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!
Let every part of me praise the Lord! Lord my God, you are so great, clothed with majesty and splendor!
2 You [created/caused] light to be like your robe [MET]. You spread out the sky like [a man sets up] a tent.
You wear light as your clothing; you stretch out the fabric of the heavens.
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 place the roof-beams of your house in the rainclouds. You make the clouds your chariots. You ride on 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.
You make your angels winds, and your servants flames of fire.
5 You placed the world firmly on its foundation so that it can never be moved/shaken.
You set the earth on its foundations; it will never be shaken.
6 [Later], you covered the earth with a flood, like a blanket, with the water that covered the mountains.
It was clothed with ocean depths—the waters even covered the mountains—
7 [But] when you rebuked the water, the oceans receded; your voice spoke like thunder, and then the waters rushed away.
but at your command the waters fled; at the sound of your thunder they rushed 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 up and the valleys sank down to where you had determined.
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 set a boundary for the oceans so they would not come back and cover the earth.
10 You make/cause springs to pour [water] into ravines; their [water] flows down between the mountains.
You make springs flow into the streams, running down between the hills.
11 Those [streams] provide water for all the animals [to drink]; the wild donkeys [drink the water and] are no longer thirsty.
They provide water for all the wild animals, and wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Birds make their nests alongside [the streams], and they sing among the branches [of the trees].
Birds build their nests in trees along the streams, singing from among the leaves.
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 send down rain on the mountains from your home high above; you fill the earth with good things.
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.
You make the grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to eat—crops produced by the earth for food,
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 to make them happy, olive oil to make their faces shine, and bread to make them strong.
16 Yahweh, you [send plenty of rain to] water your trees, the cedar [trees] that you planted in Lebanon.
The Lord's trees are well-watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 Birds make their nests in those [trees]; even storks make their nests in pine/fir trees.
Sparrows make their nests there; herons make their homes in the tall trees.
18 High up in the mountains the wild goats live, and hyraxes/badgers live in the crags/crevices in the rocks.
Wild goats live high in the mountains; hyraxes hide among the rocks.
19 [Yahweh], you made the moon to indicate the times for our festivals, and you made the sun that knows when to go down.
You made the moon to mark the months, and the sun knows when to set.
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the animals in the forest prowl around, [looking for food].
You make darkness fall and the night comes, the time when the forest animals come out to hunt.
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 as they seek their prey, looking for the food that God provides for them.
22 At dawn, they go back to their dens and lie down.
When the sun rises they return to their dens to rest.
23 And during the daytime, people go to their work; they work until it is evening.
Then people leave for work, working 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].
Lord, how many different things you have made—all of them wisely created! The earth is full of your creatures.
25 [We see] the ocean which is very large [DOU]! It is full of many kinds of living creatures, big ones and little ones.
Consider the sea, deep and wide, full of all kinds of living things, large and small.
26 We see the ships which sail along! We see the huge sea monster, which you made to (splash around/play) in the sea.
Ships sail there, and Leviathan, that you made to play in it.
27 All of those creatures depend on you to give them the food that they need.
All creatures look to you to give them food at the right 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.
When you provide it, they gather it up. You hand out food to them, and they are well-fed.
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.
When you turn away from them, they're terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to 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.
When you send your breath, they are created, and life covers the earth again.
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 Lord's glory last forever! The Lord is happy with all he has made.
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 only has to look at the earth and it trembles; mountains pour out smoke at his touch.
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 for as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God my whole life.
34 I want Yahweh to be pleased by all those things that I have thought [about him], because I rejoice about [knowing] him.
May he be pleased with my thoughts because I am happy 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 be destroyed from the earth; let the wicked cease to exist. Let every part of me praise the Lord!
