^1. HOW lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!

^2. My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

^3. The bird also 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.

^4. How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You.

^5. How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In [1] whose heart are the highways to Zion!

^6. Passing through the valley of [3] Baca they make it a [2] spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings.

^7. They go from strength to strength, [4] Every one of them appears before God in Zion.

^8. O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob!

^9. Behold our shield, O God, And look upon the face of Your anointed.

^10. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

^11. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold [6] from those who walk [5] uprightly.

^12. O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!