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The 1st Hallelujah Psalm[a]

146 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
    I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
I will praise the Lord through all my life.
    While I am alive, I will always sing to praise my God.
Do not trust in human leaders.
    No human can save you.
When they die, they return to the ground.
    On that day, their plans come to an end.
The person who knows that the God of Jacob will help him is a happy person![b]
    If he trusts in the Lord as his God, he is happy.
The Lord made the skies, the earth and the sea.
    He also made everything that is in them.
He always does what he has promised to do.
He helps poor people to receive justice.
    He gives food to the hungry.
    He makes people that are in a prison go free.
The Lord makes blind people see again.
    The Lord lifts up people who have fallen down.
    The Lord loves people who are righteous.
The Lord takes care of strangers who live among us.
He helps widows and children who have no family.
    But he stops wicked people doing what they want.
10 The Lord will rule as king for ever!
Zion's people, he will always be your God
    and your descendants' God.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. 146:1 The last five psalms are called ‘The Hallelujah Psalms’. This is because they all start and end with the Hebrew word ‘Hallelujah’, which means ‘Praise the Lord!’ We have used both here.
  2. 146:5 Jacob was the ancestor of the Israelites. ‘The God of Jacob’ means the God that Jacob worshipped. So it also means the God that the Israelites worshipped, who is the Lord.

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord.[a]

Praise the Lord,(A) my soul.

I will praise the Lord all my life;(B)
    I will sing praise(C) to my God as long as I live.(D)
Do not put your trust in princes,(E)
    in human beings,(F) who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;(G)
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.(H)
Blessed are those(I) whose help(J) is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

He is the Maker of heaven(K) and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful(L) forever.
He upholds(M) the cause of the oppressed(N)
    and gives food to the hungry.(O)
The Lord sets prisoners free,(P)
    the Lord gives sight(Q) to the blind,(R)
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,(S)
    the Lord loves the righteous.(T)
The Lord watches over the foreigner(U)
    and sustains the fatherless(V) and the widow,(W)
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The Lord reigns(X) forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 146:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 10