Psalm 66 calls the whole world to rejoice: “Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise.” It remembers the crossing of the Red Sea and God’s people brought “through fire and water” into a place of refreshment, and ends with a personal testimony: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul.” In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 65. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 66 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout with joy to God, all the earth,
Sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise.
Say unto God, How terrible are thy works, O Lord! in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee.
Let all the earth adore thee, and sing to thee: let it sing a psalm to thy name.
Come and see the works of God; who is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men.
Who turneth the sea into dry land, in the river they shall pass on foot: there shall we rejoice in him.
Who by his power ruleth for ever: his eyes behold the nations; let not them that provoke him be exalted in themselves.
O bless our God, ye Gentiles: and make the voice of his praise to be heard.
Who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered my feet to be moved:
For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried.
Thou hast brought us into a net, thou hast laid afflictions on our back:
Thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment.
I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Which my lips have uttered, And my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
I will offer up to thee holocausts full of marrow, with burnt offerings of rams: I will offer to thee bullocks with goats.
Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul.
I cried to him with my mouth: and I extolled him with my tongue.
If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
Therefore hath God heard me, and hath attended to the voice of my supplication.
Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
Psalm 66 or Psalm 65?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 65 is Psalm 66 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Iubilate Deo, omnis terra. See how many psalms are there?
What the psalm means
- Universal joy: all the earth is invited to praise God.
- The Exodus: “Who turneth the sea into dry land, in the river they shall pass on foot.” Christians see Baptism and Easter.
- Tested like silver: “thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried.”
- Through fire and water: suffering leads to refreshment and freedom.
- A personal witness: “I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul.” Every believer has a story of grace to tell.
How the Church uses Psalm 66
- In the Easter season, for example the Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year A): “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.” See Easter.
- On the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C).
- In the old Roman Missal, Iubilate Deo, omnis terra was the entrance chant of the Third Sunday after Easter.
A prayer with Psalm 66
Written for this page:
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name.
You brought your people through the sea and through fire and water to freedom.
Come and hear what the Lord has done for my soul:
he has not rejected my prayer nor withheld his mercy. Blessed be God. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Where is “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me”?
Psalm 66:16 (65:16 in the Douay-Rheims).
Why is Psalm 66 an Easter psalm?
Because it celebrates the crossing of the sea and deliverance from death, which Christians fulfil in Christ’s Resurrection and in Baptism.
More psalms and prayers
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 65 (66), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.