☰ Psalms 147
147
1  Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God!
Yes,1 praise is pleasant and appropriate!
2  The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,2
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
3  He heals3 the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
4  He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
5  Our Lord is great and has awesome power;4
there is no limit to his wisdom.5
6  The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks6 the wicked to the ground.
7  Offer to the Lord a song of thanks!7
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp!
8  He covers8 the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.9
9  He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.10
10  He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.11
11  The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,12
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
12  Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13  For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children13 within you.
14  He14 brings peace to your territory.15
He abundantly provides for you16 the best grain.
15  He17 sends his command through the earth;18
swiftly his order reaches its destination.19
16  He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.20
17  He throws his hailstones21 like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?22
18  He then orders it all to melt;23
he breathes on it,24 and the water flows.
19  He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
20  He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord! 25
1 147:1 sn: Psalm 147. The psalmist praises the Lord for he is the sovereign ruler of the world who cares for the needs of his covenant people. 2 147:2 tn: Or “for.” 3 147:3 map: For location see . 4 147:5 tn: Heb “the one who heals.” 5 147:5 tn: Heb “and great of strength.” 6 147:6 tn: Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.” 7 147:7 tn: Heb “brings down.” 8 147:8 tn: Heb “sing to the Lord with thanksgiving.” 9 147:8 tn: Heb “the one who covers.” 10 147:9 tn: Heb “hills.” 11 147:10 tn: Heb “which cry out.” 12 147:11 tn: Heb “he does not desire the strength of the horse, he does not take delight in the legs of the man.” Here “the horse” refers to the war horse used by ancient Near Eastern chariot forces, and “the man” refers to the warrior whose muscular legs epitomize his strength. 13 147:13 tn: Heb “those who fear him.” 14 147:14 tn: Heb “your sons.” 15 147:14 tn: Heb “the one who.” 16 147:14 tn: Heb “he makes your boundary peace.” 17 147:15 tn: Heb “satisfies you with.” 18 147:15 tn: Heb “the one who.” 19 147:15 tn: Heb “the one who sends his word, the earth.” The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) is an adverbial accusative; one must supply a preposition before it (such as “through” or “to”) in the English translation. 20 147:16 tn: Heb “swiftly his word runs.” 21 147:17 tn: Heb “the one who gives snow like wool, frost like ashes he scatters.” 22 147:17 tn: Heb “his ice.” 23 147:18 tn: Heb “Before his cold, who can stand?” 24 147:18 tn: Heb “he sends his word and melts them.” 25 147:20 tn: Heb “he blows his breath.”
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