Book of Common Prayer

³ Who can go up to the temple on the mountain of the Lord?
    Who can stand in his holy place?
⁴ Anyone who has clean hands and a pure heart.
    Anyone who does not trust in the statue of a god.
    Anyone who doesn’t use the name of that god when he makes a promise.
⁵ People like that will receive the Lord’s blessing.
    When God their Savior hands down his sentence, it will be in their favor.
⁶ The people who look to God are like that.
    God of Jacob, they look to you.

⁷ Open wide, you gates.
    Open up, you ancient doors.
    Then the King of glory will come in.
⁸ Who is the King of glory?
    The Lord, who is strong and mighty.
    The Lord, who is mighty in battle.
⁹ Open wide, you gates.
    Open wide, you ancient doors.
    Then the King of glory will come in.
¹⁰ Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord who rules over all.
    He is the King of glory.

³ The voice of the Lord is heard over the waters.
    The God of glory thunders.
    The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful.
    The voice of the Lord is majestic.
⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees.
    The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon into pieces.
⁶ He makes the mountains of Lebanon leap like a calf.
    He makes Mount Hermon jump like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord strikes
    with flashes of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the desert.
    The Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord twists the oak trees.
    It strips the forests bare.
    And in his temple everyone cries out, “Glory!”

¹⁰ The Lord on his throne rules over the flood.
    The Lord rules from his throne as King forever.
¹¹ The Lord gives strength to his people.
    The Lord blesses his people with peace.

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
² You have made sure that children
    and infants praise you.
Their praise is a wall
    that stops the talk of your enemies.

³ I think about the heavens.
    I think about what your fingers have created.
I think about the moon and stars
    that you have set in place.
⁴ What are human beings that you think about them?
    What is a son of man that you take care of him?
⁵ You have made them a little lower than the angels.
    You placed on them a crown of glory and honor.

⁶ You made human beings rule over everything your hands created.
    You put everything under their control.
⁷ They rule over all flocks and herds
    and over the wild animals.
⁸ They rule over the birds in the sky
    and over the fish in the ocean.
    They rule over everything that swims in the oceans.

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in the whole earth!

³ Lord who rules over all,
    even the sparrow has found a home near your altar.
My King and my God,
    the swallow also has a nest there,
    where she may have her young.
⁴ Blessed are those who live in your house.
    They are always praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength comes from you.
    They have firmly decided to travel to your temple.
⁶ As they pass through the dry Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place where water flows.
    The rain in the fall covers it with pools.
⁷ Those people get stronger as they go along,
    until each of them appears in Zion, where God lives.

⁸ Lord God who rules over all, hear my prayer.
    God of the people of Jacob, listen to me.
⁹ God, may you be pleased with your anointed king.
    You appointed him to be like a shield that keeps us safe.

¹⁰ A single day in your courtyards is better
    than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather guard the door of the house of my God
    than live in the tents of sinful people.
¹¹ The Lord God is like the sun that gives us light.
    He is like a shield that keeps us safe.
    The Lord blesses us with favor and honor.
He doesn’t hold back anything good
    from those whose lives are without blame.

¹² Lord who rules over all,
    blessed is the person who trusts in you.