¹⁶ When he summoned a famine on the land
    and broke all supply^[a] of bread,
¹⁷ he had sent a man ahead of them,
    Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
¹⁸ His feet were hurt with fetters;
    his neck was put in a collar of iron;
¹⁹ until what he had said came to pass,
    the word of the Lord tested him.
²⁰ The king sent and released him;
    the ruler of the peoples set him free;
²¹ he made him lord of his house
    and ruler of all his possessions,
²² to bind^[b] his princes at his pleasure
    and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then Israel came to Egypt;
    Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
²⁴ And the Lord made his people very fruitful
    and made them stronger than their foes.
²⁵ He turned their hearts to hate his people,
    to deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶ He sent Moses, his servant,
    and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
²⁷ They performed his signs among them
    and miracles in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
    they did not rebel^[c] against his words.
²⁹ He turned their waters into blood
    and caused their fish to die.
³⁰ Their land swarmed with frogs,
    even in the chambers of their kings.
³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
    and gnats throughout their country.
³² He gave them hail for rain,
    and fiery lightning bolts through their land.
³³ He struck down their vines and fig trees,
    and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,
    young locusts without number,
³⁵ which devoured all the vegetation in their land
    and ate up the fruit of their ground.
³⁶ He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
    the firstfruits of all their strength.

³⁷ Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,
    and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
³⁸ Egypt was glad when they departed,
    for dread of them had fallen upon it.

³⁹ He spread a cloud for a covering,
    and fire to give light by night.
⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought quail,
    and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
    it flowed through the desert like a river.
⁴² For he remembered his holy promise,
    and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³ So he brought his people out with joy,
    his chosen ones with singing.
⁴⁴ And he gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil,
⁴⁵ that they might keep his statutes
    and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!

⁴ Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
    help me when you save them,^[d]
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones,
    that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
    that I may glory with your inheritance.

⁶ Both we and our fathers have sinned;
    we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
⁷ Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
    did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
    but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
⁸ Yet he saved them for his name's sake,
    that he might make known his mighty power.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,
    and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
¹⁰ So he saved them from the hand of the foe
    and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
¹¹ And the waters covered their adversaries;
    not one of them was left.
¹² Then they believed his words;
    they sang his praise.

¹³ But they soon forgot his works;
    they did not wait for his counsel.
¹⁴ But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
    and put God to the test in the desert;
¹⁵ he gave them what they asked,
    but sent a wasting disease among them.

¹⁶ When men in the camp were jealous of Moses
    and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
¹⁷ the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
    and covered the company of Abiram.
¹⁸ Fire also broke out in their company;
    the flame burned up the wicked.

¹⁹ They made a calf in Horeb
    and worshiped a metal image.
²⁰ They exchanged the glory of God^[e]
    for the image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God, their Savior,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
²² wondrous works in the land of Ham,
    and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
²³ Therefore he said he would destroy them—
    had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
    to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land,
    having no faith in his promise.
²⁵ They murmured in their tents,
    and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
²⁶ Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
    that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
²⁷ and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
    scattering them among the lands.

²⁸ Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor,
    and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
²⁹ they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
    and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
    and the plague was stayed.
³¹ And that was counted to him as righteousness
    from generation to generation forever.

³² They angered him at the waters of Meribah,
    and it went ill with Moses on their account,
³³ for they made his spirit bitter,^[f]
    and he spoke rashly with his lips.

³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples,
    as the Lord commanded them,
³⁵ but they mixed with the nations
    and learned to do as they did.
³⁶ They served their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to the demons;
³⁸ they poured out innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was polluted with blood.
³⁹ Thus they became unclean by their acts,
    and played the whore in their deeds.

⁴⁰ Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he abhorred his heritage;
⁴¹ he gave them into the hand of the nations,
    so that those who hated them ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed them,
    and they were brought into subjection under their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them,
    but they were rebellious in their purposes
    and were brought low through their iniquity.

⁴⁴ Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
    when he heard their cry.
⁴⁵ For their sake he remembered his covenant,
    and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
⁴⁶ He caused them to be pitied
    by all those who held them captive.

⁴⁷ Save us, O Lord our God,
    and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.

⁴⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
    Praise the Lord!