Psalms · 20 verses
Psalms 147
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The stars are not merely counted: each one is called by name, while human legs are mentioned only to explain that the LORD takes no pleasure in them. Heaven receives a roll call; athletic prowess receives a polite dismissal.
A God who counts stars and mends heartsvv. 1–6
The psalm opens with praise as something pleasant and lovely, then turns to the LORD’s two very different kinds of work: Jerusalem is built up, Israel’s exiles are gathered, and broken hearts are bound. Above them all, the stars are numbered and named individually. The LORD’s understanding has no limit; the humble are sustained, while the wicked are cast down.
Clouds, ravens, and the legs of a manvv. 7–11
The summons to thanksgiving widens into a weather report: clouds cover the sky, rain falls, grass grows, snow is spread like wool, and hail is thrown like pebbles. Animals and young ravens are fed. Then comes the psalm’s wonderfully specific refusal: horse-strength and human legs do not delight the LORD. What does please Him is fear of Him and hope in His loving devotion—a rather different measure of fitness.
The word that runsvv. 12–20
Jerusalem and Zion are called to praise because their gates are strengthened, their children blessed, their borders made peaceful, and their wheat made plentiful. Then the LORD’s command is sent racing across the earth. It brings snow, frost, hail, melting, wind, and flowing water; at last it reaches Jacob and Israel as statutes and judgments. The psalm ends by giving Israel a singular possession: these judgments have not been given to any other nation.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Ps 147:1Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and lovely to praise Him!
Ps 147:2The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the exiles of Israel.
Ps 147:3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Ps 147:4He determines the number of the stars; He calls them each by name.
Ps 147:5Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.
Ps 147:6The LORD sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.
Ps 147:7Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music on the harp to our God,
Ps 147:8who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.
Ps 147:9He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
Ps 147:10He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
Ps 147:11The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
Ps 147:12Exalt the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion!
Ps 147:13For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses the children within you.
Ps 147:14He makes peace at your borders; He fills you with the finest wheat.
Ps 147:15He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs swiftly.
Ps 147:16He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;
Ps 147:17He casts forth His hail like pebbles. Who can withstand His icy blast?
Ps 147:18He sends forth His word and melts them; He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow.
Ps 147:19He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel.
Ps 147:20He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 218 passages were voted onto 20 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 3Psalms 34:18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
- 3Job 5:18For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
- 3Jeremiah 33:6Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
- 3Luke 4:18“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
- 3Isaiah 61:1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- 13Psalms 128:3–6Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
- 3Hosea 6:1–2Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- 3Psalms 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- 3Isaiah 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
- 3Malachi 4:2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
- 11Psalms 33:18Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion
- 3Ezekiel 34:16I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’
- 13Isaiah 44:3–5For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- 13Psalms 115:14–15May the LORD give you increase, both you and your children.
- 13Jeremiah 30:19–20Thanksgiving will proceed from them, a sound of celebration. I will multiply them, and they will not be decreased; I will honor them, and they will not be belittled.
- 3Isaiah 1:5–6Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
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