Psalms 66

1 Unto the end. A Canticle Psalm of the Resurrection. Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.

[Tell] everyone on the earth that they should sing joyfully to praise God!

2 Proclaim a psalm to his name. Give glory to his praise.

They should sing songs that say that God [MTY] is very great, and they should tell everyone that he is very glorious!

3 Exclaim to God, “How terrible are your works, O Lord!” According to the fullness of your virtue, your enemies will speak lies about you.

They should say to God, “The things that you do are awesome! You are very powerful, with the result that your enemies (cringe/bow down) in front of you.”

4 Let all the earth adore you and sing psalms to you. May it sing a psalm to your name.

Everyone on the earth [should] worship God and sing to praise him and honor him [MTY].

5 Draw near and see the works of God, who is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men.

Come and think about what God has done! Think about the awesome things that he has done.

6 He converts the sea into dry land. They will cross the river on foot. There, we will rejoice in him.

He caused the [Red] Sea to become dry land, [with the result that our] ancestors were able to walk right through it. There we rejoiced because of what he [had done].

7 He rules by his virtue for eternity. His eyes gaze upon the nations. May those who exasperate him, not be exalted in themselves.

By his great power he rules forever, and he keeps watching all the nations [to see what things they do], [so] those nations that want to rebel [against him] should not be proud.

8 Bless our God, you Gentiles, and make the voice of his praise be heard.

You people [of all nations], praise our God! Praise him loudly in order that people will hear you as you praise him.

9 He has set my soul toward life, and he has granted that my feet may not be shaken.

He has kept us alive, and he has not allowed us to (stumble/be defeated).

10 For you, O God, have tested us. You have examined us by fire, just as silver is examined.

God, you have tested us; you have allowed us to experience great difficulties [to make our lives become pure] as [people] put precious metals in a hot fire [to burn out what is impure] [MET].

11 You have led us into a snare. You have placed tribulations on our back.

[It is as if] you allowed us to fall into traps [MET], and you [forced us to endure difficult things which were like] putting heavy loads on our backs [MET].

12 You have set men over our heads. We have crossed through fire and water. And you have led us out to refreshment.

You allowed [our] enemies to trample on us; we [experienced difficulties/troubles that were like] [MET] walking through fires and floods, but now you have brought us into a place where we have plenty.

13 I will enter your house with holocausts. I will repay my vows to you,

[Yahweh], I will bring to your temple offerings that are to be completely burned [on the altar]; I will offer to you what I promised.

14 which my lips discerned and my mouth spoke, in my tribulation.

When I was experiencing [much] trouble, I said that I would bring offerings to you [if you rescued me]; [and you did rescue me, so] I will bring to you what I promised.

15 I will offer to you holocausts full of marrow, with the burnt offerings of rams. I will offer to you bulls as well as goats.

I will bring sheep to be burned on the altar, and I will [also] sacrifice bulls and goats, and when they are burning, [you will be pleased when] the smoke [rises up] ([to you/to the sky]).

16 Draw near and listen, all you who fear God, and I will describe to you how much he has done for my soul.

All you [people] who revere God, come and listen, and I will tell you what he has done for me.

17 I cried out to him with my mouth, and I extolled him under my breath.

I called out to him to help me, and I praised him while I was speaking to him [MTY].

18 If I have seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not heed me.

If I had ignored the sins that I had committed, the Lord would not have paid any attention to me.

19 And yet, God has heeded me and he has attended to the voice of my supplication.

But because [I confessed my sins], God has listened to me and he paid attention to my prayers.

20 Blessed is God, who has not removed my prayer, nor his mercy, from me.

I praise God because he has not ignored my prayers or stopped faithfully loving me.