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Psalm 106
New English Translation

Psalm 106[a]

106 Praise the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Who can adequately recount the Lord’s mighty acts,
or relate all his praiseworthy deeds?[c]
3 How blessed are those who promote justice,
and do what is right all the time.
4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people.
Pay attention to me, when you deliver,
5 so I may see the prosperity[d] of your chosen ones,
rejoice along with your nation,[e]
and boast along with the people who belong to you.[f]
6 We have sinned like[g] our ancestors;[h]
we have done wrong, we have done evil.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds.
They failed to remember your many acts of loyal love,
and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea.[i]
8 Yet he delivered them for the sake of his reputation,[j]
that he might reveal his power.
9 He shouted at[k] the Red Sea and it dried up;
he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.
10 He delivered them from the power[l] of the one who hated them,
and rescued[m] them from the power[n] of the enemy.
11 The water covered their enemies;
not even one of them survived.[o]
12 They believed his promises;[p]
they sang praises to him.
13 They quickly forgot what he had done;[q]
they did not wait for his instructions.[r]
14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving[s] for meat;[t]
they challenged God[u] in the wastelands.
15 He granted their request,
then struck them with a disease.[v]
16 In the camp they resented[w] Moses,
and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.[x]
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it engulfed[y] the group led by Abiram.[z]
18 Fire burned their group;
the flames scorched the wicked.[aa]
19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,
and worshiped a metal idol.
20 They traded their majestic God[ab]
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They rejected[ac] the God who delivered them,
the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,
22 amazing feats in the land of Ham,
mighty acts[ad] by the Red Sea.
23 He threatened[ae] to destroy them,
but[af] Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him[ag]
and turned back his destructive anger.[ah]
24 They rejected the fruitful land;[ai]
they did not believe his promise.[aj]
25 They grumbled in their tents;[ak]
they did not obey[al] the Lord.
26 So he made a solemn vow[am]
that he would make them die[an] in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants[ao] die[ap] among the nations,
and scatter them among foreign lands.[aq]
28 They worshiped[ar] Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.[as]
29 They made the Lord angry[at] by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Phinehas took a stand and intervened,[au]
and the plague subsided.
31 This was credited to Phinehas as a righteous act
for all generations to come.[av]
32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered[aw] because of them,
33 for they aroused[ax] his temper,[ay]
and he spoke rashly.[az]
34 They did not destroy the nations,[ba]
as the Lord had commanded them to do.
35 They mixed in with the nations
and learned their ways.[bb]
36 They worshiped[bc] their idols,
which became a snare to them.[bd]
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.[be]
38 They shed innocent blood—
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land was polluted by bloodshed.[bf]
39 They were defiled by their deeds,
and unfaithful in their actions.[bg]
40 So the Lord was angry with his people[bh]
and despised the people who belonged to him.[bi]
41 He handed them over to[bj] the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them;
they were subject to their authority.[bk]
43 Many times he delivered[bl] them,
but they had a rebellious attitude,[bm]
and degraded themselves[bn] by their sin.
44 Yet he took notice of their distress,
when he heard their cry for help.
45 He remembered his covenant with them,
and relented[bo] because of his great loyal love.
46 He caused all their conquerors[bp]
to have pity on them.
47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God.
Gather us from among the nations.
Then we will give thanks[bq] to your holy name,
and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.[br]
48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise,[bs]
in the future and forevermore.[bt]
Let all the people say, “We agree![bu] Praise the Lord!”[bv]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 106:1 sn Psalm 106. The psalmist recalls Israel’s long history of rebellion against God, despite his mighty saving deeds on their behalf.
  2. Psalm 106:1 tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”
  3. Psalm 106:2 tn Heb “[or] cause to be heard all his praise.”
  4. Psalm 106:5 tn Heb “good.”
  5. Psalm 106:5 tn Heb “in order that [I may] rejoice with the rejoicing of your nation.”
  6. Psalm 106:5 tn Heb “with your inheritance.”
  7. Psalm 106:6 tn Heb “with.”
  8. Psalm 106:6 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 7).
  9. Psalm 106:7 tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in vv. 9, 22). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.sn They rebelled. The psalmist recalls the people’s complaint recorded in Exod 14:12.
  10. Psalm 106:8 tn Heb “his name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
  11. Psalm 106:9 tn Or “rebuked.”
  12. Psalm 106:10 tn Heb “hand.”
  13. Psalm 106:10 tn Or “redeemed.”
  14. Psalm 106:10 tn Heb “hand.”
  15. Psalm 106:11 tn Heb “remained.”
  16. Psalm 106:12 tn Heb “his words.”
  17. Psalm 106:13 tn Heb “his works.”
  18. Psalm 106:13 tn Heb “his counsel.”
  19. Psalm 106:14 sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.
  20. Psalm 106:14 tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”
  21. Psalm 106:14 tn Heb “they tested God.”
  22. Psalm 106:15 tn Heb “and he sent leanness into their being.”sn Disease. See Num 11:33-34, where this plague is described.
  23. Psalm 106:16 tn Or “envied.”
  24. Psalm 106:16 tn Heb “the holy one of the Lord.”
  25. Psalm 106:17 tn Or “covered.”
  26. Psalm 106:17 tn Or “the assembly of Abiram.”
  27. Psalm 106:18 sn Verses 16-18 describe the events of Num 16:1-40.
  28. Psalm 106:20 tn Heb “their glory.” According to an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition, the text originally read “his glory” or “my glory.” In Jer 2:11 the Lord states that his people (Israel) exchanged “their glory” (a reference to the Lord) for worthless idols.
  29. Psalm 106:21 tn Heb “forgot.”
  30. Psalm 106:22 tn Or “awe-inspiring acts.”
  31. Psalm 106:23 tn Heb “and he said.”
  32. Psalm 106:23 tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”
  33. Psalm 106:23 tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”
  34. Psalm 106:23 tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”sn Verses 19-23 describe the events of Exod 32:1-35.
  35. Psalm 106:24 tn Heb “a land of delight” (see also Jer 3:19; Zech 7:14).
  36. Psalm 106:24 tn Heb “his word.”
  37. Psalm 106:25 sn They grumbled in their tents. See Deut 1:27.
  38. Psalm 106:25 tn Heb “did not listen to the voice of.”
  39. Psalm 106:26 tn Heb “and he lifted his hand to [or “concerning”] them.” The idiom “to lift a hand” here refers to swearing an oath. One would sometimes solemnly lift one’s hand when making such a vow (see Ezek 20:5-6, 15).
  40. Psalm 106:26 tn Heb “to cause them to fall.”
  41. Psalm 106:27 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
  42. Psalm 106:27 tn Heb “and to cause their offspring to fall.” Some emend the verb to “scatter” to form tighter parallelism with the following line (cf. NRSV “disperse”).
  43. Psalm 106:27 tn Heb “among the lands.” The word “foreign” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  44. Psalm 106:28 tn Heb “joined themselves to.”sn They worshiped Baal of Peor. See Num 25:3, 5. Baal of Peor was a local manifestation of the Canaanite deity Baal located at Peor.
  45. Psalm 106:28 tn Here “the dead” may refer to deceased ancestors (see Deut 26:14). Another option is to understand the term as a derogatory reference to the various deities which the Israelites worshiped at Peor along with Baal (see Num 25:2 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 49).
  46. Psalm 106:29 tn Heb “They made angry [him].” The pronominal suffix is omitted here, but does appear in a few medieval Hebrew mss. Perhaps it was accidentally left off, an original וַיַּכְעִיסוּהוּ (vayyakhʿisuhu) being misread as וַיַּכְעִיסוּ (vayyakhʿisu). In the translation the referent of the pronominal suffix (the Lord) has been specified for clarity to avoid confusion with Baal of Peor (mentioned in the previous verse).
  47. Psalm 106:30 sn The intervention of Phinehas is recounted in Num 25:7-8.
  48. Psalm 106:31 tn Heb “and it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to a generation and a generation forever.” The verb חָשַׁב (khashav, “to reckon”) is collocated with צְדָקָה (tsedaqah, “righteousness”) only in Ps 106:31 and Gen 15:6, where God credits Abram’s faith as righteousness.
  49. Psalm 106:32 tn Heb “there was harm to Moses.”
  50. Psalm 106:33 tn The Hebrew text vocalizes the form as הִמְרוּ (himru), a Hiphil from מָרָה (marah, “to behave rebelliously”), but the verb fits better with the object (“his spirit”) if it is revocalized as הֵמֵרוּ (hemeru), a Hiphil from מָרַר (marar, “to be bitter”). The Israelites “embittered” Moses’ “spirit” in the sense that they aroused his temper with their complaints.
  51. Psalm 106:33 tn Heb “his spirit.”
  52. Psalm 106:33 tn The Hebrew text adds “with his lips,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.sn Verses 32-33 allude to the events of Num 20:1-13.
  53. Psalm 106:34 tn That is, the nations of Canaan.
  54. Psalm 106:35 tn Heb “their deeds.”
  55. Psalm 106:36 tn Or “served.”
  56. Psalm 106:36 sn Became a snare. See Exod 23:33; Judg 2:3.
  57. Psalm 106:37 tn The Hebrew term שֵׁדִים (shedim, “demons”) occurs only here and in Deut 32:17. Some type of lesser deity is probably in view.
  58. Psalm 106:38 sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.
  59. Psalm 106:39 tn Heb “and they committed adultery in their actions.” This means that they were unfaithful to the Lord (see Ps 73:27).
  60. Psalm 106:40 tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against his people.”
  61. Psalm 106:40 tn Heb “his inheritance.”
  62. Psalm 106:41 tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”
  63. Psalm 106:42 tn Heb “they were subdued under their hand.”
  64. Psalm 106:43 tn The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“he would deliver”).
  65. Psalm 106:43 tn Heb “but they rebelled in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite or imperfect, in which case it is customary, describing repeated action in past time (“they would have a rebellious attitude”).
  66. Psalm 106:43 tn Heb “they sank down.” The Hebrew verb מָכַךְ (makhakh, “to lower; to sink”) occurs only here in the Qal.
  67. Psalm 106:45 tn The Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) refers here to God relenting from a punishment already underway.
  68. Psalm 106:46 tn Or “captors.”
  69. Psalm 106:47 tn Heb “to give thanks.” The infinitive construct indicates result after the imperative.
  70. Psalm 106:47 tn Heb “to boast in your praise.”
  71. Psalm 106:48 tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.
  72. Psalm 106:48 tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.”
  73. Psalm 106:48 tn Heb “surely” (אָמֵן,ʾamen), traditionally transliterated “amen.”
  74. Psalm 106:48 sn The final verse (v. 48) is a conclusion to this fourth “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the first, second and third “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52, respectively).
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Psalm 106
Contemporary English Version

A Nation Asks for Forgiveness

1 (A) We will celebrate
    and praise you, Lord!
You are good to us,
    and your love never fails.
2 No one can praise you enough
for all the mighty things
    you have done.
3 You bless those people
who are honest and fair
    in everything they do.

4 Remember me, Lord,
when you show kindness
    by saving your people.
5 Let me prosper with the rest
    of your chosen ones,
as they celebrate with pride
    because they belong to you.

6 We and our ancestors
    have sinned terribly.
7 (B) When they were in Egypt,
    they paid no attention
to your marvelous deeds
    or your wonderful love.
And they turned against you
    at the Red Sea.[a]

8 But you were true to your name,
and you rescued them to prove
    how mighty you are.
9 (C) You said to the Red Sea,[b]
    “Dry up!”
Then you led your people across
    on land as dry as a desert.
10 You saved all of them
11 and drowned every one
    of their enemies.
12 (D) Then your people trusted you
    and sang your praises.

13 But they soon forgot
what you had done
    and rejected your advice.
14 (E) They became greedy for food
and tested you there
    in the desert.
15 So you gave them
    what they wanted,
but later you destroyed them
    with a horrible disease.

16 (F) Everyone in camp was jealous
of Moses and of Aaron,
    your chosen priest.
17 Dathan and Abiram rebelled,
and the earth opened up
    and swallowed them.
18 Then fire broke out
and destroyed all
    of their followers.

19 (G) At Horeb your people
made and worshiped the statue
20     of a bull, instead of you,
    their glorious God.
21 You worked powerful miracles
    to save them from Egypt,
but they forgot about you
22 and the fearsome things
    you did at the Red Sea.[c]
23 You were angry and started
    to destroy them,
but Moses, your chosen leader,
    begged you not to do it.

24 (H) They would not trust
    you, Lord,
and they did not like
    the promised land.
25 They would not obey you,
and they grumbled
    in their tents.
26 So you threatened them
by saying, “I'll kill you
    out here in the desert!
27 (I) I'll scatter your children
    everywhere in the world.”

28 (J) Your people became followers
    of a god named Baal Peor,
and they ate sacrifices
    offered to the dead.[d]
29 They did such terrible things
that you punished them
    with a deadly disease.
30 But Phinehas[e] helped them,
    and the sickness stopped.
31 Now he will always
    be highly honored.

32 (K) At Meribah Spring[f]
they turned against you
    and made you furious.
33 Then Moses got into trouble
    for speaking in anger.

34 (L) Our Lord, they disobeyed you
by refusing to destroy
    the nations.
35 Instead they were friendly
with those foreigners
    and followed their customs.
36 Then they fell into the trap
    of worshiping idols.
37 (M) They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons
38     (N) and to the gods of Canaan.
Then they poured out the blood
of these innocent children
    and made the land filthy.
39 By doing such gruesome things,
    they also became filthy.

40 (O) Finally, Lord, you were angry
and terribly disgusted
    with your people.
41 So you put them in the power
    of nations that hated them.
42 They were mistreated and abused
    by their enemies,
43 but you saved them
    time after time.
They were determined to rebel,
and their sins caused
    their downfall.

44 You answered their prayers
    when they were in trouble.
45 You kept your agreement
    and were so merciful
46 that their enemies
    had pity on them.

47 (P) Save us, Lord God!
Bring us back
    from among the nations.
Let us celebrate and shout
    in praise of your holy name.

48 Lord God of Israel,
you deserve to be praised
    forever and ever.
Let everyone say, “Amen!
    Shout praises to the Lord!”

Footnotes

  1. 106.7 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, “Sea of Reeds,” one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta. This identification is based on Exodus 13.17—14.9, which lists the towns on the route of the Israelites before crossing the sea. In the Greek translation of the Scriptures made about 200 b.c., the “Sea of Reeds” was named “Red Sea.”
  2. 106.9 Red Sea: See the note at 106.7.
  3. 106.22 Red Sea: See the note at 106.7.
  4. 106.28 the dead: Or “lifeless idols.”
  5. 106.30 Phinehas: The grandson of Aaron, who put two people to death and kept the Lord from being angry with the rest of his people (see Numbers 25.1-13).
  6. 106.32 Meribah Spring: See the note at 81.7.
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