147:1 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God!
Yes, 2 praise is pleasant and appropriate!
147:2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, 3
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
147:3 He heals 4 the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
147:4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
147:5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power; 5
there is no limit to his wisdom. 6
147:6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks 7 the wicked to the ground.
147:7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks! 8
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp!
147:8 He covers 9 the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides. 10
147:9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp. 11
147:10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs. 12
147:11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers, 13
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
147:12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
147:13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children 14 within you.
1 sn Psalm 147. The psalmist praises the
2 tn Or “for.”
3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
4 tn Heb “the one who heals.”
5 tn Heb “and great of strength.”
6 tn Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.”
7 tn Heb “brings down.”
8 tn Heb “sing to the
9 tn Heb “the one who covers.”
10 tn Heb “hills.”
11 tn Heb “which cry out.”
12 tn Heb “he does not desire the strength of the horse, he does not take delight in the legs of the man.” Here “the horse” refers to the war horse used by ancient Near Eastern chariot forces, and “the man” refers to the warrior whose muscular legs epitomize his strength.
13 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
14 tn Heb “your sons.”