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The Garden of Eden. Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1612. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Psalm 104

35 verses · Creation hymn

He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.

The line breaks below follow the poem's own punctuation.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!O LORD my God, You are very great;You are clothed with splendor and majesty.

He wraps Himself in light as with a garment;He stretches out the heavens like a tent,

laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.

He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.

He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.

You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away—

the mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place You assigned for them—

You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.

He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains.

They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

The birds of the air nest beside the springs; they sing among the branches.

He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.

He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:

wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.

The trees of the LORD have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted,

where the birds build their nests; the stork makes her home in the cypresses.

The high mountains are for the wild goats, the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers.

He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.

You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl.

The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.

The sun rises, and they withdraw; they lie down in their dens.

Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening.

How many are Your works, O LORD!In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.

Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small.

There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.

All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.

When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things.

When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.

When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works.

He looks on the earth, and it trembles;He touches the mountains, and they smolder.

I will sing to the LORD all my life;I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah!

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