Discovery BoxPsalms 104:10-19 
Context104:10 He turns springs into streams; 1
they flow between the mountains.
104:11 They provide water for all the animals in the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
104:12 The birds of the sky live beside them;
they chirp among the bushes. 2
104:13 He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace; 3
the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow. 4
104:14 He provides grass 5 for the cattle,
and crops for people to cultivate, 6
so they can produce food from the ground, 7
104:15 as well as wine that makes people feel so good, 8
and so they can have oil to make their faces shine, 9
as well as food that sustains people’s lives. 10
104:16 The trees of the Lord 11 receive all the rain they need, 12
the cedars of Lebanon which he planted,
104:17 where the birds make nests,
near the evergreens in which the herons live. 13
104:18 The wild goats live in the high mountains; 14
the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.
104:19 He made the moon to mark the months, 15
and the sun sets according to a regular schedule. 16
1 tn Heb “[the] one who sends springs into streams.” Another option is to translate, “he sends streams [i.e., streams that originate from springs] into the valleys” (cf. NIV).
2 tn Heb “among the thick foliage they give a sound.”
3 tn Heb “from his upper rooms.”
4 tn Heb “from the fruit of your works the earth is full.” The translation assumes that “fruit” is literal here. If “fruit” is understood more abstractly as “product; result,” then one could translate, “the earth flourishes as a result of your deeds” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB).
5 tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”
6 tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).
7 tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”
8 tn Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”
9 tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).
10 tn Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”
11 sn The trees of the
12 tn Heb “are satisfied,” which means here that they receive abundant rain (see v. 13).
13 tn Heb “[the] heron [in the] evergreens [is] its home.”
sn The cedars and evergreens of the Lebanon forest are frequently associated (see, for example, 2 Chr 2:8; Isa 14:8; 37:24; Ezek 31:8).
14 tn Heb “the high mountains [are] for the goats.”
15 tn Heb “he made [the] moon for appointed times.” The phrase “appointed times” probably refers to the months of the Hebrew lunar calendar.
16 tn Heb more metaphorically, “knows its setting.”
