Psalms 147
1 Praise the Lord, for it's good to sing praises to our God! Praise is wonderful and beautiful!
Praise Yahweh! It is good to sing to praise our God. It is a delightful thing to do and the right thing to do.
2 The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem, gathering together the people of Israel who have been scattered.
[Jerusalem was destroyed, but] Yahweh is [enabling us to] build Jerusalem again. He is bringing back the people who were taken [to Babylonia].
3 He heals the broken-hearted, and bandages the wounded.
He enables those who were very discouraged to be encouraged again; [it is as though] they have wounds and he bandages them.
4 He knows how many stars he made, and commands all of them by name.
He has determined how many stars there will be, and he gives names to all of them.
5 Our Lord is great! His power is immense! There's no limit to what he understands!
Yahweh is great and very powerful, and no one can measure how much he understands.
6 The Lord helps those who are bowed down to get up; but he grinds the wicked into the ground.
Yahweh lifts up those who have been oppressed, and he throws the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing thanks to the Lord! Sing praises to our God with a harp!
Thank Yahweh while you are singing to him to praise him; on the harps, play music to our God.
8 He covers the sky with clouds to bring rain to the earth, and makes the grass grow on the hills.
He covers the sky with clouds, [and then] he sends rain to the earth and causes grass to grow on the hills.
9 He gives food to the animals, and to the baby ravens when they call.
He gives to animals the food that they [need], and gives food to young crows/birds when they cry out [because they are hungry].
10 The Lord doesn't appreciate the strength of war-horses or value human power.
He is not pleased with strong horses or with men who can run [MTY] fast.
11 What the Lord values are those who follow him, those who put their confidence in his trustworthy love.
Instead, what pleases him are those who revere him, those who confidently expect him to continue to faithfully love them.
12 Jerusalem, praise the Lord! Zion, praise your God!
[You people of] [APO] Jerusalem, praise Yahweh! Praise your God!
13 He makes the bars on your city gates strong, and blesses your children around you.
He [guards your city] by keeping its gates strong. He blesses the people who live there.
14 He keeps the borders of your land safe from attack; he provides you with plenty of the finest wheat.
He protects the borders [of your country, so that enemies from other countries cannot attack you]. He gives you plenty of very good wheat/grain to eat.
15 He sends his commands around the world—they're quickly implemented.
He commands what he wants to be done on the earth, and his words quickly come to the place to which he sends them.
16 He sends snow as white as wool, and scatters frost like ashes.
He sends snow which [covers the ground] like a white wool blanket [SIM], and he scatters frost [on the ground] like [wind scatters] ashes [SIM].
17 He throws hail like stones. Who can stand the cold he sends?
He sends hail down like (pebbles/tiny stones); [when that happens], (it is very difficult to endure because the air becomes very cold./who can endure because the air becomes very cold?) [RHQ]
18 Then he sends out his command and it melts; he blows on it and the water flows.
[But] he commands the wind to blow, and it blows. [Then the hail] melts and [the water] flows [into the streams].
19 He proclaims his word to Jacob; his rules and laws to Israel.
He sent his message to [the descendants of] Jacob; [he tells to his] Israeli people the laws and regulations that he had decreed.
20 He has not done this for any other nation—they don't know his laws. Praise the Lord!
He has not done that for any other nation; the other nations do not know his laws. Praise Yahweh!
