Bless the Eternal, O
my soul ! Eternal One, my God, thou art most great, arrayed
in glorious majesty.
Thou wrappest
thyself in a robe of light, thou spreadest the sky like a tent,
thou buildest thy chambers on the waters above; thou makest clouds
thy chariot, thou ridest on the wings of the wind; thou makest
winds thy messengers, fire and flame thy
servants.
Thou didst found the
earth upon its pillars, never to be shaken, drawing the deep over
it, till the waters stood above the mountains; but they retired at
thy rebuke, scared at the sound of thy thunder, never to pass thine
appointed bounds, or cover earth again; the mountains rose, the
valleys sank, to the place made for them.
He pours the streams
into the the valleys, that flow between the mountains, where all
the wild beasts drink, wild-asses quench their thirst; there the
wild birds settle, singing among the branches; and the great trees
drink their fill, the cedars the Eternal sowed on Lebanon, where
the birds build their nests, the stork with her home in the
cypress.
The high hills
shelter the wild goat, the marmot hides in the rocks.
He waters the
hills from his high chambers, and rains abundantly upon the
land, till grass grows for the cattle, and fodder for the beasts
that serve mankind; that he may bring food from the earth, wine to
cheer up the heart of man, oil, that his skin may shine, bread to
sustain his strength.
He marks the seasons
by the moon, he tells the sun when it must set.
Thou makest it dark;
night falls, and every wild beast in the wood is moving- lions
roaring for their prey and claiming food from God; when the sun
rises, then they slink away to lie down in their lairs, but man
comes out to work,
and labours till the
evening.
How manifold thy
works, Eternal One, all of them wisely made !
Yonder the sea lies,
vast and broad, with its countless swarms, with
creatures small and great, with fleets of the nautilus, with
leviathan at his play !
The world is
full of thy creatures, all looking to thee for their food in season
due; what thou givest, that they gather, feasting from thine open
hand.
But when thy face is
hidden, they are scared, when thou recallest their
breath, they
die.
Yet a breath from
thee brings them into being, renewing the face of the
earth.
For ever may the
glorious might of the Eternal last !
May the Eternal joy
in his own works!
Earth trembles at a
glance from him, the mountains smoke at his touch.
Long as I live, I
will sing to the Eternal, and praise my God while I have
breath.
May these my
thoughts please him— I find my joy in the Eternal
!
May sinners be swept
out of the world, may evil men no longer live in it !
Bless the Eternal, O
my soul!
Hallelujah
!
