Chapter 43
- 1
- The clear vault of the sky shines forth like heaven itself, a vision of glory.
- 2
- The orb of the sun, resplendent at its rising: what a wonderful work of the Most High!
- 3
- At noon it seethes the surface of the earth, and who can bear its fiery heat?
- 4
- Like a blazing furnace of solid metal, it sets the mountains aflame with its rays; By its fiery darts the land is consumed; the eyes are dazzled by its light.
- 5
- Great indeed is the LORD who made it, at whose orders it urges on its steeds.
- 6
- The moon, too, that marks the changing times, governing the seasons, their lasting sign,
- 7
- By which we know the feast days and fixed dates, this light-giver which wanes in its course:
- 8
- As its name says, each month it renews itself; how wondrous in this change!
- 9
- The beauty, the glory, of the heavens are the stars that adorn with their sparkling the heights of God,
- 10
- At whose command they keep their place and never relax in their vigils. A weapon against the flood waters stored on high, lighting up the firmament by its brilliance,
- 11
- Behold the rainbow! Then bless its Maker, for majestic indeed is its splendor;
- 12
- It spans the heavens with its glory, this bow bent by the mighty hand of God.
- 13
- His rebuke marks out the path for the lightning, and speeds the arrows of his judgment to their goal.
- 14
- At it the storehouse is opened, and like vultures the clouds hurry forth.
- 15
- In his majesty he gives the storm its power and breaks off the hailstones.
- 16
- The thunder of his voice makes the earth writhe; before his might the mountains quake.
- 17
- A word from him drives on the south wind, the angry north wind, the hurricane and the storm.
- 18
- He sprinkles the snow like fluttering birds; it comes to settle like swarms of locusts.
- 19
- Its shining whiteness blinds the eyes, the mind is baffled by its steady fall.
- 20
- He scatters frost like so much salt; it shines like blossoms on the thornbush.
- 21
- Cold northern blasts he sends that turn the ponds to lumps of ice. He freezes over every body of water, and clothes each pool with a coat of mail.
- 22
- When the mountain growth is scorched with heat, and the flowering plains as though by flames,
- 23
- The dripping clouds restore them all, and the scattered dew enriches the parched land.
- 24
- His is the plan that calms the deep, and plants the islands in the sea.
- 25
- Those who go down to the sea tell part of its story, and when we hear them we are thunderstruck;
- 26
- In it are his creatures, stupendous, amazing, all kinds of life, and the monsters of the deep.
- 27
- For him each messenger succeeds, and at his bidding accomplishes his will.
- 28
- 1 More than this we need not add; let the last word be, he is all in all!
- 29
- Let us praise him the more, since we cannot fathom him, for greater is he than all his works;
- 30
- Awful indeed is the LORD'S majesty, and wonderful is his power.
- 31
- Lift up your voices to glorify the LORD, though he is still beyond your power to praise;
- 32
- Extol him with renewed strength, and weary not, though you cannot reach the end:
- 33
- For who can see him and describe him? or who can praise him as he is?
- 34
- Beyond these, many things lie hid; only a few of his works have we seen.
- 35
- It is the LORD who has made all things, and to those who fear him he gives wisdom.
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1 [28] All in all: the perfections reflected in creation are found in a transcendent way in God, who alone is their source.
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