Beginning

³ Do not put your trust in princes
    or other people, who cannot save you.
⁴ When people die, they are buried.
    Then all of their plans come to an end.
⁵ Happy are those who are helped by the God of Jacob.
    Their hope is in the Lord their God.
⁶ He made heaven and earth,
    the sea and everything in it.
    He remains loyal forever.
⁷ The Lord does what is fair for those who have been wronged.
    He gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free.
⁸     The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up people who are in trouble.
    The Lord loves those who do right.
⁹ The Lord protects the foreigners.
    He defends the orphans and widows.
    But he overthrows the wicked.

¹⁰ The Lord will be King forever.
    Jerusalem, your God is everlasting.

Praise the Lord!

It is good to sing praises to our God.
    It is good and pleasant to praise him.
² The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem.
    He brings back the scattered Israelites who were taken captive.
³ He heals the brokenhearted.
    He bandages their wounds.

⁴ He counts the stars
    and names each one.
⁵ Our Lord is great and very powerful.
    There is no limit to what he knows.
⁶ The Lord defends those who are not proud.
    But he throws the wicked to the ground.

⁷ Sing praises to the Lord.
    Praise our God with harps.
⁸ He fills the sky with clouds.
    He sends rain to the earth.
    He makes grass grow on the hills.
⁹ He gives food to cattle
    and to the little birds that call.

¹⁰ He is not pleased by the strength of a horse
    or the power of a man.
¹¹ The Lord is pleased with those who fear him,
    with those who trust his love.

¹² Jerusalem, praise the Lord.
    Jerusalem, praise your God.
¹³ He makes your city gates strong.
    He blesses the people inside.
¹⁴ He brings peace to your country.
    He fills you with the finest grain.

¹⁵ He gives a command to the earth,
    and it quickly obeys him.
¹⁶ He spreads the snow like wool.
    He scatters the frost like ashes.
¹⁷ He throws down hail like rocks.
    No one can stand the cold he sends.
¹⁸ Then he gives a command, and it melts.
    He sends the breezes, and the waters flow.

¹⁹ He gave his word to Jacob.
    He gave his laws and demands to Israel.
²⁰ He didn’t do this for any other nation.
    They don’t know his laws.

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens.
    Praise him high above the earth.
² Praise him, all you angels.
    Praise him, all you armies of heaven.
³ Praise him, sun and moon.
    Praise him, all you shining stars.
⁴ Praise him, highest heavens
    and you waters above the sky.
⁵ Let them praise the Lord
    because they were created by his command.
⁶ He set them in place forever and ever.
    He made a law that will never end.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth.
    Praise him, you large sea animals and all the oceans.
⁸ Praise him, lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    and stormy winds that obey him.
⁹ Praise him, mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedar trees.
¹⁰ Praise him, you wild animals and all cattle,
    small crawling animals and birds.
¹¹ Praise him, you kings of the earth and all nations,
    princes and all rulers of the earth.
¹² Praise him, you young men and women,
    old people and children.

¹³ Praise the Lord.
    He alone is great.
    He is greater than heaven and earth.
¹⁴ God has given his people a king.
    He should be praised by all who belong to him.
    He should be praised by the Israelites, the people closest to his heart.

Praise the Lord!

Sing a new song to the Lord.
    Sing his praise in the meeting of his people.

² Let the Israelites be happy because of God, their Maker.
    Let the people of Jerusalem rejoice because of their King.
³ They should praise him with dancing.
    They should praise him with tambourines and harps.
⁴ The Lord is pleased with his people.
    He saves those who are not proud.
⁵ Let those who worship him rejoice in his glory.
    Let them sing for joy even in bed!

⁶ Let them shout his praise
    with their two-edged swords in their hands.
⁷ They will punish the nations.
    They will defeat the people.
⁸ They will put those kings in chains
    and those important men in iron bands.
⁹ They will punish them as God has written.
    God is honored by all who worship him.

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his Temple.
    Praise him in his mighty heaven.
² Praise him for his strength.
    Praise him for his greatness.
³ Praise him with trumpet blasts.
    Praise him with harps and lyres.
⁴ Praise him with tambourines and dancing.
    Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
⁵ Praise him with loud cymbals.
    Praise him with crashing cymbals.
⁶ Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!