¹² Then they believed his promises
    and sang his praise.^(A)

¹³ But they soon forgot^(B) what he had done
    and did not wait for his plan to unfold.^(C)
14 In the desert^(D) they gave in to their craving;
    in the wilderness^(E) they put God to the test.^(F)
15 So he gave them^(G) what they asked for,
    but sent a wasting disease^(H) among them.

¹⁶ In the camp they grew envious^(I) of Moses
    and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
¹⁷ The earth opened^(J) up and swallowed Dathan;^(K)
    it buried the company of Abiram.^(L)
18 Fire blazed^(M) among their followers;
    a flame consumed the wicked.
¹⁹ At Horeb they made a calf^(N)
    and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
²⁰ They exchanged their glorious God^(O)
    for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
²¹ They forgot the God^(P) who saved them,
    who had done great things^(Q) in Egypt,
²² miracles in the land of Ham^(R)
    and awesome deeds^(S) by the Red Sea.
²³ So he said he would destroy^(T) them—
    had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach^(U) before him
    to keep his wrath from destroying them.

²⁴ Then they despised^(V) the pleasant land;^(W)
    they did not believe^(X) his promise.
²⁵ They grumbled^(Y) in their tents
    and did not obey the Lord.
²⁶ So he swore^(Z) to them with uplifted hand
    that he would make them fall in the wilderness,^(AA)
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
    and scatter^(AB) them throughout the lands.

²⁸ They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor^(AC)
    and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
²⁹ they aroused the Lord’s anger^(AD) by their wicked deeds,^(AE)
    and a plague^(AF) broke out among them.
³⁰ But Phinehas^(AG) stood up and intervened,
    and the plague was checked.^(AH)
31 This was credited to him^(AI) as righteousness
    for endless generations^(AJ) to come.
³² By the waters of Meribah^(AK) they angered the Lord,
    and trouble came to Moses because of them;
³³ for they rebelled^(AL) against the Spirit^(AM) of God,
    and rash words came from Moses’ lips.^[a](AN)

³⁴ They did not destroy^(AO) the peoples
    as the Lord had commanded^(AP) them,
³⁵ but they mingled^(AQ) with the nations
    and adopted their customs.
³⁶ They worshiped their idols,^(AR)
    which became a snare^(AS) to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons^(AT)
    and their daughters to false gods.^(AU)
38 They shed innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons^(AV) and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was desecrated by their blood.
³⁹ They defiled themselves^(AW) by what they did;
    by their deeds they prostituted^(AX) themselves.

⁴⁰ Therefore the Lord was angry^(AY) with his people
    and abhorred his inheritance.^(AZ)
41 He gave them into the hands^(BA) of the nations,
    and their foes ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed^(BB) them
    and subjected them to their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them,^(BC)
    but they were bent on rebellion^(BD)
    and they wasted away in their sin.
⁴⁴ Yet he took note of their distress
    when he heard their cry;^(BE)
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant^(BF)
    and out of his great love^(BG) he relented.^(BH)
46 He caused all who held them captive
    to show them mercy.^(BI)

⁴⁷ Save us,^(BJ) Lord our God,
    and gather us^(BK) from the nations,
that we may give thanks^(BL) to your holy name^(BM)
    and glory in your praise.

⁴⁸ Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”^(BN)

Praise the Lord.

³⁹ He spread out a cloud^(A) as a covering,
    and a fire to give light at night.^(B)
40 They asked,^(C) and he brought them quail;^(D)
    he fed them well with the bread of heaven.^(E)
41 He opened the rock,^(F) and water gushed out;
    it flowed like a river in the desert.

¹⁴ He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.^(A)
15 He split the rocks^(B) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ But they continued to sin^(C) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
¹⁸ They willfully put God to the test^(D)
    by demanding the food they craved.^(E)
19 They spoke against God;^(F)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰ True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,^(G)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat^(H) for his people?”
²¹ When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out^(I) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
²² for they did not believe in God
    or trust^(J) in his deliverance.
²³ Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;^(K)
24 he rained down manna^(L) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵ Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
²⁶ He let loose the east wind^(M) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
²⁷ He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds^(N) like sand on the seashore.
²⁸ He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
²⁹ They ate till they were gorged—^(O)
    he had given them what they craved.
³⁰ But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,^(P)
31 God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest^(Q) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;^(R)
    in spite of his wonders,^(S) they did not believe.^(T)
33 So he ended their days in futility^(U)
    and their years in terror.
³⁴ Whenever God slew them, they would seek^(V) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
³⁵ They remembered that God was their Rock,^(W)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.^(X)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,^(Y)
    lying to him with their tongues;
³⁷ their hearts were not loyal^(Z) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he was merciful;^(AA)
    he forgave^(AB) their iniquities^(AC)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger^(AD)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
³⁹ He remembered that they were but flesh,^(AE)
    a passing breeze^(AF) that does not return.

⁴⁰ How often they rebelled^(AG) against him in the wilderness^(AH)
    and grieved him^(AI) in the wasteland!
⁴¹ Again and again they put God to the test;^(AJ)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.^(AK)
42 They did not remember^(AL) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,^(AM)
43 the day he displayed his signs^(AN) in Egypt,
    his wonders^(AO) in the region of Zoan.
⁴⁴ He turned their river into blood;^(AP)
    they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵ He sent swarms of flies^(AQ) that devoured them,
    and frogs^(AR) that devastated them.
⁴⁶ He gave their crops to the grasshopper,^(AS)
    their produce to the locust.^(AT)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail^(AU)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
⁴⁸ He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock^(AV) to bolts of lightning.
⁴⁹ He unleashed against them his hot anger,^(AW)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.^(AX)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
⁵¹ He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,^(AY)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.^(AZ)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;^(BA)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
⁵³ He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed^(BB) their enemies.^(BC)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand^(BD) had taken.
⁵⁵ He drove out nations^(BE) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;^(BF)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶ But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
⁵⁷ Like their ancestors^(BG) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.^(BH)
58 They angered him^(BI) with their high places;^(BJ)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.^(BK)
59 When God heard^(BL) them, he was furious;^(BM)
    he rejected Israel^(BN) completely.
⁶⁰ He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,^(BO)
    the tent he had set up among humans.^(BP)
61 He sent the ark of his might^(BQ) into captivity,^(BR)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
⁶² He gave his people over to the sword;^(BS)
    he was furious with his inheritance.^(BT)
63 Fire consumed^(BU) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;^(BV)
64 their priests were put to the sword,^(BW)
    and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,^(BX)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
⁶⁶ He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.^(BY)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;^(BZ)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,^(CA)
    Mount Zion,^(CB) which he loved.
⁶⁹ He built his sanctuary^(CC) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
⁷⁰ He chose David^(CD) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
⁷¹ from tending the sheep^(CE) he brought him
    to be the shepherd^(CF) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
⁷² And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;^(CG)
    with skillful hands he led them.

²⁰ You led your people^(A) like a flock^(B)
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.^(C)