Bless the God who lives forever,
    and bless his kingdom,
²     because he punishes and shows mercy.
He brings people down to the underworld below the earth,
    and he himself raises people
    up from great destruction.
    What is there that escapes
    from his hand?
³ Bear witness to him, Israelites,
    in the presence of the nations,
    because he has scattered you
    among them,
⁴     and he has shown you
    his greatness there.
Bring him honor in the presence
of everything that lives,
because he is our Lord:
        he himself is our God;
        he himself is our father,
        and he is God forever and always.
⁵ He will punish you for your unjust acts,
    but he will also show all of you mercy and gather you together
        out of all the nations among which you have been scattered.
⁶ When you turn to him
with all your heart and your all being
to act sincerely before him,
    then he will turn to you and never
    hide his face from you again.
And now, look at what
he has done for you,
    and acknowledge him
    in everything you say.
Praise the Lord of righteousness,
and exalt the king of the ages!
    I will acknowledge him in the land where I am a captive
        and make known his power
        and greatness to a sinful nation.
So turn around, you sinners,
and act justly before him.
    Who knows?
    Perhaps he will want you back
    and show you mercy.
⁷ My soul exalts my God,
the king of heaven,
    and my soul will rejoice
    all the days of my life.
⁸ Praise the Lord, all you chosen ones,
    and let everyone
    praise his greatness.
Let them speak through psalms,
    use your days for rejoicing,
    and acknowledge him.
⁹ He has punished you, Jerusalem, holy city,
    because of the deeds of your hands.
¹⁰ Acknowledge the Lord in goodness,
    and praise the Lord of ages!
Then your dwelling will be rebuilt
for you with joy.
    He will bring joy to
    all the captives among you,
    and he will love for all eternity
    all those who have been subjugated.
¹¹ A bright light will shine forth
into the farthest corners of the earth.
    Many nations will come to you
    from afar,
    and inhabitants from all the ends
    of the earth will come
    to your holy name.
    They will bear gifts in their hands
    for the king of heaven.
Generation after generation
will give joyful worship to you
    and honor your name forever and always.
¹² May all who have despised you
and slandered you be cursed!
    Cursed are all who hate you and all who speak a harsh word against you.
    But all who revere you
    will be blessed for eternity.
¹³ Rejoice then and be glad
for the children of the righteous,
    for all will be gathered together
    and praise the eternal Lord.
¹⁴ Favored by God are those who love you,
    favored are those who rejoice
    when you are at peace,
    and favored are all the people
    who grieve when you are afflicted,
        for they will rejoice over you
        and will see all your joy forever.
¹⁵     I praise the Lord, the great king!
¹⁶     Jerusalem will be built as a city,
        God’s house for all ages to come.
I will be greatly favored
    when the few remaining from
    my offspring see your glory
    and acknowledge the king of heaven!
The gates of Jerusalem will be built
with sapphire and emerald,
    and all your walls
    will be made of precious stone.
The towers of Jerusalem
will be built with gold,
    and their fortifications will be made of pure gold.
¹⁷     The streets of Jerusalem will be paved with garnet and stone from Ophir.
¹⁸ And the gates of Jerusalem will burst into song with joyful hymns,
    and all her houses will shout out,
    “Hallelujah!
    May the God of Israel be praised,
    and may those who bless the holy name be blessed forever and always!”