Psalms 146

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, my soul.

1Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Note"Praise ye the LORD" translates a single Hebrew word, halelu-yah (the source of the English "hallelujah." It is a plural command, addressed to a gathering rather than to one person. The psalm opens and closes with it. "LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants usually written YHWH; Jewish readers said "Lord" aloud in its place, and English translations have followed that custom. "My soul" in Hebrew (nephesh) means the whole living self, not a spirit part inside a body) closer to "myself" or "my whole being."

2I will praise the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.

2While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

Note"While I have any being" translates a Hebrew phrase meaning "while I still am", for as long as I exist. It is a parallel restatement of "while I live," not a claim about a state beyond death.

3Do not put your trust in rulers, or in any human being, because they cannot save you.

3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

Note"The son of man" here is ordinary Hebrew idiom for a human being, a member of the human race, mortal as opposed to divine. It carries no special title in this verse. "In whom there is no help" means no power to rescue or deliver, not merely unhelpfulness. "Princes" covers rulers and powerful officials generally, not only royal sons.

4When a person's breath leaves him, he goes back to the ground he came from. On that very day, all his plans come to nothing.

4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Note"His breath goeth forth" (the Hebrew word (ruach) means breath, wind, or spirit at once; the picture is of the breath leaving the body at death. "He returneth to his earth" echoes the account of humans being formed from soil and returning to it. "His thoughts perish" is not about opinions or memories: the Hebrew word means plans, schemes, or projects) the things a powerful person intended to do.

5The person who has the God of Jacob to help him is blessed. So is the one whose hope is in the LORD his God.

5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Note"Happy" in the King James Version renders a Hebrew word closer to "fortunate" or "well off", a statement about someone's enviable situation rather than about their mood. "The God of Jacob" identifies God by his relationship with Jacob, the ancestor from whom the tribes of Israel descended and who was renamed Israel; the phrase is a standard way of naming the God of the nation's founding stories.

6He is the one who made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them. He stays faithful forever.

6Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

Note"Which" was ordinary King James English for "who" when speaking of a person. "Keepeth truth for ever" does not mean he tells no lies: the Hebrew word (emet) means reliability or steadiness, so the sense is that he keeps faith: he can be depended on to do what he has said.

7He gives justice to people who are treated unfairly. He gives food to people who are hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free.

7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

Note"Executeth judgment for the oppressed" means carrying out a legal verdict in their favor. In the King James Version "judgment" usually means justice or a just decision, not condemnation, and "the oppressed" are those being crushed or exploited by someone stronger. "Looseth the prisoners" pictures untying or unbinding, the prisoners are in chains rather than behind bars.

8The LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bent low. The LORD loves those who do what is right.

8The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

9The LORD watches over foreigners living among his people. He takes care of children without fathers, and women whose husbands have died. But he turns the road of the wicked upside down.

9The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

10The LORD will rule forever. Your God, Zion, will rule for all generations. Praise the LORD!

10The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.