Psalms 146
What Happens in This Chapter
This psalm is a song of praise to God. The singer says he will praise God his whole life long. He warns that human leaders cannot save anyone, because people die and their plans end. Then he lists the things God does for people who are hurting, and says God rules forever.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
1Praise the LORD! I tell my own heart to praise the LORD.
2While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
2I will praise the LORD as long as I live. I will sing to my God for as long as I am here.
3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
3Do not trust in princes to save you. Do not trust in any person. People cannot save you.
4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
4When a person stops breathing, his body goes back to the ground. On that same day, all his plans come to nothing.
5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
5A person is glad when the God of Jacob helps him. He is glad when he waits on the LORD his God for help.
The KJV word "happy" here does not mean a cheerful mood. It means a person is in a good place because God is helping him.
6Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
6God made the heavens and the earth. He made the sea and everything in it. He always keeps his promises.
7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
7God does what is right for people who are treated badly. He gives food to hungry people. The LORD sets prisoners free.
8The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
8The LORD makes blind eyes able to see. The LORD lifts up people who are bent low with sadness. The LORD loves people who do what is right.
9The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
9The LORD keeps visitors from other lands safe. He takes care of children with no father and women whose husbands have died. But he ruins the plans of people who do evil.
10The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.
10The LORD will be king forever. He is your God, Zion, and he rules for all time. Praise the LORD!
Zion is another name for the city of Jerusalem and the people who lived there.
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