Psalms 104:14-35

104:14 He provides grass ¹  for the cattle,

and crops for people to cultivate, ² 

so they can produce food from the ground, ³ 

104:15 as well as wine that makes people feel so good, ⁴ 

and so they can have oil to make their faces shine, ⁵ 

as well as food that sustains people’s lives. ⁶ 

104:16 The trees of the Lord ⁷  receive all the rain they need, ⁸ 

the cedars of Lebanon which he planted,

104:17 where the birds make nests,

near the evergreens in which the herons live. ⁹ 

104:18 The wild goats live in the high mountains; ¹⁰ 

the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.

104:19 He made the moon to mark the months, ¹¹ 

and the sun sets according to a regular schedule. ¹² 

104:20 You make it dark and night comes, ¹³ 

during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.

104:21 The lions roar for prey,

seeking their food from God. ¹⁴ 

104:22 When the sun rises, they withdraw

and sleep ¹⁵  in their dens.

104:23 Men then go out to do their work,

and labor away until evening. ¹⁶ 

104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! ¹⁷ 

You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; ¹⁸ 

the earth is full of the living things you have made.

104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, ¹⁹ 

which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, ²⁰ 

living things both small and large.

104:26 The ships travel there,

and over here swims the whale ²¹  you made to play in it.

104:27 All of your creatures ²²  wait for you

to provide them with food on a regular basis. ²³ 

104:28 You give food to them and they receive it;

you open your hand and they are filled with food. ²⁴ 

104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. ²⁵ 

When you take away their life’s breath, they die

and return to dust.

104:30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,

and you replenish the surface of the ground.

104:31 May the splendor of the Lord endure! ²⁶ 

May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made! ²⁷ 

104:32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;

he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.

104:33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist! ²⁸ 

104:34 May my thoughts ²⁹  be pleasing to him!

I will rejoice in the Lord.

104:35 May sinners disappear ³⁰  from the earth,

and the wicked vanish!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

[104:14]  ¹ tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”

[104:14]  ² tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).

[104:14]  ³ tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”

[104:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”

[104:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).

[104:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”

[104:16]  ⁷ sn The trees of the Lord are the cedars of Lebanon (see the next line), which are viewed as special because of their great size and grandeur. The Lebanon forest was viewed elsewhere in the OT as the “garden of God” (see Ezek 31:8).

[104:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “are satisfied,” which means here that they receive abundant rain (see v. 13).

[104:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “[the] heron [in the] evergreens [is] its home.”

[104:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the high mountains [are] for the goats.”

[104:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he made [the] moon for appointed times.” The phrase “appointed times” probably refers to the months of the Hebrew lunar calendar.

[104:19]  ¹² tn Heb more metaphorically, “knows its setting.”

[104:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”

[104:21]  ¹⁴ sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.

[104:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lie down.”

[104:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”

[104:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O Lord.” In this case the Lord’s “works” are the creatures he has made, as the preceding and following contexts make clear.

[104:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”

[104:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”

[104:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”

[104:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.

[104:27]  ²² tn Heb “All of them.” The pronoun “them” refers not just to the sea creatures mentioned in vv. 25-26, but to all living things (see v. 24). This has been specified in the translation as “all of your creatures” for clarity.

[104:27]  ²³ tn Heb “to give their food in its time.”

[104:28]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] good.”

[104:29]  ²⁵ tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”

[104:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “be forever.”

[104:31]  ²⁷ tn Or “rejoice in his works.”

[104:33]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in my duration.”

[104:34]  ²⁹ tn That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.

[104:35]  ³⁰ tn Or “be destroyed.”