Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord, my God, thou art great;
Thou art clothed with glory and majesty,
Thou hast put on
light as a mantle;
Thou hast stretched the
heavens like a tent,
Thou framest thy upper stories in the waters,
Thou makest the clouds thy chariot,
Thou ridest on the wings of the wind,
Thou makest winds thy messengers,
Flames of
fire are thy servants.
Thou didst fix the earth on its foundations,
That it should not be moved forever.
Thou didst cover it with the
sea as with a garment.
The waters stood far above the mountains,
But at thy reproof they fled,
At the sound of thy thunder they hastened away,
Not to pass the bound thou hadst set,
Not to return to cover the earth.
Mountains rose, valleys sank,
To the place which thou hadst prepared for them.
Thou sendest the springs to the valleys,
They run down between the mountains,
They give drink to every wild beast,
The wild asses quench their thirst.
The birds make their
home beside them,
They
sing from among the branches.
Thou waterest the
mountains from thine upper stories;
The earth is
filled with the fruit of thy works.
Thou makest
grass spring up for the cattle,
And green herbs for the
service of man,
Causing food to spring from the earth,
Wine to gladden man's heart,
Oil that makes his face shine,
And
bread to strengthen his heart.
The trees of the Lord are full of sap,
The
cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted,
Where the birds build their nests;
The stork has her home in the fir-trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats,
The
rocks are a hiding-place for the marmots.
Thou createst the moon to divide the year,
The sun knows when it should set.
Thou makest darkness, and it is night,
In which wild
beasts creep forth;
The young
lions roar for their prey,
And seek their food from God.
When the sun arises they disappear,
And lay themselves down in their dens.
Man goes out to his work,
To toil until evening comes.
O Lord, how many are thy works!
Wisely thou madest them all;
The earth is full of thy creatures.
There is the sea, great and wide,
With its crawling things innumerable,
Living things both small and great;
There go the monsters of the sea,
And the dragon thou madest to play.
These all wait for thee,
To give them their food in due season.
When thou givest to them, they gather it;
Thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied.
Thou hidest thy face, they are frightened;
Thou takest their breath, they die,
And return to the dust from which they came.
Thou sendest thy spirit, and they are created;
Thou refillest the earth with living things.
May the glory of the Lord be eternal,
Let the Lord
rejoice in his works.
He looks at the earth, and it trembles,
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live,
I will sing
praise to my God while I exist.
May my thoughts be pleasing unto him;
I myself
find my
joy in the Lord.