Add parallel Print Page Options

11 As high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his kindness toward those who fear him.[a]
12 As far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.[b]
13 [c]As a father has compassion for his children,
    so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 103:11 Kindness: see note on 6:5. Those who fear him: see note on Ps 15:2-5.
  2. Psalm 103:12 God places a huge gulf between his faithful and their sins, extending, as it were, from one end of the earth to the other (see Isa 1:18; 43:25; Jer 31:34; 50:20; Mic 7:18f).
  3. Psalm 103:13 What an amazing condescension on the part of God’s love. Although he is well aware that we are fragile and ephemeral creatures who, like grass or flowers, are carried off by the slightest breeze, God keeps in his love the whole lives of his servants. He presents a just account of their merits and blesses their descendants who are faithful to his covenant.