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Chapter 102
Do Not Hide Your Face from Me
A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
1Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you!
2Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
3For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
4My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
5Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
6I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owlThe precise identity of these birds is uncertain of the waste places;
7I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
8All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
10because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
11My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
13You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
14For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
15Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16For the Lord builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory;
17he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.
18Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
19that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
20to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
21that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
22when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.
23He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.
24“O my God,” I say, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
you whose years endure
throughout all generations!”
25Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.
Chapter 103
Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Of David.
1Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14For he knows our frame;Or knows how we are formed
he remembers that we are dust.
15As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
18to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Chapter 104
O Lord My God, You Are Very Great
1Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
5He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
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;
11they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
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 livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's 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 her home in the fir trees.
18The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19He made the moon to mark the seasons;Or the appointed times (compare Genesis 1:14)
the sun knows its time for setting.
20You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
22When the sun rises, they steal away
and lie down in their dens.
23Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until the evening.
24O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
26There go the ships,
and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.Or you formed to play with
27These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
28When you give it 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,Or breath they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
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!

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