Psalms 104:20-35

104:20 You make it dark and night comes, ¹ 

during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.

104:21 The lions roar for prey,

seeking their food from God. ² 

104:22 When the sun rises, they withdraw

and sleep ³  in their dens.

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

and labor away until evening. ⁴ 

104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! ⁵ 

You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; ⁶ 

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

104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, ⁷ 

which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, ⁸ 

living things both small and large.

104:26 The ships travel there,

and over here swims the whale ⁹  you made to play in it.

104:27 All of your creatures ¹⁰  wait for you

to provide them with food on a regular basis. ¹¹ 

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

you open your hand and they are filled with food. ¹² 

104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. ¹³ 

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! ¹⁴ 

May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made! ¹⁵ 

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! ¹⁶ 

104:34 May my thoughts ¹⁷  be pleasing to him!

I will rejoice in the Lord.

104:35 May sinners disappear ¹⁸  from the earth,

and the wicked vanish!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

[104:20]  ¹ tn Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”

[104:21]  ² sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.

[104:22]  ³ tn Heb “lie down.”

[104:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”

[104:24]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”

[104:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”

[104:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”

[104:26]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to give their food in its time.”

[104:28]  ¹² tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] good.”

[104:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”

[104:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “be forever.”

[104:31]  ¹⁵ tn Or “rejoice in his works.”

[104:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in my duration.”

[104:34]  ¹⁷ tn That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.

[104:35]  ¹⁸ tn Or “be destroyed.”