Psalms 135

The AIT Bible

Praise to Yahweh, the Great God

1Praise Yah! Praise the name of Yahweh; praise him, you servants of Yahweh,

2you who stand in the house of Yahweh, in the courts of the house of our God.

3Praise Yah, for Yahweh is good; make music to his name, for it is pleasant.

4For Yah has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his treasured possession.

5For I myself know that Yahweh is great, and our Lord is above all gods.

6All that Yahweh desired he did, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all the deeps.

7He raises up mist from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the rain; he brings out wind from his storehouses.

8He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, from human to beast.

9He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and against all his servants.

10He it was who struck down many nations and slew mighty kings—

11Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan—

12and gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to Israel his people.

13O Yahweh, your name is forever; O Yahweh, your remembrance is from generation to generation.

14For Yahweh will judge his people, and concerning his servants he will relent.

15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

16They have a mouth but do not speak; they have eyes but do not see;

17they have ears but do not give ear; indeed, there is no breath in their mouths.

18Like them will be those who make them—everyone who trusts in them.

19O house of Israel, bless Yahweh! O house of Aaron, bless Yahweh!

20O house of Levi, bless Yahweh! You who fear Yahweh, bless Yahweh!

21Blessed be Yahweh from Zion, he who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise Yah!

Open in the interactive reader →

Cross-references in this chapter

Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.

Praise to Yahweh, the Great God

quotation Deuteronomy 32:36 — Verbatim citation of the Song of Moses that Yahweh will judge his people and relent concerning his servants.
parallel Jeremiah 10:13 — Near-verbatim description of God raising mist, making lightning for rain, and bringing wind from his storehouses.
parallel Psalms 136:17 — Parallel recital of striking mighty kings, Sihon and Og, and giving their land as an inheritance to Israel.
parallel Psalms 115:4 — Near-verbatim satire of idols of silver and gold with mouths that cannot speak and eyes that cannot see, and the makers becoming like them.
parallel Psalms 115:9 — Parallel summons of house of Israel, house of Aaron, and those who fear Yahweh to bless/trust him.
parallel Psalms 115:1 — The same idol polemic describing silver-and-gold idols with mouths, eyes, and ears that do not function.
echoed in Daniel 5:13 — The description of idols that do not see, hear, or know echoes the psalm's mockery of idols with eyes and ears that neither see nor hear.
allusion Deuteronomy 7:6 — Israel as Yahweh's chosen 'treasured possession' echoes Deuteronomy's covenant election language (segullah).
allusion Exodus 19:5 — The phrase 'treasured possession' echoes God's declaration at Sinai that Israel would be his special possession.
allusion Exodus 12:29 — Recalls the plague of the striking of Egypt's firstborn.
allusion Exodus 3:15 — 'Your name is forever, your remembrance from generation to generation' echoes God's self-declaration to Moses.
allusion Exodus 18:11 — Confession that Yahweh is greater than all gods echoes Jethro's declaration.
echoed in Jeremiah 10:1 — Nearly identical language of God raising clouds, making lightning for rain, and bringing wind from his storehouses.
allusion Numbers 21:21 — Names Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, the defeated kings of the conquest narrative.
allusion Psalms 115:3 — Nearly identical statement that Yahweh does all he desires in heaven and earth.
thematic Psalms 78:43 — Shared recital of signs and wonders sent against Pharaoh and Egypt.

← Psalms 134 Psalms 136 →