Psalms 104
1 [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!
Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, thou are very great. Thou are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 You [created/caused] light to be like your robe [MET]. You spread out the sky like [a man sets up] a tent.
who covers thyself with light as with a garment, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
3 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].
who lays the beams of his chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds his chariot, who walks upon the wings of the wind,
4 You caused the winds to be [like] your messengers [MET], and flames of fire to be [like] your servants.
who makes his agents spirits, his ministers a flame of fire,
5 You placed the world firmly on its foundation so that it can never be moved/shaken.
who laid the foundations of the earth that it should not be moved forever.
6 [Later], you covered the earth with a flood, like a blanket, with the water that covered the mountains.
Thou covered it with the deep as with a vesture. The waters stood above the mountains.
7 [But] when you rebuked the water, the oceans receded; your voice spoke like thunder, and then the waters rushed away.
At thy rebuke they fled. At the voice of thy thunder they hastened away.
8 Mountains rose up [from the water], and the valleys sank down to the levels that you had determined for them.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which thou had founded for them.
9 [Then] you set a boundary for the oceans, a boundary that they cannot cross; their water will never again cover the [whole] earth.
Thou have set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth.
10 You make/cause springs to pour [water] into ravines; their [water] flows down between the mountains.
He sends forth springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains.
11 Those [streams] provide water for all the animals [to drink]; the wild donkeys [drink the water and] are no longer thirsty.
They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Birds make their nests alongside [the streams], and they sing among the branches [of the trees].
By them the birds of the heavens have their habitation. They sing among the branches.
13 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.
He waters the mountains from his chambers. The earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.
14 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.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herbage for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth,
15 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.
and wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man's heart.
16 Yahweh, you [send plenty of rain to] water your trees, the cedar [trees] that you planted in Lebanon.
The trees of Jehovah are full, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted,
17 Birds make their nests in those [trees]; even storks make their nests in pine/fir trees.
where the birds make their nests. As for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18 High up in the mountains the wild goats live, and hyraxes/badgers live in the crags/crevices in the rocks.
The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the conies.
19 [Yahweh], you made the moon to indicate the times for our festivals, and you made the sun that knows when to go down.
He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows his going down.
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the animals in the forest prowl around, [looking for food].
Thou make darkness, and it is night, during which all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
21 At night the young lions roar as they seek their prey, [but] they depend on you to give them food.
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
22 At dawn, they go back to their dens and lie down.
The sun arises; they get away, and lie down in their dens.
23 And during the daytime, people go to their work; they work until it is evening.
Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until the evening.
24 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].
O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom have thou made them all. The earth is full of thy riches.
25 [We see] the ocean which is very large [DOU]! It is full of many kinds of living creatures, big ones and little ones.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable creeping things, both small and great beasts.
26 We see the ships which sail along! We see the huge sea monster, which you made to (splash around/play) in the sea.
There go the ships. There is leviathan, whom thou have formed to play in it.
27 All of those creatures depend on you to give them the food that they need.
These all wait for thee, that thou may give them their food in due season.
28 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.
Thou give to them, they gather. Thou open thy hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 [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.
Thou hide thy face, they are troubled. Thou take away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
30 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.
Thou send forth thy Spirit, they are created, and thou renew the face of the ground.
31 I want the glory of Yahweh to last forever. I want him to rejoice about [all] the things that he has created.
Let the glory of Jehovah endure forever. Let Jehovah rejoice in his works,
32 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!
who looks on the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 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.
I will sing to Jehovah as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
34 I want Yahweh to be pleased by all those things that I have thought [about him], because I rejoice about [knowing] him.
Let thy meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in Jehovah.
35 [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)!
Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless Jehovah, O my soul. Praise ye Jehovah.
