BOOK IV
Psalms 90 – 106
PSALM 104
Creation Prologue (Gen 1:1 – Gen 2:3)
CANTO I
Canticle I.1
Strophe 1
1 Bless, O my soul, Yhwh!
Yhwh, my God, You have been very great:
Majesty and honor You have clothed Yourself.
Strophe 2
2 Covering Himself with light as a mantle,
Stretching out the heavens like a curtain:
3 Who is laying the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who is setting the clouds as His chariot,
Who is walking upon wings of wind.
Strophe 3
4 Making His angels spirits,
His servants a flaming fire:
5 He has founded earth upon His foundations,
She does not totter forever and ever.
Canticle I.2
Strophe 4
6 The deep as a garment You have covered it,
Above mountains, waters do stand:
7 From Your rebuke they flee,
From the voice of Your thunder they hurry.
Strophe 5
8 They ascend mountains, they descend valleys,
Unto a place which You have founded for them:
9 A boundary You have set that they pass not over,
They return not to cover the earth.
CANTO II
Canticle II.1
Strophe 6
10 Who is sending the springs in valleys,
Between the mountains they walk:
11 They give drink to every living creature of the field,
Wild asses quench their thirst.
Strophe 7
12 Beside them the fowl of the heavens do dwell,
From between the branches they give forth their voice:
13 Watering hills from His upper chambers,
From the fruit of Your works is the earth satisfied.
Canticle II.2
Strophe 8
14 Causing grass to sprout forth for behemah,
And herb for the service of the man,
To bring forth bread out of the earth:
15 And wine gladdens the heart of man,
To cause the face to shine from oil,
And bread the heart of man it sustains.
Strophe 9
16 Satisfied are the trees of Yhwh,
Cedars of Lebanon which He has planted:
17 Wherein the small birds make their nests,
The stork the cypresses are her house:
18 The high mountains are for wild goats,
Rocks are a refuge for rock-hyraxes.
Canticle II.3
Strophe 10
19 He made the moon for appointed times,
The sun has known his setting:
20 You set darkness, and it is night,
Wherein does creep every living creature of the forest.
Strophe 11
21 The young lions are roaring for prey,
And to seek from God their food:
22 The sun rises, they are gathered together,
And in their dens they recline themselves:
23 Man goes forth to his work,
And to his labor until evening.
CANTO III
Canticle III.1
Strophe 12
24 How manifold have been Your works, Yhwh!
All of them in wisdom You have made,
Full is the earth of Your wealth:
25 This, the sea, great and wide of space,
From there are reptiles innumerable,
Living creatures, small with great.
26 There do the ships go,
Leviathan, which You have formed to play therein.
Strophe 13
27 All of them upon You do hope,
To give their food in its proper time:
28 You give to them, they gather it,
You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
Strophe 14
29 You hide Your face, they perish suddenly,
You take away their breath, they expire,
And unto their dust they return:
30 You send out Your Spirit, they are created,
And You renew the face of the ground.
Canticle III.2
Strophe 15
31 Let the glory of Yhwh be forever;
Yhwh rejoices in His works:
32 Who is looking onto earth, and she trembles,
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
Strophe 16
33 I sing to Yhwh while I am living,
I make music to my God while I have my being:
34 Sweet is my meditation upon Him,
I – I do rejoice in Yhwh.
CODA
Strophe 17
35 Consumed are sinners from the earth,
And the wicked be no more,
Bless, O my soul, Yhwh!
Praise you, Yah!
BPV
Cedars of Lebanon
Cypress
Rock Hyrax
by Siegmund K. M.