1 How lovely are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2My soul longeth, yea, fainteth, for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry aloud for the living God. 3The very sparrow findeth an abode, And the swallow a nest, where they may lay their young, By thine altars, O LORD of hosts, My king and my God! 4Happy they who dwell in thy house, Who are continually praising thee! [Pause.] 5Happy the man whose glory is in thee, In whose heart are the ways [to Jerusalem]! 6Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a fountain; and the early rain covereth it with blessings. 7They go on from strength to strength; Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion. 8Hear my prayer, O LORD, God of hosts! Give ear, O God of Jacob! [Pause.] 9Look down, O God! our shield, And behold the face of thine anointed! 10For a day spent in thy courts is better than a thousand: I would rather stand on the threshold of the house of my God, Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; The LORD giveth grace and glory; No good thing doth he withhold From them that walk uprightly. 12O LORD of hosts! Happy the man who trusteth in thee!