1 H ow lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

How beautiful are the places where You live, O Lord of all!

2 M y soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the living God.

My soul wants and even becomes weak from wanting to be in the house of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

3 Y es, the sparrow has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young—even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Even the bird has found a home. The swallow has found a nest for herself where she may lay her young at Your altars, O Lord of all, my King and my God.

4 B lessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah!

How happy are those who live in Your house! They are always giving thanks to You.

5 B lessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

How happy is the man whose strength is in You and in whose heart are the roads to Zion!

6 P assing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs; the early rain also fills with blessings.

As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, they make it a place of good water. The early rain fills the pools with good also.

7 T hey go from strength to strength; each of them appears before God in Zion.

They go from strength to strength. Every one of them stands before God in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah!

O Lord God of all, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob.

9 B ehold our shield, O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed!

Look upon our safe-covering, O God. And look upon the face of Your chosen one.

10 F or a day in Your courts is better than a thousand; I would rather be a doorkeeper and stand at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For a day in Your house is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be the one who opens the door of the house of my God, than to live in the tents of the sinful.

11 F or the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows grace and favor and glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

For the Lord God is a sun and a safe-covering. The Lord gives favor and honor. He holds back nothing good from those who walk in the way that is right.

12 O Lord of hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You!

O Lord of all, how happy is the man who trusts in You!