1How lovely is the place where you live,
O Lord who rules over all!

2I desperately want to be
in the courts of the Lord’s temple.
My heart and my entire being shout for joy
to the living God.

3Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow builds a nest,
where she can protect her young
near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,
my king and my God.

4How blessed are those who live in your temple
and praise you continually! (Selah)

5How blessed are those who find their strength in you,
and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple!

6As they pass through the Baca Valley,
he provides a spring for them.
The rain even covers it with pools of water.

7They are sustained as they travel along;
each one appears before God in Zion.

8O Lord, sovereign God,
hear my prayer!
Listen, O God of Jacob! (Selah)

9O God, take notice of our shield!
Show concern for your chosen king!

10Certainly spending just one day in your temple courts is better
than spending a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather stand at the entrance to the temple of my God
than live in the tents of the wicked.

11For the Lord God is our sovereign protector.
The Lord bestows favor and honor;
he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity.

12O Lord who rules over all,
how blessed are those who trust in you!