Psalms 147
1 Praise Yahweh! It is good to sing to praise our God. It is a delightful thing to do and the right thing to do.
Give praise to the Lord; for it is good to make melody to our God; praise is pleasing and beautiful.
2 [Jerusalem was destroyed, but] Yahweh is [enabling us to] build Jerusalem again. He is bringing back the people who were taken [to Babylonia].
The Lord is building up Jerusalem; he makes all the outlaws of Israel come together.
3 He enables those who were very discouraged to be encouraged again; [it is as though] they have wounds and he bandages them.
He makes the broken-hearted well, and puts oil on their wounds.
4 He has determined how many stars there will be, and he gives names to all of them.
He sees the number of the stars; he gives them all their names.
5 Yahweh is great and very powerful, and no one can measure how much he understands.
Great is our Lord, and great his power; there is no limit to his wisdom.
6 Yahweh lifts up those who have been oppressed, and he throws the wicked down to the ground.
The Lord gives help to the poor in spirit; but he sends sinners down in shame.
7 Thank Yahweh while you are singing to him to praise him; on the harps, play music to our God.
Make songs of praise to the Lord; make melody to our God with instruments of music.
8 He covers the sky with clouds, [and then] he sends rain to the earth and causes grass to grow on the hills.
By his hand the heaven is covered with clouds and rain is stored up for the earth; he makes the grass tall on the mountains.
9 He gives to animals the food that they [need], and gives food to young crows/birds when they cry out [because they are hungry].
He gives food to every beast, and to the young ravens in answer to their cry.
10 He is not pleased with strong horses or with men who can run [MTY] fast.
He has no delight in the strength of a horse; he takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 Instead, what pleases him are those who revere him, those who confidently expect him to continue to faithfully love them.
The Lord takes pleasure in his worshippers, and in those whose hope is in his mercy.
12 [You people of] [APO] Jerusalem, praise Yahweh! Praise your God!
Give praise to the Lord, O Jerusalem; give praise to your God, O Zion.
13 He [guards your city] by keeping its gates strong. He blesses the people who live there.
He has made strong the iron bands of your doors; he has sent blessings on your children inside your walls.
14 He protects the borders [of your country, so that enemies from other countries cannot attack you]. He gives you plenty of very good wheat/grain to eat.
He gives peace in all your land, making your stores full of fat grain.
15 He commands what he wants to be done on the earth, and his words quickly come to the place to which he sends them.
He sends out his orders to the earth; his word goes out quickly.
16 He sends snow which [covers the ground] like a white wool blanket [SIM], and he scatters frost [on the ground] like [wind scatters] ashes [SIM].
He gives snow like wool; he sends out ice-drops like dust.
17 He sends hail down like (pebbles/tiny stones); [when that happens], (it is very difficult to endure because the air becomes very cold./who can endure because the air becomes very cold?) [RHQ]
He sends down ice like raindrops: water is made hard by his cold.
18 [But] he commands the wind to blow, and it blows. [Then the hail] melts and [the water] flows [into the streams].
At the outgoing of his word, the ice is turned to water; when he sends out his wind, there is a flowing of waters.
19 He sent his message to [the descendants of] Jacob; [he tells to his] Israeli people the laws and regulations that he had decreed.
He makes his word clear to Jacob, teaching Israel his laws and his decisions.
20 He has not done that for any other nation; the other nations do not know his laws. Praise Yahweh!
He has not done these things for any other nation: and as for his laws, they have no knowledge of them. Let the Lord be praised.
