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Psalm 103

1  Bless the Lord, O my soul, ♦︎
   and all that is within me bless his holy name.
2  Bless the Lord, O my soul, ♦︎
   and forget not all his benefits;
3  Who forgives all your sins ♦︎
   and heals all your infirmities;
4  Who redeems your life from the Pit ♦︎
   and crowns you with faithful love and compassion;
5  Who satisfies you with good things, ♦︎
   so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
6  The Lord executes righteousness ♦︎
   and judgement for all who are oppressed.
7  He made his ways known to Moses ♦︎
   and his works to 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 accuse us, ♦︎
   neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, ♦︎
   nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
11  For as the heavens are high above the earth, ♦︎
   so great is his mercy upon those who fear him.
12  As far as the east is from the west, ♦︎
   so far has he set our sins from us.
13  As a father has compassion on his children, ♦︎
   so is the Lord merciful towards those who fear him.
14  For he knows of what we are made; ♦︎
   he remembers that we are but dust.
15  Our days are but as grass; ♦︎
   we flourish as a flower of the field;
16  For as soon as the wind goes over it, it is gone, ♦︎
   and its place shall know it no more.
17  But the merciful goodness of the Lord is from of old
      and endures for ever on those who fear him, ♦︎
   and his righteousness on children’s children;
18  On those who keep his covenant ♦︎
   and remember his commandments to do them.
19  The Lord has established his throne in heaven, ♦︎
   and his kingdom has dominion over all.
20  Bless the Lord, you angels of his, ♦︎
   you mighty ones who do his bidding
      and hearken to the voice of his word.
21  Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, ♦︎
   you ministers of his who do his will.
22  Bless the Lord, all you works of his,
      in all places of his dominion; ♦︎
   bless the Lord, O my soul.

The Splendour of the Sun

43The pride of the higher realms is the clear vault of the sky,
   as glorious to behold as the sight of the heavens.
² The sun, when it appears, proclaims as it rises
   what a marvellous instrument it is, the work of the Most High.
³ At noon it parches the land,
   and who can withstand its burning heat?
⁴ A man tending^* a furnace works in burning heat,
   but three times as hot is the sun scorching the mountains;
it breathes out fiery vapours,
   and its bright rays blind the eyes.
⁵ Great is the Lord who made it;
   at his orders it hurries on its course.

The Splendour of the Moon

⁶ It is the moon that marks the changing seasons,^*
   governing the times, their everlasting sign.
⁷ From the moon comes the sign for festal days,
   a light that wanes when it completes its course.
⁸ The new moon, as its name suggests, renews itself;^*
   how marvellous it is in this change,
a beacon to the hosts on high,
   shining in the vault of the heavens!

The Glory of the Stars and the Rainbow

⁹ The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven,
   a glittering array in the heights of the Lord.
¹⁰ On the orders of the Holy One they stand in their appointed places;
   they never relax in their watches.
¹¹ Look at the rainbow, and praise him who made it;
   it is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.
¹² It encircles the sky with its glorious arc;
   the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.

The Marvels of Nature

¹³ By his command he sends the driving snow
   and speeds the lightnings of his judgement.
¹⁴ Therefore the storehouses are opened,
   and the clouds fly out like birds.
¹⁵ In his majesty he gives the clouds their strength,
   and the hailstones are broken in pieces.
^17a The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth;
¹⁶   when he appears, the mountains shake.
At his will the south wind blows;
^17b   so do the storm from the north and the whirlwind.
He scatters the snow like birds flying down,
   and its descent is like locusts alighting.
¹⁸ The eye is dazzled by the beauty of its whiteness,
   and the mind is amazed as it falls.
¹⁹ He pours frost over the earth like salt,
   and icicles form like pointed thorns.
²⁰ The cold north wind blows,
   and ice freezes on the water;
it settles on every pool of water,
   and the water puts it on like a breastplate.
²¹ He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness,
   and withers the tender grass like fire.
²² A mist quickly heals all things;
   the falling dew gives refreshment from the heat.

Solomon Instructed to Build the Temple

28David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of the thousands, the commanders of the hundreds, the stewards of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty warriors, and all the warriors. ²Then King David rose to his feet and said: ‘Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had planned to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God; and I made preparations for building. ³But God said to me, “You shall not build a house for my name, for you are a warrior and have shed blood.” ⁴Yet the Lord God of Israel chose me from all my ancestral house to be king over Israel for ever; for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father’s house, and among my father’s sons he took delight in making me king over all Israel. ⁵And of all my sons, for the Lord has given me many, he has chosen my son Solomon to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ⁶He said to me, “It is your son Solomon who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father to him. ⁷I will establish his kingdom for ever if he continues resolute in keeping my commandments and my ordinances, as he is today.” ⁸Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and search out all the commandments of the Lord your God; that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you for ever.

9 ‘And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve him with single mind and willing heart; for the Lord searches every mind, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will abandon you for ever. ¹⁰Take heed now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary; be strong, and act.’

11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plan of the vestibule of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy-seat;^*

19 ‘All this, in writing at the Lord’s direction, he made clear to me—the plan of all the works.’

20 David said further to his son Solomon, ‘Be strong and of good courage, and act. Do not be afraid or dismayed; for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.

Reaping the Earth’s Harvest

14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! ¹⁵Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, ‘Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.’ ¹⁶So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.’ ¹⁹So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. ²⁰And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.^*

The Angels with the Seven Last Plagues

15Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.

2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. ³And they sing the song of Moses, the servant^* of God, and the song of the Lamb:
‘Great and amazing are your deeds,
   Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
   King of the nations!^*
4 Lord, who will not fear
   and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
   All nations will come
   and worship before you,
for your judgements have been revealed.’

5 After this I looked, and the temple of the tent^* of witness in heaven was opened, ⁶and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen,^* with golden sashes across their chests. ⁷Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever; ⁸and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.