Metrical 'New Version' (Tate & Brady)
English text
O praise the Lord with hymns of joy,
And celebrate his fame;
For pleasant, good, and comely 'tis
To praise his holy name
His holy city God will build,
Though levell'd with the ground;
Bring back his people, though dispers'd
Through all the nations round.
He kindly heals the broken hearts,
And all their wounds doth close;
He tells the number of the stars,
Their sev'ral names he knows.
Great is the Lord, and great his pow'r,
His wisdom has no bound;
The meek he raises, but throws down
The wicked to the ground.
To God, the Lord, a hymn of praise
With grateful voices sing;
To songs of triumph tune the harp,
And strike each warbling string.
He covers heav'n with clouds, and thence
Refreshing rain bestows;
Through him, on mountain tops, the grass
With wondrous plenty grows.
He savage beasts, that loosely range,
With timely food supplies;
He feeds the raven's tender brood,
And stops their hungry cries.
He values not the warlike steed,
But doth his strength disdain;
The nimble foot, that swiftly runs,
No prize from him can gain.
But he, to him that fears his name,
His tender love extends;
To him that on his boundless grace
With steadfast hope depends.
Let Zion and Jerusalem
To God their praise address,
Who fenc'd their gates with massy bars,
And does their children bless.
Through all their borders he gives peace,
With finest wheat they're fed;
He speaks the word, and what he wills
Is done as soon as said.
Large flakes of snow, like fleecy wool,
Descend at his command;
And hoary frost, like ashes spread,
Is scattered o'er the land.
When, joined to these, he does his hail
In little morsels break,
Who can against his piercing cold
Secure defenses make?
He sends his word, which melts the ice;
He makes his wind to blow;
And soon the streams, congeal'd before,
In plenteous currents flow.
By him his statutes and decrees
To Jacob's sons were shown;
And still to Israel's chosen seed
His righteous laws are known.
No other nation this can boast,
Nor did he e'er afford
To heathen lands his oracles,
And knowledge of his word.
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1. Praise ye the Lord, for it is good
unto our God to sing;
For it is pleasant, and to praise
it is a comely thing.
2. The Lord his own Jerusalem
he buildeth up alone,
And the dispersed of Israel
doth gather into one.
3. He heals the broken in their heart,
their sores up doth he bind;
He counts the number of the stars,
and names them in their kind.
4. Great is the Lord, great is his pow'r
his wisdom infinite;
The Lord relieves the meek, and throws
to ground the wicked wight.
5. Sing unto God the Lord with praise,
unto the Lord rejoice,
And to our God upon the harp
advance your singing voice.
6. He covers heav'n with clouds, and for
the earth prepareth rain,
And on the mountains he doth make
the grass to grow again.
7. He gives to beasts their food, and to
young ravens when they cry;
His pleasure not in strength of horse,
nor in man's legs doth lie.
8. But in all those that do him fear
the Lord hath his delight,
And such as do attend upon
his mercy's shining light.
‘’’The Second Part’’’
9. O praise the Lord, Jerusalem,
thy God, O Zion, praise;
For he the bars hath forgèd strong
wherewith thy gates he stays;
10. Thy children in thee he hath blest,
and in thy borders he
Doth settle peace, and with the flour
of wheat he filleth thee:
11. And his command likewise upon
the earth he sendeth out;
Also his word with speedy course
doth swiftly run about:
12. He giveth snow like wool, and frost
like ashes scatters wide;
Like morsels casts his ice; the cold
thereof who can abide?
13. He sendeth forth his mighty word,
and melteth them again;
His wind he makes to blow, and then
the waters flow amain.
14. The doctrine of his holy word
to Jacob he doth show,
His statutes and his judgments he
gives Israel to know.
15. With any nation hath he not
so dealt, nor have they known
His secret judgments: ye therefore,
praise ye the Lord alone.
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PART 1 (L. M.)
The Divine nature, providence, and grace
Praise ye the Lord; 'tis good to raise
Our hearts and voices in his praise;
His nature and his works invite
To make this duty our delight.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem,
And gathers nations to his name;
His mercy melts the stubborn soul,
And makes the broken spirit whole.
He formed the stars, those heavenly flames;
He counts their numbers, calls their names;
His wisdom's vast, and knows no bound,
A deep where all our thoughts are drowned.
Great is our Lord, and great his might;
And all his glories infinite:
He crowns the meek, rewards the just,
And treads the wicked to the dust.
Sing to the Lord, exalt him high,
Who spreads his clouds all round the sky;
There he prepares the fruitful rain,
Nor lets the drops descend in vain.
He makes the grass the hills adorn,
And clothes the smiling fields with corn;
The beasts with food his hands supply,
And the young ravens when they cry.
What is the creature's skill or force,
The sprightly man, the warlike horse,
The nimble wit, the active limb?
All are too mean delights for him.
But saints are lovely in his sight,
He views his children with delight;
He sees their hope, he knows their fear,
And looks, and loves his image there.
PART 2 (L. M.)
Summer and winter
O Britain, praise thy mighty God,
And make his honors known abroad,
He bid the ocean round thee flow;
Not bars of brass could guard thee so.
Thy children are secure and blest;
Thy shores have peace, thy cities rest;
He feeds thy sons with finest wheat,
And adds his blessing to their meat.
Thy changing seasons he ordains,
Thine early and thy latter rains;
His flakes of snow like wool he sends,
And thus the springing corn defends.
With hoary frost he strews the ground;
His hail descends with clatt'ring sound:
Where is the man so vainly bold
That dares defy his dreadful cold?
He bids the southern breezes blow;
The ice dissolves, the waters flow:
But he hath nobler works and ways
To call the Britons to his praise.
To all the isle his laws are shown,
His gospel through the nation known;
He hath not thus revealed his word
To every land: praise ye the Lord.
ANOTHER PARAPHRASE, vv.7-9,13-18 (C. M.)
The seasons of the year
With songs and honors sounding loud,
Address the Lord on high;
Over the heavens he spreads his cloud,
And waters veil the sky.
He sends his showers of blessing down
To cheer the plains below;
He makes the grass the mountains crown,
And corn in valleys grow.
He gives the grazing ox his meat,
He hears the raven's cry;
But man, who tastes his finest wheat,
Should raise his honors high.
His steady counsels change the face
Of the declining year;
He bids the sun cut short his race,
And wintry days appear.
His hoary frost, his fleecy snow,
Descend and clothe the ground;
The liquid streams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.
When from the dreadful stores on high
He pours the rattling hail,
The wretch that dares this God defy
Shall find his courage fail.
He sends his word, and melts the snow,
The fields no longer mourn;
He calls the warmer gales to blow,
And bids the spring return.
The changing wind, the flying cloud,
Obey his mighty word:
With songs and honors sounding loud,
Praise ye the sovereign Lord.
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