Psalm 145
New English Translation
Psalm 145[a]
A psalm of praise; by David.
145 I will extol you, my God, O King.
I will praise your name continually.[b]
2 Every day I will praise you.
I will praise your name continually.[c]
3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise.
No one can fathom his greatness.[d]
4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,
and tell about your mighty acts.[e]
5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor,
and your amazing deeds.[f]
6 They will proclaim[g] the power of your awesome acts.
I will declare your great deeds.
7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness,[h]
and sing about your justice.[i]
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;
he is patient[j] and demonstrates great loyal love.[k]
9 The Lord is good to all,
and has compassion on all he has made.[l]
10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord.
Your loyal followers will praise you.
11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;
they will tell about your power,
12 so that mankind[m] might acknowledge your mighty acts,
and the majestic splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom,[n]
and your dominion endures through all generations.
14 [o] The Lord supports all who fall,
and lifts up all who are bent over.[p]
15 Everything looks to you in anticipation,[q]
and you provide them with food on a regular basis.[r]
16 You open your hand,
and fill every living thing with the food it desires.[s]
17 The Lord is just in all his actions,[t]
and exhibits love in all he does.[u]
18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,
all who cry out to him sincerely.[v]
19 He satisfies the desire[w] of his loyal followers;[x]
he hears their cry for help and delivers them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him,
but he destroys all the wicked.
21 My mouth will praise the Lord.[y]
Let all who live[z] praise his holy name forever.
Footnotes
- Psalm 145:1 sn Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.
- Psalm 145:1 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
- Psalm 145:2 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
- Psalm 145:3 tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”
- Psalm 145:4 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may one generation praise…and tell about.”
- Psalm 145:5 tn Heb “the splendor of the glory of your majesty, and the matters of your amazing deeds I will ponder.”
- Psalm 145:6 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as an imperfect, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as a jussive, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they proclaim.”
- Psalm 145:7 tn Heb “the fame of the greatness of your goodness.”
- Psalm 145:7 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 7 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they talk…and sing.”
- Psalm 145:8 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
- Psalm 145:8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
- Psalm 145:9 tn Heb “and his compassion is over all his works.”
- Psalm 145:12 tn Heb “the sons of man.”
- Psalm 145:13 tn Heb “a kingdom of all ages.”
- Psalm 145:14 tc Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, with each successive verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in the traditional Hebrew (Masoretic) text of Psalm 145 there is no verse beginning with the letter nun. One would expect such a verse to appear as the fourteenth verse, between the (מ) (mem) and (ס) (samek) verses. Several ancient witnesses, including one medieval Hebrew manuscript, the Qumran scroll from cave 11, the LXX, and the Syriac, supply the missing (נ) (nun) verse, which reads as follows: “The Lord is reliable in all his words, and faithful in all his deeds.” One might paraphrase this as follows: “The Lord’s words are always reliable; his actions are always faithful.” Scholars are divided as to the originality of this verse. L. C. Allen argues for its inclusion on the basis of structural considerations (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 294-95), but there is no apparent explanation for why, if original, it would have been accidentally omitted. The psalm may be a partial acrostic, as in Pss 25 and 34 (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:335). The glaring omission of the nun line would have invited a later redactor to add such a line.
- Psalm 145:14 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).
- Psalm 145:15 tn Heb “the eyes of all wait for you.”
- Psalm 145:15 tn Heb “and you give to them their food in its season” (see Ps 104:27).
- Psalm 145:16 tn Heb “[with what they] desire.”
- Psalm 145:17 tn Heb “in all his ways.”
- Psalm 145:17 tn Heb “and [is] loving in all his deeds.”
- Psalm 145:18 tn Heb “in truth.”
- Psalm 145:19 tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.
- Psalm 145:19 tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”
- Psalm 145:21 tn Heb “the praise of the Lord my mouth will speak.”
- Psalm 145:21 tn Heb “all flesh.”
Psalm 145
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 145
Praising God’s Greatness
A hymn of David.
1 I[a] exalt you, my God the King,
and bless your name forever and ever.(A)
2 I will bless you every day;
I will praise your name forever and ever.(B)
3 The Lord is great and is highly praised;(C)
his greatness is unsearchable.(D)
4 One generation will declare your works to the next
and will proclaim your mighty acts.(E)
5 I[b] will speak of your splendor and glorious majesty
and[c] your wondrous works.(F)
6 They will proclaim the power of your awe-inspiring acts,
and I will declare your greatness.[d](G)
7 They will give a testimony of your great goodness
and will joyfully sing of your righteousness.(H)
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in faithful love.(I)
9 The Lord is good to everyone;(J)
his compassion rests on all he has made.(K)
10 All you have made will thank you, Lord;
the[e] faithful will bless you.(L)
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom
and will declare your might,(M)
12 informing all people of your mighty acts
and of the glorious splendor of your[f] kingdom.(N)
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule is for all generations.(O)
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and gracious in all his actions.[g](P)
14 The Lord helps all who fall;
he raises up all who are oppressed.[h](Q)
15 All eyes look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.(R)
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.(S)
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all his acts.(T)
18 The Lord is near all who call out to him,
all who call out to him with integrity.(U)
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry for help and saves them.(V)
20 The Lord guards all those who love him,
but he destroys all the wicked.(W)
21 My mouth will declare the Lord’s praise;
let every living thing
bless his holy name forever and ever.(X)
Footnotes
- 145:1 The lines of this poem form an acrostic.
- 145:5 LXX, Syr read They
- 145:5 LXX, Syr read and they will tell of
- 145:6 Alt Hb tradition, Jer read great deeds
- 145:10 Lit your
- 145:12 LXX, Syr, Jer; MT reads his
- 145:13 One Hb ms, DSS, LXX, Syr; other Hb mss omit The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his actions.
- 145:14 Lit bowed down
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