God’s new home and kingdom.

³The Red Sea saw them coming and quickly broke apart before them. The Jordan River opened up a path for them to cross. ⁴The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs! ⁵What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you cut yourself in two? What happened, Jordan River, to your waters? Why were they held back? ⁶Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, little hills, like lambs?

⁷Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Jacob. ⁸For he caused gushing streams to burst from flinty rock.

115 Glorify your name, not ours, O Lord! Cause everyone to praise your loving-kindness and your truth. ²Why let the nations say, “Their God is dead!”^[a]

³For he is in the heavens and does as he wishes. ⁴Their gods are merely man-made things of silver and of gold. ⁵They can’t talk or see, despite their eyes and mouths! ⁶Nor can they hear, nor smell, ⁷nor use their hands or feet, nor speak! ⁸And those who make and worship them are just as foolish as their idols are.

⁹O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper. He is your shield. ¹⁰O priests of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper; he is your shield. ¹¹All of you, his people, trust in him. He is your helper; he is your shield.

¹²Jehovah is constantly thinking about us, and he will surely bless us. He will bless the people of Israel and the priests of Aaron, ¹³and all, both great and small, who reverence him.

¹⁴May the Lord richly bless both you and your children. ¹⁵Yes, Jehovah who made heaven and earth will personally bless you! ¹⁶The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to all mankind.

¹⁷The dead cannot sing praises to Jehovah here on earth,^[b] ¹⁸but we can! We praise him forever! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

116 I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. ²Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!

³Death stared me in the face—I was frightened and sad. ⁴Then I cried, “Lord, save me!” ⁵How kind he is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! ⁶The Lord protects the simple and the childlike; I was facing death, and then he saved me. ⁷Now I can relax. For the Lord has done this wonderful miracle for me. ⁸He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. ⁹I shall live! Yes, in his presence—here on earth!

^10-11In my discouragement I thought, “They are lying when they say I will recover.”^[c] ¹²But now what can I offer Jehovah for all he has done for me? ¹³I will bring him an offering of wine^[d] and praise his name for saving me. ¹⁴I will publicly bring him the sacrifice I vowed I would. ¹⁵His loved ones are very precious to him, and he does not lightly let them die.^[e]

¹⁶O Lord, you have freed me from my bonds, and I will serve you forever. ¹⁷I will worship you and offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving. ^18-19Here in the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, before all the people, I will pay everything I vowed to the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Notas al pie

Psalm 115:2 Their God is dead, literally, “Where is their God?”
Psalm 115:17 The dead cannot sing praises to Jehovah here on earth, implied.
Psalm 116:10 In my discouragement I thought, “They are lying when they say I will recover,” literally, “I said in my alarm, all men are liars.”
Psalm 116:13 an offering of wine, literally, “the cup of salvation,” i.e., the thank offering of wine for saving me.
Psalm 116:15 His loved ones are very precious to him, and he does not lightly let them die, literally, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” See context for the validity of the paraphrase.