PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXXXIV — LAVDATE NOMEN DOMINI

Praise Ye the Name of the Lord

Laudate nomen Domini is a processional hymn summoning priests and Levites to praise God in His Temple. The catalog of God's mighty works - in Egypt, in the wilderness, in Canaan - recalls salvation history. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Vespers on Thursdays. The contrast between the living God and lifeless idols underscores true worship.

LATINE
Laudate nomen Domini, laudate, servi, Dominum:
Qui statis in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri.
Laudate Dominum, quia bonus Dominus: psallite nomini eius, quoniam suave.
Quoniam Iacob elegit sibi Dominus, Israel in possessionem sibi.
Quia ego cognovi quod magnus est Dominus, et Deus noster prae omnibus diis.
Omnia, quaecumque voluit, Dominus fecit in caelo, in terra, in mari, et in omnibus abyssis.
ENGLISH
Praise ye the name of the Lord: O you his servants, praise the Lord:
You that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise ye the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing ye to his name, for it is sweet.
For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself: Israel for his own possession.
For I have known that the Lord is great, and our God is above all gods.
Whatsoever the Lord pleased he hath done, in heaven, in earth, in the sea, and in all the deeps.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Vespers, Praise
CONTEXT
Psalm 135 in Hebrew numbering. Pairs with Psalm 135 (136) as a double praise hymn. The idol polemic (vv. 15-18) echoes Psalm 113 (115).