1How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord of hosts!*

2My soul longs, indeed it faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh sing for joy

to the living God.*

3Even the sparrow finds a home

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

my King and my God.*

4Happy are those who live in your house,

ever singing your praise.   Selah*

5Happy are those whose strength is in you,

in whose heart are the highways to Zion.s^,*

6As they go through the valley of Baca,

they make it a place of springs;

the early rain also covers it with pools.*

7They go from strength to strength;

the God of gods will be seen in Zion.*

8O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob!   Selah

9Behold our shield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed.*

10For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than live in the tents of wickedness.*

11For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

he bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does the Lord withhold

from those who walk uprightly.*

12O Lord of hosts,

happy is everyone who trusts in you.*