God the Creator and Provider

1Bless the LORD, O my soul.

O LORD my God, you are very great.

You are clothed with honour and majesty,

2wrapped in light as with a garment.

You stretch out the heavens like a tent,

3you set the beams of your104.3 Heb his chambers on the waters,

you make the clouds your104.3 Heb his chariot,

you ride on the wings of the wind,

4you make the winds your104.4 Heb his messengers,

fire and flame your104.4 Heb his ministers.

5You set the earth on its foundations,

so that it shall never be shaken.

6You cover it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

7At your rebuke they flee;

at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

8They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys

to the place that you appointed for them.

9You set a boundary that they may not pass,

so that they might not again cover the earth.

10You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills,

11giving drink to every wild animal;

the wild asses quench their thirst.

12By the streams104.12 Heb By them the birds of the air have their habitation;

they sing among the branches.

13From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

14You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,

and plants for people to use,104.14 Or to cultivate

to bring forth food from the earth,

15and wine to gladden the human heart,

oil to make the face shine,

and bread to strengthen the human heart.

16The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

17In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has its home in the fir trees.

18The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.

19You have made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

20You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.

21The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

22When the sun rises, they withdraw

and lie down in their dens.

23People go out to their work

and to their labour until the evening.

24O LORD, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

25Yonder is the sea, great and wide,

creeping things innumerable are there,

living things both small and great.

26There go the ships,

and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.

27These all look to you

to give them their food in due season;

28when you give to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

29When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.

30When you send forth your spirit,104.30 Or your breath they are created;

and you renew the face of the ground.

31May the glory of the LORD endure for ever;

may the LORD rejoice in his works—

32who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke.

33I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

34May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the LORD.

35Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more.

Bless the LORD, O my soul.

Praise the LORD!