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!
To David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are exceedingly great. You have clothed yourself with confession and beauty;
2 You [created/caused] light to be like your robe [MET]. You spread out the sky like [a man sets up] a tent.
you are dressed with light like a garment, while you stretch out heaven like a tent.
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].
You cover its heights with water. You set the clouds as your stairs. You walk upon the wings of the winds.
4 You caused the winds to be [like] your messengers [MET], and flames of fire to be [like] your servants.
You make your Angels a breath of life, and your ministers a burning fire.
5 You placed the world firmly on its foundation so that it can never be moved/shaken.
You founded the earth upon its stable base. It will not be bent from age to age.
6 [Later], you covered the earth with a flood, like a blanket, with the water that covered the mountains.
The abyss, like a garment, is its clothing. The waters will remain standing 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 your rebuke, they will flee. At the voice of your thunder, they will dread.
8 Mountains rose up [from the water], and the valleys sank down to the levels that you had determined for them.
The mountains ascend, and the plains descend, to the place which you have 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.
You have set a limit that they will not cross. And they will not return to cover the earth.
10 You make/cause springs to pour [water] into ravines; their [water] flows down between the mountains.
You spring forth fountains in steep valleys. The waters will cross through the midst of the mountains.
11 Those [streams] provide water for all the animals [to drink]; the wild donkeys [drink the water and] are no longer thirsty.
All the wild beasts of the field will drink. The wild donkeys will anticipate in their thirst.
12 Birds make their nests alongside [the streams], and they sing among the branches [of the trees].
Above them, the flying things of the air will dwell. From the midst of the rocks, they will utter voices.
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.
You irrigate the mountains from your heights. The earth will be satiated from the fruit of your 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.
producing grass for cattle and herbs for the service of men. So may you draw bread from 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, in order to cheer the heart of man. Then he may gladden his face with oil, and bread will confirm the heart of man.
16 Yahweh, you [send plenty of rain to] water your trees, the cedar [trees] that you planted in Lebanon.
The trees of the field will be saturated, along with the cedars of Lebanon, which he planted.
17 Birds make their nests in those [trees]; even storks make their nests in pine/fir trees.
There, the sparrows will make their nests. The leader of them is the house of the heron.
18 High up in the mountains the wild goats live, and hyraxes/badgers live in the crags/crevices in the rocks.
The heights of the hills are for the deer; the rock is a refuge for the hedgehog.
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 has made the moon for seasons; the sun knows its setting.
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the animals in the forest prowl around, [looking for food].
You appointed darkness, and it has become night; all the beasts of the forest will cross through it.
21 At night the young lions roar as they seek their prey, [but] they depend on you to give them food.
The young lions will roar, while searching for and seizing their meal from God.
22 At dawn, they go back to their dens and lie down.
The sun arose, and they were gathered together; and in their dens, they will lie down together.
23 And during the daytime, people go to their work; they work until it is evening.
Man will go forth to his work and to his activities, 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].
How great are your works, O Lord! You have made all things in wisdom. The earth has been filled with your possessions.
25 [We see] the ocean which is very large [DOU]! It is full of many kinds of living creatures, big ones and little ones.
This sea is great and its hands are spacious. There are creeping things without number: the small animals with the great.
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, the ships will pass by this sea-serpent that you have formed to mock them.
27 All of those creatures depend on you to give them the food that they need.
All these expect you to give them food in due time.
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.
What you give to them, they will gather. When you open your hand, they will all be filled with goodness.
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.
But if you turn your face away, they will be disturbed. You will take away their breath, and they will fail, and they will 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.
You will send forth your Spirit, and they will be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.
31 I want the glory of Yahweh to last forever. I want him to rejoice about [all] the things that he has created.
May the glory of the Lord be for all ages. The Lord will 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!
He considers the earth, and he makes it tremble. 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 the Lord with my life. I will sing psalms to my God, as long as I am.
34 I want Yahweh to be pleased by all those things that I have thought [about him], because I rejoice about [knowing] him.
May my speech be pleasing to him. Truly, I will take delight in the Lord.
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 fade away from the earth, along with the unjust, so that they may not be. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
