Psalm 113:1-9

Hallelujah, God helps weak people

113:1The Jews call the next 6 psalms, 113 to 118, ‘the Egyptian hallel.’ ‘Hallel’ is a Hebrew word that means ‘to praise’. Hallelujah means ‘Praise the Lord!’ Jews say these 6 psalms when they eat the Passover meal. That is when they remember how God brought the Israelite people out of Egypt, where they had been slaves.

1 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Servants of the Lord, praise him!

Praise the name of the Lord!

2 Everyone should praise the Lord

now and for ever!

3 The Lord deserves that people praise him,

from where the sun rises in the east,

to where it goes down in the west.

4 The Lord rules over all nations.

His glory is great

higher than the heavens!

5 There is nobody like the Lord our God.

He sits on his throne high above us.

6 He bends down to look below,

at the sky and the earth.

7 He lifts poor people out of the dirt.

And he lifts up weak people from the ashes.

8 He gives them a seat with princes,

the princes who rule his own people.

9 He makes the wife who cannot give birth

into a happy mother of children.

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!