Psalm 113
New English Translation
Psalm 113[a]
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
3 From east to west[b]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[c]
5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[d]
6 He bends down to look[e]
at the sky and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[f]
8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman of the family[g]
a happy mother of children.[h]
Praise the Lord.
Footnotes
- Psalm 113:1 sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.
- 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.
- Psalm 113:4 tn Heb “above the sky [is] his splendor.”
- Psalm 113:5 tn Heb “the one who makes high to sit.”
- Psalm 113:6 tn Heb “the one who makes low to see.”
- Psalm 113:7 sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.
- Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “of the house.”
- Psalm 113:9 tn Heb “sons.”
Psalm 113
Amplified Bible
The Lord Exalts the Humble.
113 [a]Praise the Lord! ([b]Hallelujah!)
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord.
2
Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
3
From the rising of the sun to its setting
The name of the Lord is to be praised [with awe-inspired reverence].
4
The Lord is high above all nations,
And His glory above the heavens.
5
Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high,
6
Who humbles Himself to regard
The heavens and the earth?(A)
7
He raises the poor out of the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8
That He may seat them with princes,
With the princes of His people.
9
He makes the barren woman live in the house
As a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Footnotes
- Psalm 113:1 It is said that Psalms 113-118 were ordained by the prophets and Torah scholars to be recited as a unit on special holy days. The unit was called the Hallel (Heb “Praise”).
- Psalm 113:1 According to Jewish tradition, one who had the office of Reader in a congregation would read the Psalms of the Hallel aloud, and when he came to a command to “Praise the Lord” (Heb Halelu Yah), it was the congregation’s duty to respond with “Hallelujah!”
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