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Psalm 113[a]

113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
From east to west[b]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[c]
Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[d]
He bends down to look[e]
at the sky and the earth.
He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[f]
that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He makes the barren woman of the family[g]
a happy mother of children.[h]
Praise the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 113:1 sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.
  2. Psalm 113:3 tn Heb “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” The extent is not temporal (“from sunrise to sunset”) but spatial (“from the place where the sun rises [the east] to the place where it sets [the west].” In the phenomenological language of OT cosmology, the sun was described as rising in the east and setting in the west.
  3. Psalm 113:4 tn Heb “above the sky [is] his splendor.”
  4. Psalm 113:5 tn Heb “the one who makes high to sit.”
  5. Psalm 113:6 tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”
  6. Psalm 113:7 sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.
  7. Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “of the house.”
  8. Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “sons.”

Who Is like the Lord Our God?

113 (A)Praise the Lord!
(B)Praise, O (C)servants of the Lord,
    praise the name of the Lord!

(D)Blessed be the name of the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore!
(E)From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    (F)the name of the Lord is (G)to be praised!

The Lord is (H)high above all nations,
    and his (I)glory above the heavens!
(J)Who is like the Lord our God,
    who is seated on high,
who (K)looks far down
    on the heavens and the earth?
He (L)raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them (M)sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
He (N)gives the barren woman a home,
    making her the joyous mother of children.
(O)Praise the Lord!