New Moon Psalm 104

Let me praise Adonai  – for You, Adonai my God, are surely great; clothed in glory and majesty, wrapped in a cloak of light, You stretch out the heavens like a sheet of cloth, set the rafters of the heights in the waters above, appoint clouds as Your chariot, and ride on the wings of the wind, making the winds Your messengers, and lightening flashes Your sentries.

You laid the foundation of the earth that it could never totter. You cover the watery deep as if it were clothed, and made waters stand atop mountains. The waters fled from Your anger, trembled from Your thundering voice – went up mountains and down valleys, to the place You set for them. You fixed their boundaries lest they overflow, lest they return again to cover the earth. You supply springs for the streams coursing through mountains, giving drink to each animal in the field, and quenching the thirst of wild beasts. Above them dwell birds in the sky, their voices resounding from within the foliage.

From the heavens, You provide drink to the mountains, earth is sated with the fruit of Your labor – wild grasses grow as feed for animals, plants for human husbandry that bread might come forth from the earth, wine to cheer people’s hearts, oil to brighten their faces, and food to sustain people’s lives. The trees God made are sated, too: the cedars of Lebanon that God planted, where birds nest, the cypresses, where the stork makes its home. Gazelles stride these high mountains where crags give cover to badgers. You created the moon marking the seasons; the sun knows when to set: darkness spreads, night falls, and the beasts of the forests stir; lions roar, hungry for flesh, begging for food from God. As the sun rises, they return home and lie down in their dens, while humans go to work and labor till evening.

How abundant is Your creation, Adonai, You fashioned it all with wisdom; the earth is filled with Your riches. There is the sea, so vast and wide, full of countless, crawling creatures – big and little things. There the ships go, and there can be found the great Leviathan whom You created to play with. They all look to You to give them their food at the proper time. If You give it, they gather it up; if You open Your hand, they are sated. If You hide Your face, they are terrified; if You cut off their breath, they die, returning to the dust from which they were made. But when Your breath blows in them, they are born, and the face of the earth is renewed.

May the glory of Adonai endure forever. May God – who but looks upon the earth and it quakes, touches the mountains and they smoke – rejoice in what has been created. Alive, I shall sing to Adonai; as long as I am, I will make music in praise of my God. May my words be pleasing to Adonai, that I may truly rejoice. May sinning cease from the earth, transgressions be no more. Let me praise Adonai: Hallelujah.