The Message Bible MSG
Young's Literal Translation YLT
1 Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising.
1
Sing, ye righteous, in Jehovah, For upright ones praise [is] comely.
2 Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs! Play his praise on a grand piano!
2
Give ye thanks to Jehovah with a harp, With psaltery of ten strings sing praise to Him,
3 Invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare.
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Sing ye to Him a new song, Play skilfully with shouting.
4 For God's Word is solid to the core; everything he makes is sound inside and out.
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For upright [is] the word of Jehovah, And all His work [is] in faithfulness.
5 He loves it when everything fits, when his world is in plumb-line true. Earth is drenched in God's affectionate satisfaction.
5
Loving righteousness and judgment, Of the kindness of Jehovah is the earth full.
6 The skies were made by God's command; he breathed the word and the stars popped out.
6
By the word of Jehovah The heavens have been made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
7 He scooped Sea into his jug, put Ocean in his keg.
7
Gathering as a heap the waters of the sea, Putting in treasuries the depths.
8 Earth-creatures, bow before God; world-dwellers - down on your knees!
8
Afraid of Jehovah are all the earth, Of Him are all the inhabitants of the world afraid.
9 Here's why: he spoke and there it was, in place the moment he said so.
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For He hath said, and it is, He hath commanded, and it standeth.
10 God takes the wind out of Babel pretense, he shoots down the world's power-schemes.
10
Jehovah made void the counsel of nations, He disallowed the thoughts of the peoples.
11 God's plan for the world stands up, all his designs are made to last.
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The counsel of Jehovah to the age standeth, The thoughts of His heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the country with God for God; blessed are the people he's put in his will.
12
O the happiness of the nation whose God [is] Jehovah, Of the people He did choose, For an inheritance to Him.
13 From high in the skies God looks around, he sees all Adam's brood.
13
From the heavens hath Jehovah looked, He hath seen all the sons of men.
14 From where he sits he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.
14
From the fixed place of His dwelling, He looked unto all inhabitants of the earth;
15 He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do.
15
Who is forming their hearts together, Who is attending unto all their works.
16 No king succeeds with a big army alone, no warrior wins by brute strength.
16
The king is not saved by the multitude of a force. A mighty man is not delivered, By abundance of power.
17 Horsepower is not the answer; no one gets by on muscle alone.
17
A false thing [is] the horse for safety, And by the abundance of his strength He doth not deliver.
18 Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love.
18
Lo, the eye of Jehovah [is] to those fearing Him, To those waiting for His kindness,
19 He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together.
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To deliver from death their soul, And to keep them alive in famine.
20 We're depending on God; he's everything we need.
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Our soul hath waited for Jehovah, Our help and our shield [is] He,
21 What's more, our hearts brim with joy since we've taken for our own his holy name.
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For in Him doth our heart rejoice, For in His holy name we have trusted.
22 Love us, God, with all you've got - that's what we're depending on.
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Let Thy kindness, O Jehovah, be upon us, As we have waited for Thee!
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.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.