1 Give praise to the Lord; for it is good to make melody to our God; praise is pleasing and beautiful. 2 The Lord is building up Jerusalem; he makes all the outlaws of Israel come together. 3 He makes the broken-hearted well, and puts oil on their wounds. 4 He sees the number of the stars; he gives them all their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and great his power; there is no limit to his wisdom. 6 The Lord gives help to the poor in spirit; but he sends sinners down in shame. 7 Make songs of praise to the Lord; make melody to our God with instruments of music. 8 By his hand the heaven is covered with clouds and rain is stored up for the earth; he makes the grass tall on the mountains. 9 He gives food to every beast, and to the young ravens in answer to their cry. 10 He has no delight in the strength of a horse; he takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. 11 The Lord takes pleasure in his worshippers, and in those whose hope is in his mercy. 12 Give praise to the Lord, O Jerusalem; give praise to your God, O Zion. 13 He has made strong the iron bands of your doors; he has sent blessings on your children inside your walls. 14 He gives peace in all your land, making your stores full of fat grain. 15 He sends out his orders to the earth; his word goes out quickly. 16 He gives snow like wool; he sends out ice-drops like dust. 17 He sends down ice like raindrops: water is made hard by his cold. 18 At the outgoing of his word, the ice is turned to water; when he sends out his wind, there is a flowing of waters. 19 He makes his word clear to Jacob, teaching Israel his laws and his decisions. 20 He has not done these things for any other nation: and as for his laws, they have no knowledge of them. Let the Lord be praised.
Psalms · Bible in Basic English
Psalm 147 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
Cross references (20)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Psalm 135:3; Psalm 92:1; Psalm 33:1; Psalm 42:4; Psalm 63:3–5
- 2 Isaiah 56:8; Deuteronomy 30:3; Psalm 51:18; Psalm 102:20–22; Isaiah 62:7
- 3 Psalm 34:18; Job 5:18; Jeremiah 33:6; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18
- 4 Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 148:3; Psalm 8:3; Genesis 15:5
- 5 Isaiah 40:28; Psalm 139:17–18; Psalm 96:4; Romans 11:33; Nahum 1:3
- 6 Psalm 25:9; 1 Peter 5:6; Psalm 146:8–9; James 4:10; Zephaniah 2:3
- 7 Psalm 95:1–2; Psalm 47:6–7; Psalm 68:32; Psalm 107:21–22; Psalm 92:1–3
- 8 Job 5:10; Psalm 65:9–13; Genesis 9:14; Job 26:8–9; Acts 14:17
- 9 Psalm 104:27–28; Job 38:41; Matthew 6:26; Psalm 136:25; Luke 12:24
- 10 1 Samuel 16:7; Isaiah 31:1; Psalm 20:7; Psalm 33:16–18; Proverbs 21:31
- 11 Psalm 33:18; Malachi 3:16–17; Zephaniah 3:17; Psalm 149:4; Isaiah 62:4
- 12 Joel 2:23; Isaiah 12:6; Isaiah 52:7; Psalm 146:10; Psalm 135:19–21
- 13 Psalm 128:3–6; Isaiah 44:3–5; Psalm 115:14–15; Jeremiah 30:19–20; Psalm 144:12
- 14 Psalm 29:11; Isaiah 60:17–18; Psalm 81:16; Psalm 132:15; Deuteronomy 32:14
- 15 Job 37:12; Psalm 107:20; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Matthew 8:8–9; Matthew 8:13
- 16 Job 37:6; Job 38:29; Psalm 148:8; Isaiah 55:10; Job 37:9–10
- 17 Job 38:29–30; Job 38:22–23; Psalm 78:47–48; Job 37:9–10; Exodus 9:23–25
- 18 Psalm 147:15; Psalm 33:9; Job 37:10; Job 6:16–17; Psalm 107:20
- 19 Malachi 4:4; Psalm 78:5; Deuteronomy 33:2–4; Romans 9:4; Deuteronomy 5:22
- 20 Deuteronomy 4:32–34; Deuteronomy 4:7–8; Romans 3:1–2; Ephesians 2:12; 1 Peter 2:9–10
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Behold the Psalm soundeth; it is the voice of some one (and that some one are ye, if ye will), of some one encouraging his soul to praise God, and saying to himself, "Praise the Lord, O my soul" (ver. 1).
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
… bringeth out their host by number." And the Saviour says in the Gospel, "The very hairs of your head are all numbered." Far be it, then, from us to doubt that all number is known to Him "whose understanding," according to the Psalmist, "is infinite." The infinity of number, though there be no numbering of infinite numbers, is yet not …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… lesson David also lays the foundation from old time, saying enigmatically on this wise, "Thou openest Thine hand, and fillest every living thing with bounty;" and again, "To Him that giveth to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that call upon Him." "Who then," it may be said, "have not taken thought"?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Thou beholdest the stars, but their Maker thou beholdest not: count these which are visible, and then describe Him who is invisible, Who telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
Know you the bond of Pleiades, or the fence of Orion as He who counteth the number of the stars and calleth them all by their names? Know you the differences of the glory of each, and the order of their movement, that I should trust you, when by them you weave the web of human concerns, and arm the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)