1Praise YAH!1
Praise YAHWEH,2 my soul.
2While I live, I will praise YAHWEH.
I will sing praises to my God3 as long as I exist.
3Do not put your trust in princes,
Each a son of man in whom there is no help.
4His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth.
In that very day, his thoughts perish.
5Happy is he who has the God of Yaqub for his help,
Whose hope is in YAHWEH, his God:
6Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever;
7Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
YAHWEH frees the prisoners.
8YAHWEH opens the eyes of the blind.
YAHWEH raises up those who are bowed down.
YAHWEH loves the righteous.
9YAHWEH preserves the foreigners.
He upholds the fatherless and widow,
But the way of the wicked he turns upside down.
10YAHWEH will reign forever;
Your God, O Al-Quds,4 to all generations.
Praise YAH!5
- 146:1 Praise YAH! – literally, Hallelu-YAH. YAH is a short form of God’s revealed name, YAHWEH. ↩︎
- 146:1 YAHWEH, the name God revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.” ↩︎
- 146:2 God, English translation of elohim. Elohim (Hebrew) is related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
- 146:10 Al-Quds, meaning “the Holy (City).” The Hebrew text reads Zion, a synonym for Jerusalem. It originally referred to Mount Zion, one of the hills of Jerusalem. ↩︎
- 146:10 Praise YAH! – literally, Hallelu-YAH. YAH is a short form of God’s revealed name, YAHWEH. ↩︎