104
1 I tell myself that I should praise Yahweh.
Yahweh, my God, you are very great!
Like a king has on his royal robes [MET],
you have honor and majesty/greatness all around you!
2 You created/caused light to be like your robe [MET].
You put the stars in the sky like a man sets up a tent.
3 You made/put your home in heaven, above the rain clouds in the sky, like a man puts the rafters of his house in place [MET].
You made/caused the clouds to be like chariots to carry you.
4 You caused the winds to be like your messengers, [MET]
and flames of fire to be like your servants.
5 You placed the world firmly on its foundation
so that it can never be moved/shaken.
6 Later, you covered the earth with a flood, like a blanket;
and the water covered the mountains.
7 But when you rebuked the water, the oceans receded;
your voice spoke like thunder,
and then the waters rushed away.
8 Mountains rose up from the water,
and the valleys sank down
to the levels that you had determined for them.
9 Then you set a boundary for the oceans, a boundary that they cannot cross;
their water will never again cover the whole earth.
10 You make/cause springs to pour water into ravines;
their water flows down between the mountains.
11 Those streams provide water for all the animals to drink;
the wild donkeys drink the water and are no longer thirsty.
12 Birds make their nests alongside the streams,
and they sing among the branches of the trees.
13 From ◄your home in heaven/the sky► you send rain down on the mountains,
and you fill the earth with many good things that you create.
14 You make/cause grass to grow for the cattle to eat,
and you make/cause plants to grow for people.
In that way animals and people get their food from what grows in the soil.
15 We get grapes to make [MTY] wine to drink and make us cheerful,
and we get olives to make [MTY] olive oil to put on our skin and make/cause it to shine,
and we get grain to make [MTY] bread to give us strength.
16 Yahweh, you send plenty of rain to water your trees,
the cedar trees that you planted in Lebanon.
17 Birds make their nests in those trees,
and storks make their nests in pine/fir trees.
18 High up in the mountains the wild goats live,
and hyraxes/badgers live in the crags/crevices in the rocks.
19 Yahweh, you made the moon to indicate the times for our festivals,
and you made the sun that knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the animals in the forest prowl around, looking for food.
21 At night the young lions roar as they seek their prey,
but they depend on you to give them food.
22 At dawn, they go back to their dens and lie down.
23 And during the daytime, people go to their work;
they work until it is evening.
24 Yahweh, you have made so many different kinds of things!
You were very wise as you made them all.
The earth is full of the creatures that you made.
25 We see the ocean which is very large [DOU]!
It is full of many kinds of living creatures,
big ones and little ones.
26 We see the ships which sail/travel along!
We see the huge sea monster, which you made to ◄splash around/play► in the sea.
27 All of these creatures depend on you
to give them the food that they need.
28 When you give them the food that they need,
they gather it.
You give them what you have in your hand,
and they eat it and are satisfied.
29 But if you refuse to give food to them,
they become terrified.
And when you cause them to stop breathing, they die;
their bodies decay and become soil again.
30 When you cause newborn creatures to begin to breathe,
they start to live;
You give new life to all the living creatures on the earth.
31 I hope/desire that the glory of Yahweh will last forever.
I hope/desire that he will rejoice about all the things that he has created.
32 He makes/causes the earth to shake just by looking at it!
By merely touching the mountains he makes/causes them to pour out fire and smoke!
33 I will sing to Yahweh ◄as long as I live/throughout my entire life►.
I will praise my God until the day that I die.
34 I hope that Yahweh will be pleased by all these things that I have thought about him,
because I rejoice about knowing him.
35 But I hope/desire that sinners will disappear from the earth,
and that there will be no more wicked people!
But as for me, I will praise Yahweh!
◄Praise him/Hallelujah►!
Note: The Old Testament in this translation is still being worked on, and is in draft form. Updates will be posted at eBible.org/t4t/.