1 The pride of the heights above is the clear firmament. How glorious is the spectacle of the heavens!
2 When the sun rises and appears, it proclaims: “I am your marvelous work, Most High!”
3 At noon, it dries up the land; who can bear its burning heat?
4 You may stoke a furnace to produce heat, but three times greater is the heat of the sun burning the mountains, and sending out fiery vapors, blinding the eyes with its rays.
5 How great is the Lord who made it and whose word directs its rapid course!
6 He also made the moon, exact in marking the months and the passage of time.
7 With its full light gradually de creasing, the moon determines and rules over the feast days.
8 The month also takes its name from the moon. How marvelously does it increase in its phases, providing a signal for the heavenly hosts, brightly shining in the expanse of the sky!
9 The bright radiance of the stars accounts for the beauty of the sky. What a brilliant ornament they are for the heights of the Lord!
10 At the command of the All Holy they stand as appointed and never fail to keep watch.
11 Look at the rainbow and praise the One who made it. How magnificent it is in splendor!
12 It forms a circle of glory in the sky, a bow that is bent by the hands of its Maker.
13 At his order the snow falls and lightning strikes according to his decrees.
14 The storerooms of heaven are opened and clouds fly away like birds.
15 It is his power that thickens the clouds, making them freeze and break into hailstones.
16a He has only to look and the mountains are shaken;
17a the voice of his thunder terrifies the earth.
16b At his will the south wind blows,
17b as do cyclones and hurricanes from the north.
18 The snow flutters down like birds and alights on the ground like locusts.
The eye marvels at the beauty of its whiteness and the mind is amazed to see it fall.
19 He sprinkles frost on the earth like salt; it freezes and becomes like thorny spikes.
20 The cold north wind blows and turns the water into ice.
Ice forms on all stagnant water giving it a freezing coat of armor.
21 He wears down the mountains and scorches the desert, withering the green grass as if by fire.
22 A mist is a timely remedy, and dew after the heat restores it all to life.
23 According to his plan he stilled the great deep and planted islands in it.
24 Those who cross the seas tell of its dangers, and we listen in astonishment to what they relate:
25 It is all about strange and marvelous ad ventures with marine animals and monsters of all kinds.
26 Thanks be to God, all turns out well and everything is held together by his word.
27 We shall not give further examples; one last word: He is everything.
28 Where shall we find the strength to glorify him? For he is the Mighty One, greater than all his works.
29 The Lord is awesome and sovereignly great, and admirable in his power.
30 Let your praise exalt the Lord as best you can, he is greater than you could even express.
Honor him with all your strength and do not tire, for you can never praise him enough.
31 Who has seen him and can describe what he has seen? Who can glorify him as he merits?
32 Many mysteries greater than these still remain, for we have only seen a fraction of his works.
33 The Lord has created all things and to the godly he has given wisdom.