Psalms
Chapter 65

1

¹ For the leader. A psalm of David. A song.

2

² To you we owe our hymn of praise, O God on Zion; To you our vows must be fulfilled,

3

³ you who hear our prayers. To you all flesh must come

4

with its burden of wicked deeds. We are overcome by our sins; only you can pardon them.

5

Happy the chosen ones you bring to dwell in your courts. May we be filled with the good things of your house, the blessings of your holy temple!

6

⁴ You answer us with awesome deeds of justice, O God our savior, The hope of all the ends of the earth and of far distant islands.

7

You are robed in power, you set up the mountains by your might.

8

You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.

9

Distant peoples stand in awe of your marvels; east and west you make resound with joy.

10

^{5 6} You visit the earth and water it, make it abundantly fertile. God's stream is filled with water; with it you supply the world with grain. Thus do you prepare the earth:

11

you drench plowed furrows, and level their ridges. With showers you keep the ground soft, blessing its young sprouts.

12

⁷ You adorn the year with your bounty; your paths drip with fruitful rain.

13

The untilled meadows also drip; the hills are robed with joy.

14

The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys blanketed with grain; they cheer and sing for joy.

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Footnotes

¹ [Psalm 65] The community, aware of its unworthiness (Psalm 65:3-4), gives thanks for divine bounty (Psalm 65:5), a bounty resulting from God's creation victory (Psalm 65:6-9). At God's touch the earth comes alive with vegetation and flocks (Psalm 65:10-13).

² [2] Vows: the Israelites were accustomed to promising sacrifices in the temple if their prayers were heard.

³ [3] To you all flesh must come: all must have recourse to God's mercy.

⁴ [6] Awesome deeds: the acts of creating--installing mountains, taming seas, restraining nations (Psalm 65:7-8)--that are visible worldwide (Psalm 65:6, 9).

⁵ [9-13] Apparently a description of the agricultural year, beginning with the first fall rains that soften the hard sun-baked soil (Psalm 65:9-10).

⁶ [9] God's stream: the fertile waters of the earth derive from God's fertile waters in the heavenly world.

⁷ [12] Paths: probably the tracks of God's storm chariot dropping rain upon earth.

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