The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 O my soul, bless God! God, my God, how great you are! beautifully, gloriously robed,
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Let all that I am praise the LORD . O LORD my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty.
2 Dressed up in sunshine, and all heaven stretched out for your tent.
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You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
3 You built your palace on the ocean deeps, made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings.
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you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind.
4 You commandeered winds as messengers, appointed fire and flame as ambassadors.
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The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your servants.
5 You set earth on a firm foundation so that nothing can shake it, ever.
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You placed the world on its foundation so it would never be moved.
6 You blanketed earth with ocean, covered the mountains with deep waters;
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You clothed the earth with floods of water, water that covered even the mountains.
7 Then you roared and the water ran away - your thunder crash put it to flight.
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At your command, the water fled; at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
8 Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out in the places you assigned them.
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Mountains rose and valleys sank to the levels you decreed.
9 You set boundaries between earth and sea; never again will earth be flooded.
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Then you set a firm boundary for the seas, so they would never again cover the earth.
10 You started the springs and rivers, sent them flowing among the hills.
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You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down from the mountains.
11 All the wild animals now drink their fill, wild donkeys quench their thirst.
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They provide water for all the animals, and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Along the riverbanks the birds build nests, ravens make their voices heard.
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The birds nest beside the streams and sing among the branches of the trees.
13 You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns; earth is supplied with plenty of water.
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You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You make grass grow for the livestock, hay for the animals that plow the ground. Oh yes, God brings grain from the land,
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You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth—
15 wine to make people happy, Their faces glowing with health, a people well-fed and hearty.
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wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength.
16 God's trees are well-watered - the Lebanon cedars he planted.
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The trees of the LORD are well cared for— the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 Birds build their nests in those trees; look - the stork at home in the treetop.
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There the birds make their nests, and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.
18 Mountain goats climb about the cliffs; badgers burrow among the rocks.
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High in the mountains live the wild goats, and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.
19 The moon keeps track of the seasons, the sun is in charge of each day.
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You made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to set.
20 When it's dark and night takes over, all the forest creatures come out.
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You send the darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals prowl about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey, clamoring to God for their supper.
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Then the young lions roar for their prey, stalking the food provided by God.
22 When the sun comes up, they vanish, lazily stretched out in their dens.
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At dawn they slink back into their dens to rest.
23 Meanwhile, men and women go out to work, busy at their jobs until evening.
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Then people go off to their work, where they labor until evening.
24 What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.
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O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Oh, look - the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon.
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Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.
26 Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.
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See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.
27 All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time.
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They all depend on you to give them food as they need it.
28 You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it.
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When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satisfied.
29 If you turned your back, they'd die in a minute - Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud;
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But if you turn away from them, they panic. When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust.
30 Send out your Spirit and they spring to life - the whole countryside in bloom and blossom.
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When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.
31 The glory of God - let it last forever! Let God enjoy his creation!
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May the glory of the LORD continue forever! The LORD takes pleasure in all he has made!
32 He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake, points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt.
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The earth trembles at his glance; the mountains smoke at his touch.
33 Oh, let me sing to God all my life long, sing hymns to my God as long as I live!
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I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!
34 Oh, let my song please him; I'm so pleased to be singing to God.
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May all my thoughts be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD .
35 But clear the ground of sinners - no more godless men and women! O my soul, bless God!
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Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth; let the wicked disappear forever. Let all that I am praise the LORD . Praise the LORD !
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.