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 the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great, clad in awful splendor,
2 You [created/caused] light to be like your robe [MET]. You spread out the sky like [a man sets up] a tent.
covered with robe of light. You stretch out the heavens like the cloth of 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].
He lays the beams of his chambers on water. He takes dark clouds for his chariot, and rides 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.
He takes the winds for his messengers, the fire and the flame for his servants.
5 You placed the world firmly on its foundation so that it can never be moved/shaken.
He founded the earth upon pillars, to sustain it unshaken forever.
6 [Later], you covered the earth with a flood, like a blanket, with the water that covered the mountains.
With the garment of ocean he covered it, waters towered over 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 rebuke they fled, scared by the roar of your thunder,
8 Mountains rose up [from the water], and the valleys sank down to the levels that you had determined for them.
mountains rose, valleys sank down to the place appointed 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.
They dared not pass the bounds set for them, or cover the earth any more.
10 You make/cause springs to pour [water] into ravines; their [water] flows down between the mountains.
He sent brooks into the valleys, they meander between the mountains.
11 Those [streams] provide water for all the animals [to drink]; the wild donkeys [drink the water and] are no longer thirsty.
The wild beasts all drink from them, and the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 Birds make their nests alongside [the streams], and they sing among the branches [of the trees].
The birds have their home by the banks, and sing in 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.
From his chambers above he gives drink to the mountains, and satisfies earth with the vials of heaven.
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 makes grass grow for the cattle, and herbs for people. He brings bread 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.
wine, to gladden hearts; oil, to make faces shine; bread, to strengthen hearts.
16 Yahweh, you [send plenty of rain to] water your trees, the cedar [trees] that you planted in Lebanon.
The trees of the Lord drink their fill the cedars he planted on Lebanon,
17 Birds make their nests in those [trees]; even storks make their nests in pine/fir trees.
where the little birds build their nest, and the stork whose home is the cypress.
18 High up in the mountains the wild goats live, and hyraxes/badgers live in the crags/crevices in the rocks.
The high hills are for the wild goats, and the rocks are for coneys to hide in.
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 created the moon to mark seasons, and told the sun 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 it dark: night comes, when all the wild beasts creep out.
21 At night the young lions roar as they seek their prey, [but] they depend on you to give them food.
Young lions that roar for their prey, seeking their meat from God.
22 At dawn, they go back to their dens and lie down.
At sunrise they slink away, and lie down in their dens.
23 And during the daytime, people go to their work; they work until it is evening.
Then people go forth to their work, and toil till 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 many, O Lord, are your works, all of them made in wisdom! The earth is filled with 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.
And there is the great broad sea, where are countless things in motion, living creatures, both great 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.
There go the ships, and the Leviathan you made to play there.
27 All of those creatures depend on you to give them the food that they need.
They all look in hope to you, to 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.
And you give with open hand; they gather and eat to their heart’s desire.
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 hide your face, they are terrified; when you take their breath away, they die and go back 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.
But a breath from your lips creates them, and renews 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 forever, may the Lord 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!
A glance of his makes the earth tremble, a touch of his makes the hills 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 while I live, I will play to my God while 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 musing be sweet to him, for I rejoice 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)!
But may sinners be swept from the earth, and the wicked vanish forever. O my soul, bless the Lord. Hallelujah.
