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Psalm 72:16-18
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 72:16-18
New Catholic Bible
16 May grain abound throughout the land,
even growing abundantly on the mountain tops.
May its crops[a] be as plenteous as those of Lebanon,
and may its people flourish like the grass of the field.
17 May his name[b] be blessed forever;
may it endure as long as the sun.
May all peoples be blessed in him;
may all the nations proclaim his greatness.
18 [c]Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone can perform such wondrous deeds.
Footnotes
- Psalm 72:16 Fertility of the land was one of the blessings of the Messianic age (see Hos 14:6f; Am 9:13). May its crops . . . Lebanon: may its crops possess the same vital power that the majestic cedars of Lebanon display.
- Psalm 72:17 Name: see note on Ps 5:12. All peoples: an echo of the promise to the patriarchs (see Gen 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14).
- Psalm 72:18 This doxology is not part of the psalm; it concludes the second of the five Books of the Psalter (see Pss 41:14; 89:53; 106:48; 150). Praise of the Lord is the most profound religious attitude and ends every authentic prayer.
