16:36 May the Lord God of Israel be praised,
in the future and forevermore. 1
Then all the people said, “We agree! 2 Praise the Lord!”
20:1 In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, 3 Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down.
134:2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord!
135:19 O family 4 of Israel, praise the Lord!
O family of Aaron, praise the Lord!
135:20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord!
You loyal followers 5 of the Lord, praise the Lord!
135:21 The Lord deserves praise in Zion 6 –
he who dwells in Jerusalem. 7
Praise the Lord!
A psalm of praise, by David.
145:1 I will extol you, my God, O king!
I will praise your name continually! 9
145:2 Every day I will praise you!
I will praise your name continually! 10
145:3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise!
No one can fathom his greatness! 11
145:4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,
and tell about your mighty acts! 12
145:5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor,
and your amazing deeds! 13
145:6 They will proclaim 14 the power of your awesome acts!
I will declare your great deeds!
145:7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness, 15
and sing about your justice. 16
145:8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;
he is patient 17 and demonstrates great loyal love. 18
145:9 The Lord is good to all,
and has compassion on all he has made. 19
145:10 All he has made will give thanks to the Lord.
Your loyal followers will praise you.
145:11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;
they will tell about your power,
145:12 so that mankind 20 might acknowledge your mighty acts,
and the majestic splendor of your kingdom.
145:13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, 21
and your dominion endures through all generations.
145:14 22 The Lord supports all who fall,
and lifts up all who are bent over. 23
145:15 Everything looks to you in anticipation, 24
and you provide them with food on a regular basis. 25
145:16 You open your hand,
and fill every living thing with the food they desire. 26
145:17 The Lord is just in all his actions, 27
and exhibits love in all he does. 28
145:18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,
all who cry out to him sincerely. 29
145:19 He satisfies the desire 30 of his loyal followers; 31
he hears their cry for help and delivers them.
145:20 The Lord protects those who love him,
but he destroys all the wicked.
145:21 My mouth will praise the Lord. 32
Let all who live 33 praise his holy name forever!
146:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
146:2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live!
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist!
148:13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty extends over the earth and sky.
148:14 He has made his people victorious, 35
and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –
the Israelites, the people who are close to him. 36
Praise the Lord!
149:1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Praise him in the assembly of the godly! 38
149:2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator!
Let the people 39 of Zion delight in their king! 40
149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing!
Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp!
149:4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he exalts the oppressed by delivering them. 41
149:5 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication! 42
Let them shout for joy upon their beds! 43
149:6 May they praise God
while they hold a two-edged sword in their hand, 44
149:7 in order to take 45 revenge on the nations,
and punish foreigners.
149:8 They bind 46 their kings in chains,
and their nobles in iron shackles,
149:9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies 47 have been sentenced. 48
All his loyal followers will be vindicated. 49
Praise the Lord!
150:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary!
Praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength! 51
150:2 Praise him for his mighty acts!
Praise him for his surpassing greatness!
150:3 Praise him with the blast of the horn!
Praise him with the lyre and the harp!
150:4 Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing!
Praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!
150:5 Praise him with loud cymbals!
Praise him with clanging cymbals!
150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
1 tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.”
2 tn This is the Hebrew term אָמֵן (’amen, “surely”), traditionally transliterated “amen.”
3 tn Heb “and it was at the time of the turning of the year, at the time of the going out of kings.”
4 tn Heb “house” (here and in the next two lines).
5 tn Heb “fearers.”
6 tn Heb “praised be the
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 sn Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.
9 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
10 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”
11 tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”
12 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may one generation praise…and tell about.”
13 tn Heb “the splendor of the glory of your majesty, and the matters of your amazing deeds I will ponder.”
14 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as an imperfect, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as a jussive, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they proclaim.”
15 tn Heb “the fame of the greatness of your goodness.”
16 tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 7 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they talk…and sing.”
17 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
18 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
19 tn Heb “and his compassion is over all his works.”
20 tn Heb “the sons of man.”
21 tn Heb “a kingdom of all ages.”
22 tc Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, with each successive verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in the traditional Hebrew (Masoretic) text of Psalm 145 there is no verse beginning with the letter nun. One would expect such a verse to appear as the fourteenth verse, between the mem (מ) and samek (ס) verses. Several ancient witnesses, including one medieval Hebrew manuscript, the Qumran scroll from cave 11, the LXX, and the Syriac, supply the missing nun (נ) verse, which reads as follows: “The Lord is reliable in all his words, and faithful in all his deeds.” One might paraphrase this as follows: “The Lord’s words are always reliable; his actions are always faithful.” Scholars are divided as to the originality of this verse. L. C. Allen argues for its inclusion on the basis of structural considerations (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 294-95), but there is no apparent explanation for why, if original, it would have been accidentally omitted. The psalm may be a partial acrostic, as in Pss 25 and 34 (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 3:335). The glaring omission of the nun line would have invited a later redactor to add such a line.
23 tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).
24 tn Heb “the eyes of all wait for you.”
25 tn Heb “and you give to them their food in its season” (see Ps 104:27).
26 tn Heb “[with what they] desire.”
27 tn Heb “in all his ways.”
28 tn Heb “and [is] loving in all his deeds.”
29 tn Heb “in truth.”
30 tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.
31 tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”
32 tn Heb “the praise of the
33 tn Heb “all flesh.”
34 sn Psalm 146. The psalmist urges his audience not to trust in men, but in the
35 tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the
36 tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.
37 sn Psalm 149. The psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise him because he is just and avenges them.
38 tn Heb “his praise in the assembly of the godly ones.”
39 tn Heb “sons.”
40 sn The
41 tn Heb “he honors the oppressed [with] deliverance.”
42 tn Heb “in glory.” Here “glory” probably refers to the “honor” that belongs to the
43 tn The significance of the reference to “beds” is unclear. Perhaps the point is that they should rejoice at all times, even when falling asleep or awaking.
44 tn Heb “[May] praises of God [be] in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”
45 tn Heb “to do.”
46 tn Heb “to bind.”
47 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the enemies of the people of God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
48 tn Heb “to do against them judgment [that] is written.”
49 tn Heb “it is honor for all his godly ones.” The judgment of the oppressive kings will bring vindication and honor to God’s people (see vv. 4-5).
50 sn Psalm 150. The Psalter concludes with a resounding call for praise from everything that has breath.
51 tn Heb “the sky of his strength.”