English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.
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Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising.
2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
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Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs! Play his praise on a grand piano!
3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
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Invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare.
4 For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
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For God's Word is solid to the core; everything he makes is sound inside and out.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
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He loves it when everything fits, when his world is in plumb-line true. Earth is drenched in God's affectionate satisfaction.
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
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The skies were made by God's command; he breathed the word and the stars popped out.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses.
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He scooped Sea into his jug, put Ocean in his keg.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
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Earth-creatures, bow before God; world-dwellers - down on your knees!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
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Here's why: he spoke and there it was, in place the moment he said so.
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
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God takes the wind out of Babel pretense, he shoots down the world's power-schemes.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
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God's plan for the world stands up, all his designs are made to last.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
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Blessed is the country with God for God; blessed are the people he's put in his will.
13 The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;
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From high in the skies God looks around, he sees all Adam's brood.
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,
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From where he sits he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.
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He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do.
16 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
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No king succeeds with a big army alone, no warrior wins by brute strength.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
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Horsepower is not the answer; no one gets by on muscle alone.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
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Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love.
19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
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He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together.
20 Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
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We're depending on God; he's everything we need.
21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
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What's more, our hearts brim with joy since we've taken for our own his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
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Love us, God, with all you've got - that's what we're depending on.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
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.