Psalm 103
New English Translation
Psalm 103[a]
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
With all that is within me, praise[b] his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Do not forget all his kind deeds.[c]
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases,[d]
4 who delivers[e] your life from the Pit,[f]
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your life with good things,[g]
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.[h]
6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.[i]
7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts[j] to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient[k] and demonstrates great loyal love.[l]
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.[m]
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;[n]
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.[o]
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers[p] over his faithful followers.[q]
12 As far as the eastern horizon[r] is from the west,[s]
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions[t] from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,[u]
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.[v]
14 For he knows what we are made of;[w]
he realizes[x] we are made of clay.[y]
15 A person’s life is like grass.[z]
Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
16 but when the hot wind[aa] blows, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,[ab]
and is faithful to their descendants,[ac]
18 to those who keep his covenant,
who are careful to obey his commands.[ad]
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom extends over everything.[ae]
20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,
you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees
and obey his orders.[af]
21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his,[ag]
you servants of his who carry out his desires.[ah]
22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made,[ai]
in all the regions[aj] of his kingdom.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Footnotes
- Psalm 103:1 sn Psalm 103. The psalmist praises God for his mercy and willingness to forgive his people.
- Psalm 103:1 tn The verb “praise” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).
- Psalm 103:2 tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the Lord).
- Psalm 103:3 tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).
- Psalm 103:4 tn Or “redeems.”
- Psalm 103:4 tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24 HT [55:23 ET]).
- Psalm 103:5 tc Heb “who satisfies with the good of your ornaments.” The text as it stands makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes an emendation of עֶדְיֵךְ (ʿedyekh, “your ornaments”) to עֹדֵכִי (ʿodekhi, “your duration; your continuance”), that is, “your life” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 18).
- Psalm 103:5 sn The expression your youth is renewed like an eagle’s may allude to the phenomenon of molting, whereby the eagle grows new feathers.
- Psalm 103:6 tn Heb “the Lord does fairness, and [acts of] justice for all the oppressed.”
- Psalm 103:7 tn Heb “made known his ways.” God’s “ways” in this context are his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 18:30; 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 138:5; 145:17).
- Psalm 103:8 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
- Psalm 103:8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
- Psalm 103:9 tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).
- Psalm 103:10 tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”
- Psalm 103:10 tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”
- Psalm 103:11 tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
- Psalm 103:11 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
- Psalm 103:12 tn Heb “sunrise.”
- Psalm 103:12 tn Or “sunset.”
- Psalm 103:12 tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (peshaʿ, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
- Psalm 103:13 tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
- Psalm 103:13 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
- Psalm 103:14 tn Heb “our form.”
- Psalm 103:14 tn Heb “remembers.”
- Psalm 103:14 tn Heb “we [are] clay.”
- Psalm 103:15 tn Heb “[as for] mankind, like grass [are] his days.” The Hebrew noun אֱנוֹשׁ (ʾenosh) is used here generically of human beings. What is said is true of all mankind.
- Psalm 103:16 tn Heb “[the] wind.” The word “hot” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Psalm 103:17 tn Heb “but the loyal love of the Lord [is] from everlasting to everlasting over those who fear him.”
- Psalm 103:17 tn Heb “and his righteousness to sons of sons.”
- Psalm 103:18 tn Heb “to those who remember his precepts to do them.”
- Psalm 103:19 tn Heb “his kingdom rules over all.”
- Psalm 103:20 tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”
- Psalm 103:21 tn Heb “all his hosts.”
- Psalm 103:21 tn Heb “his attendants, doers of his desire.”
- Psalm 103:22 tn Heb “all his works,” which includes mankind.
- Psalm 103:22 tn Heb “places.”
Psalm 103
1599 Geneva Bible
103 1 He provoketh all to praise the Lord, which hath pardoned his sins, delivered him from destruction and given him sufficient of all good things. 10 Then he addeth the tender mercies of God, which he showeth like a most tender Father toward his children. 14 The frailty of man’s life. 20 An exhortation to man and Angels to praise the Lord.
A Psalm of David.
1 My soul, [a]praise thou the Lord, and all that is within me, praise his holy Name.
2 My soul, praise thou the Lord, and forget not all his benefits.
3 Which [b]forgiveth all thine iniquity, and healeth all thine infirmities.
4 Which redeemeth thy life from the [c]grave; and crowneth thee with mercy and compassions.
5 Which satisfieth thy mouth with good things: and thy [d]youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment to all that are oppressed.
7 He made his ways known unto [e]Moses, and his works unto the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness.
9 He will not always [f]chide, neither keep his anger forever.
10 He hath not [g]dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heaven is above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as [h]the East is from the West: so far hath he removed our sins from us.
13 As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth whereof we be made: he remembereth that we are but dust.
15 The days of [i]man are as grass: as a flower of the field, so flourisheth he.
16 For the wind goeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the loving kindness of the Lord endureth forever and ever upon them that fear him, and his [j]righteousness upon children’s children,
18 Unto them that keep his [k]covenant, and think upon his commandments to do them.
19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven, and his kingdom ruleth over all.
20 Praise the Lord, ye [l]his Angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandment in obeying the voice of his word.
21 Praise the Lord all ye his hosts, ye his servants that do his pleasure.
22 Praise the Lord all ye his works, in all places of his dominion: my soul, praise thou the Lord.
Footnotes
- Psalm 103:1 He wakeneth his dullness to praise God, showing that both understanding and affections, mind and heart are too little to set forth his praise.
- Psalm 103:3 That is, the beginning and chiefest of all benefits, remission of sin.
- Psalm 103:4 For before that we have remission of our sins, we are as dead men in the grave.
- Psalm 103:5 As the eagle, when her beak overgroweth, sucketh blood, and so is renewed in strength, even so God miraculously giveth strength to his Church above all man’s expectation.
- Psalm 103:7 As to his chief minister, and next to his people.
- Psalm 103:9 He showeth first his severe judgment, but so soon as the sinner is humbled, he received him to mercy.
- Psalm 103:10 Who have proved by continual experience, that his mercy hath ever prevailed against our offences.
- Psalm 103:12 As great as the world is, so full is it of signs of God’s mercies toward his faithful, when he hath removed their sins.
- Psalm 103:15 He declareth that man hath nothing in himself to move God to mercy, but only the confession of his infirmity and misery.
- Psalm 103:17 His just and faithful keeping of his promise.
- Psalm 103:18 To whom he giveth grace to fear him, and to obey his word.
- Psalm 103:20 In that that we, which naturally are slow to praise God, exhort the Angels, who willingly do it, we stir up ourselves to consider our duty, and awake out of our sluggishness.
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