Psalms 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 spread out 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, with the water that 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 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]; even 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 along! We see the huge sea monster, which you made to (splash around/play) in the sea.

27 All of those 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 want the glory of Yahweh to last forever. I want him to rejoice about [all] the things that he has created.

32 He 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 want Yahweh to be pleased by all those things that I have thought [about him], because I rejoice about [knowing] him.

35 [But] I desire that sinners will disappear from the earth, so that there will be no more wicked [people]! [But as for] me, I will praise Yahweh! (Praise him/Hallelujah)!