Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.

1Praise the LORD!

For it is good to sing praises to our [gracious and majestic] God;

Praise is becoming and appropriate.

2The LORD is building up Jerusalem;

He is gathering [together] the exiles of Israel.

3He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow].

4He counts the number of the stars;

He calls them all by their names.

5Great is our [majestic and mighty] Lord and abundant in strength;

His understanding is inexhaustible [infinite, boundless].

6The LORD lifts up the humble;

He casts the wicked down to the ground.

7Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;

Sing praises to our God with the lyre,

8Who covers the heavens with clouds,

Who provides rain for the earth,

Who makes grass grow on the mountains.

9He gives to the beast its food,

And to the young ravens that for which they cry.

10He does not delight in the strength (military power) of the horse,

Nor does He take pleasure in the legs (strength) of a man.

11The LORD favors those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],

Those who wait for His mercy and lovingkindness.

12Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!

13For He has strengthened the bars of your gates,

He has blessed your children within you.

14He makes peace in your borders;

He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.

15He sends His command to the earth;

His word runs very swiftly.

16He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;

He scatters the frost like ashes.

17He casts out His ice like fragments;

Who can stand before His cold?

18He sends out His word and melts the ice;

He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.

19He declares His word to Jacob,

His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.

20He has not dealt this way with any [other] nation;

They have not known [understood, appreciated, heeded, or cherished] His ordinances.

Praise the LORD! (Hallelujah!)