The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Message Bible MSG
1 For the leader. On the gittit. A psalm of the sons of Korach: How deeply loved are your dwelling-places, ADONAI-Tzva'ot!
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What a beautiful home, God of the Angel Armies! I've always longed to live in a place like this,
2 My soul yearns, yes, faints with longing for the courtyards of ADONAI; my heart and body cry for joy to the living God.
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Always dreamed of a room in your house, where I could sing for joy to God-alive!
3 As the sparrow finds herself a home and the swallow her nest, where she lays her young, [so my resting-place is] by your altars, ADONAI-Tzva'ot, my king and my God.
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Birds find nooks and crannies in your house, sparrows and swallows make nests there. They lay their eggs and raise their young, singing their songs in the place where we worship. God of the Angel Armies! King! God!
4 How happy are those who live in your house; they never cease to praise you! (Selah)
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How blessed they are to live and sing there!
5 How happy the man whose strength is in you, in whose heart are [pilgrim] highways.
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And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel;
6 Passing through the [dry] Baka Valley, they make it a place of springs, and the early rain clothes it with blessings.
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They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
7 They go from strength to strength and appear before God in Tziyon.
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God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn - Zion! God in full view!
8 ADONAI, God of armies, hear my prayer; listen, God of Ya'akov. (Selah)
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God of the Angel Armies, listen: O God of Jacob, open your ears - I'm praying!
9 God, see our shield [the king]; look at the face of your anointed.
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Look at our shields, glistening in the sun, our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.
10 Better a day in your courtyards than a thousand [days elsewhere]. Better just standing at the door of my God's house than living in the tents of the wicked.
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One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches. I'd rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
11 For ADONAI, God, is a sun and a shield; ADONAI bestows favor and honor; he will not withhold anything good from those whose lives are pure.
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All sunshine and sovereign is God, generous in gifts and glory. He doesn't scrimp with his traveling companions.
12 ADONAI-Tzva'ot, how happy is anyone who trusts in you!
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It's smooth sailing all the way with God of the Angel Armies.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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.