OEBcth - Psalms - 104

104:1  Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great, clad in awful splendour,

104:2  covered with robe of light. You stretch out the heavens like the cloth of a tent.

104:3  He lays the beams of his chambers on water. He takes dark clouds for his chariot, and rides on the wings of the wind.

104:4  He takes the winds for his messengers, the fire and the flame for his servants.

104:5  He founded the earth upon pillars, to sustain it unshaken forever.

104:6  With the garment of ocean he covered it, waters towered over the mountains.

104:7  But at your rebuke they fled, scared by the roar of your thunder,

104:8  mountains rose, valleys sank down to the place appointed for them.

104:9  They dared not pass the bounds set for them, or cover the earth any more.

104:10  He sent brooks into the valleys, they meander between the mountains.

104:11  The wild beasts all drink from them, and the wild asses quench their thirst.

104:12  The birds have their home by the banks, and sing in the branches.

104:13  From his chambers above he gives drink to the mountains, and satisfies earth with the vials of heaven.

104:14  He makes grass grow for the cattle, and herbs for people. He brings bread out of the earth;

104:15  wine, to gladden hearts; oil, to make faces shine; bread, to strengthen hearts.

104:16  The trees of the Lord drink their fill the cedars he planted on Lebanon,

104:17  where the little birds build their nest, and the stork whose home is the cypress.

104:18  The high hills are for the wild goats, and the rocks are for coneys to hide in.

104:19  He created the moon to mark seasons, and told the sun when to set.

104:20  You make it dark: night comes, when all the wild beasts creep out.

104:21  Young lions that roar for their prey, seeking their meat from God.

104:22  At sunrise they slink away, and lie down in their dens.

104:23  Then people go forth to their work, and toil till evening.

104:24  How many, O Lord, are your works, all of them made in wisdom! The earth is filled with your creatures.

104:25  And there is the great broad sea, where are countless things in motion, living creatures, both great and small.

104:26  There go the ships, and the Leviathan you made to play there.

104:27  They all look in hope to you, to give them their food in due season.

104:28  And you give with open hand; they gather and eat to their heart’s desire.

104:29  When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take their breath away, they die and go back to their dust.

104:30  But a breath from your lips creates them, and renews the face of the earth.

104:31  May the glory of the Lord be forever, may the Lord rejoice in his works.

104:32  A glance of his makes the earth tremble, a touch of his makes the hills smoke.

104:33  I will sing to the Lord while I live, I will play to my God while I am.

104:34  May my musing be sweet to him. for I rejoice in the Lord.

104:35  But may sinners be swept from the earth, and the wicked vanish forever. O my soul, bless the Lord. Hallelujah.