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Praise to Yahweh for His Providence

147 Praise Yah.[a]
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant; praise is fitting.
Yahweh is building Jerusalem;
he gathers the scattered ones of Israel.
He is the one who heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
He counts the number of the stars;
he gives names to all of them.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is unlimited.
Yahweh helps the afflicted up;
he brings the wicked down to the ground.
Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving;
sing praises to our God with lyre,
who covers the heavens with clouds,
who provides rain for the earth,
who causes grass to grow on the mountains.
He gives to the animal its food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
he takes no pleasure in the legs of the man.
11 Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him,
the ones who hope[b] for his loyal love.
12 Laud Yahweh, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion,
13 for he strengthens the bars of your gates.
He blesses your children within you;
14 he makes your border peaceful;
he satisfies you with the finest of wheat.[c]
15 He sends out his command[d] to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes;
17 he throws his hail like crumbs.
Who can stand before his cold?[e]
18 He sends out his word and melts them;
he blows his breath, the water flows.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not done so for any nation,
and they do not know his ordinances.
Praise Yah.[f]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 147:1 Hebrew hallelujah; here and v. 20
  2. Psalm 147:11 That is, “wait expectantly”
  3. Psalm 147:14 Literally “the fat of the wheat”
  4. Psalm 147:15 Or “utterance”
  5. Psalm 147:17 With slight alteration of the Hebrew, the line might read “before his cold water stands”
  6. Psalm 147:20 Hebrew hallelujah