Psalms 96:11

96:11 Let the sky rejoice, and the earth be happy!

Let the sea and everything in it shout!

Psalms 98:7-8

98:7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,

along with the world and those who live in it!

98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands!

Let the mountains sing in unison

Psalms 148:1-14

Psalm 148 ¹ 

148:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the sky!

Praise him in the heavens!

148:2 Praise him, all his angels! ² 

Praise him, all his heavenly assembly! ³ 

148:3 Praise him, O sun and moon!

Praise him, all you shiny stars! ⁴ 

148:4 Praise him, O highest heaven,

and you waters above the sky! ⁵ 

148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he gave the command and they came into existence.

148:6 He established them so they would endure; ⁶ 

he issued a decree that will not be revoked. ⁷ 

148:7 Praise the Lord from the earth,

you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,

148:8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds, ⁸ 

O stormy wind that carries out his orders, ⁹ 

148:9 you mountains and all you hills,

you fruit trees and all you cedars,

148:10 you animals and all you cattle,

you creeping things and birds,

148:11 you kings of the earth and all you nations,

you princes and all you leaders ¹⁰  on the earth,

148:12 you young men and young women,

you elderly, along with you children!

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, ¹¹ 

and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –

the Israelites, the people who are close to him. ¹² 

Praise the Lord!

Psalms 150:6

150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

Isaiah 44:22-23

44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,

the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ¹³ 

Come back to me, for I protect ¹⁴  you.”

44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; ¹⁵ 

shout out, you subterranean regions ¹⁶  of the earth.

O mountains, give a joyful shout;

you too, O forest and all your trees! ¹⁷ 

For the Lord protects ¹⁸  Jacob;

he reveals his splendor through Israel. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 49:13

49:13 Shout for joy, O sky! ²⁰ 

Rejoice, O earth!

Let the mountains give a joyful shout!

For the Lord consoles his people

and shows compassion to the ²¹  oppressed.

Isaiah 55:12

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

Revelation 7:11-13

7:11 And all the angels stood ²²  there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ²³  before the throne and worshiped God, 7:12 saying,

“Amen! Praise and glory,

and wisdom and thanksgiving,

and honor and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

7:13 Then ²⁴  one of the elders asked ²⁵  me, “These dressed in long white robes – who are they and where have they come from?”

[148:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 148. The psalmist calls upon all creation to praise the Lord, for he is the creator and sovereign king of the world.

[148:2]  ² tn Or “heavenly messengers.”

[148:2]  ³ tn Heb “all his host.”

[148:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “stars of light.”

[148:4]  ⁵ sn The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. See also Ps 104:3. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 47.

[148:6]  ⁶ tn Or “forever and ever.”

[148:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it will not pass away.”

[148:8]  ⁸ tn In Ps 119:83 the noun refers to “smoke,” but here, where the elements of nature are addressed, the clouds, which resemble smoke, are probably in view.

[148:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “[that] does his word.”

[148:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “judges.”

[148:14]  ¹¹ 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 Lord gives his people military victory.

[148:14]  ¹² 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.

[44:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

[44:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”

[44:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.

[44:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”

[44:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:23]  ¹⁹ tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”

[49:13]  ²⁰ tn Or “O heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[49:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “his” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[7:11]  ²² tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.

[7:11]  ²³ tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[7:13]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[7:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.