Saint of the day · August 18

¹ Bless Yahweh, my soul. Yahweh, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.

² He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.

³ He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.

⁴ He makes his messengers winds, and his servants flames of fire.

⁵ He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.

⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.

⁷ At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.

⁸ The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them.

⁹ You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they don’t turn again to cover the earth.

¹⁰ He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains.

¹¹ They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹² The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.

¹³ He waters the mountains from his rooms. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.

¹⁴ He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth:

¹⁵ wine that makes the heart of man glad, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart.

¹⁶ Yahweh’s trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted,

¹⁷ where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the cypress trees.

¹⁸ The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

¹⁹ He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set.

²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl.

²¹ The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.

²² The sun rises, and they steal away, and lie down in their dens.

²³ Man goes out to his work, to his labor until the evening.

²⁴ Yahweh, how many are your works! In wisdom, you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches.

²⁵ There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals.

²⁶ There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.

²⁷ These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season.

²⁸ You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.

²⁹ You hide your face; they are troubled. You take away their breath; they die and return to the dust.

³⁰ You send out your Spirit and they are created. You renew the face of the ground.

³¹ Let Yahweh’s glory endure forever. Let Yahweh rejoice in his works.

³² He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to Yahweh as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

³⁴ Let my meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in Yahweh.

³⁵ Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless Yahweh, my soul. Praise Yah!