Psalms 104
1 Bless, O my soul, the Lord. O Lord my God, thou art very great; with glory and majesty art thou clothed.
[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 [Thou art he] who wrappeth himself in light as with a garment; who stretcheth out the heavens like a curtain;
You [created/caused] light to be like your robe [MET]. You spread out the sky like [a man sets up] a tent.
3 Who frameth of the waters the beams of his upper-chambers; who maketh the clouds his chariot; who walketh along upon 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 Who maketh the winds his messengers; the flaming fire his ministers;
You caused the winds to be [like] your messengers [MET], and flames of fire to be [like] your servants.
5 Who hath founded the earth upon her bases, that she should not be moved to all eternity.
You placed the world firmly on its foundation so that it can never be moved/shaken.
6 Thou hadst covered the deep as with a garment: above the mountains stood the waters.
[Later], you covered the earth with a flood, like a blanket, with the water that covered the mountains.
7 At thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of thy thunder they hastened away.
[But] when you rebuked the water, the oceans receded; your voice spoke like thunder, and then the waters rushed away.
8 They ascended mountains; they went down valleys, unto the place which thou hadst founded for them.
Mountains rose up [from the water], and the valleys sank down to the levels that you had determined for them.
9 Bounds hast thou set which they cannot pass over, that they return not again to 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 [Thou art he] who sendeth springs into the valleys, between mountains they run along.
You make/cause springs to pour [water] into ravines; their [water] flows down between the mountains.
11 They give drink to all the beasts of the field: the wild asses quench [thereon] their thirst.
Those [streams] provide water for all the animals [to drink]; the wild donkeys [drink the water and] are no longer thirsty.
12 By them have the fowls of the heaven ever their habitation, from between the branches they send forth their voice.
Birds make their nests alongside [the streams], and they sing among the branches [of the trees].
13 Who watereth the mountains from his upper-chambers: from the fruit of thy works is the earth satisfied.
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 [Thou art he] who causeth grass to grow for the cattle, and herbs by the service of man, that he may bring forth bread out of 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 And wine that maketh joyful the heart of man, [and] oil to brighten his face, and bread which strengtheneth the heart of man.
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 Full of sap are the trees of the Lord, the cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted;
Yahweh, you [send plenty of rain to] water your trees, the cedar [trees] that you planted in Lebanon.
17 Where the birds make their nests: the stork—fir-trees are her house.
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 rocks are a shelter for the conies.
High up in the mountains the wild goats live, and hyraxes/badgers live in the crags/crevices in the rocks.
19 He hath made the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
[Yahweh], you made the moon to indicate the times for our festivals, and you made the sun that knows when to go down.
20 Thou causest darkness, and it becometh night, wherein creep forth all the beasts of the forest.
You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the animals in the forest prowl around, [looking for food].
21 The young lions roar after their prey, and ask from God their food.
At night the young lions roar as they seek their prey, [but] they depend on you to give them food.
22 The sun ariseth, they withdraw [to their lairs], and lie down in their dens.
At dawn, they go back to their dens and lie down.
23 Man goeth [then] forth unto his work, and to his labor until the evening.
And during the daytime, people go to their work; they work until it is evening.
24 How manifold are thy works, O Lord! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
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 this great and wide-extended sea; therein are moving things without number, living creatures both small and great.
[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 make their way: [there also] is the leviathan, whom thou hast made to sport therein.
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 of these wait upon thee, to give them their food in its due season.
All of those creatures depend on you to give them the food that they need.
28 What thou givest them they gather: thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied with good.
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 Thou hidest thy face, they suddenly vanish: thou takest away their spirit, they perish, and to their dust they return.
[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 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest 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 The glory of the Lord will endure for ever; the Lord will 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 who looketh down on the earth, and she trembleth; who toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.
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 unto the Lord while I live: I will sing praises to my God while I exist.
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 speech be agreeable to him: I will indeed 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 the sinners cease from off the earth, and the wicked be no more. Bless, O my soul, the Lord. 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)!
