Psalms 104
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty.
[I tell] myself that I should praise Yahweh. Yahweh, my God, you are very great! Like a king has on his royal robes [MET], you have honor and majesty/greatness all around you!
2 He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
You [created/caused] light to be like your robe [MET]. You spread out the sky like [a man sets up] a tent.
3 laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.
You made/put your home [in heaven], above the rain clouds in the sky, [like a man puts the] rafters of his house in place [MET]. You made/caused the clouds to be like chariots [to carry you].
4 He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.
You caused the winds to be [like] your messengers [MET], and flames of fire to be [like] your servants.
5 He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.
You placed the world firmly on its foundation so that it can never be moved/shaken.
6 You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
[Later], you covered the earth with a flood, like a blanket, with the water that covered the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away—
[But] when you rebuked the water, the oceans receded; your voice spoke like thunder, and then the waters rushed away.
8 the mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place You assigned for them—
Mountains rose up [from the water], and the valleys sank down to the levels that you had determined for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.
[Then] you set a boundary for the oceans, a boundary that they cannot cross; their water will never again cover the [whole] earth.
10 He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains.
You make/cause springs to pour [water] into ravines; their [water] flows down between the mountains.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Those [streams] provide water for all the animals [to drink]; the wild donkeys [drink the water and] are no longer thirsty.
12 The birds of the air nest beside the springs; they sing among the branches.
Birds make their nests alongside [the streams], and they sing among the branches [of the trees].
13 He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.
From (your home in heaven/the sky) you send rain down on the mountains, and you fill the earth with many good things that you create.
14 He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:
You make/cause grass to grow for the cattle [to eat], and you make/cause plants to grow for people. In that way [animals and people] get their food from [what grows in] the soil.
15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
We get [grapes to make] [MTY] wine to [drink and] make us cheerful, and we get [olives to make] [MTY] olive oil to [put on our] skin and cause it to shine, and we get [grain to make] [MTY] bread to give us strength.
16 The trees of the LORD have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted,
Yahweh, you [send plenty of rain to] water your trees, the cedar [trees] that you planted in Lebanon.
17 where the birds build their nests; the stork makes her home in the cypresses.
Birds make their nests in those [trees]; even storks make their nests in pine/fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats, the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers.
High up in the mountains the wild goats live, and hyraxes/badgers live in the crags/crevices in the rocks.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.
[Yahweh], you made the moon to indicate the times for our festivals, and you made the sun that knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl.
You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the animals in the forest prowl around, [looking for food].
21 The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
At night the young lions roar as they seek their prey, [but] they depend on you to give them food.
22 The sun rises, and they withdraw; they lie down in their dens.
At dawn, they go back to their dens and lie down.
23 Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening.
And during the daytime, people go to their work; they work until it is evening.
24 How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
Yahweh, you have made so many different kinds of things! You were [very] wise as you made them all. The earth is full of the creatures that you [made].
25 Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small.
[We see] the ocean which is very large [DOU]! It is full of many kinds of living creatures, big ones and little ones.
26 There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.
We see the ships which sail along! We see the huge sea monster, which you made to (splash around/play) in the sea.
27 All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.
All of those creatures depend on you to give them the food that they need.
28 When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
When you give them the food that they need, they gather it. You give them what you have in your hand, and they [eat it and] are satisfied.
29 When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.
[But] if you refuse to give food to them, they become terrified. And when you cause them to stop breathing, they die; their bodies [decay and] become soil again.
30 When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.
When you cause newborn creatures to begin to breathe, they start to live; you give new life to all the living creatures on the earth.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works.
I want the glory of Yahweh to last forever. I want him to rejoice about [all] the things that he has created.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smolder.
He causes the earth to shake [just] by looking at it! By [merely] touching the mountains he makes/causes them to pour out fire and smoke!
33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
I will sing to Yahweh (as long as I live/throughout my entire life). I will praise my God until the day that I die.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
I want Yahweh to be pleased by all those things that I have thought [about him], because I rejoice about [knowing] him.
35 May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah!
[But] I desire that sinners will disappear from the earth, so that there will be no more wicked [people]! [But as for] me, I will praise Yahweh! (Praise him/Hallelujah)!
