Psalm 105
The Message
105 1-6 Hallelujah!
Thank God! Pray to him by name!
Tell everyone you meet what he has done!
Sing him songs, belt out hymns,
translate his wonders into music!
Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,
you who seek God. Live a happy life!
Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;
be alert for signs of his presence.
Remember the world of wonders he has made,
his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—
O seed of Abraham, his servant,
O child of Jacob, his chosen.
7-15 He’s God, our God,
in charge of the whole earth.
And he remembers, remembers his Covenant—
for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.
It’s the Covenant he made with Abraham,
the same oath he swore to Isaac,
The very statute he established with Jacob,
the eternal Covenant with Israel,
Namely, “I give you the land.
Canaan is your hill-country inheritance.”
When they didn’t count for much,
a mere handful, and strangers at that,
Wandering from country to country,
drifting from pillar to post,
He permitted no one to abuse them.
He told kings to keep their hands off:
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my anointed,
don’t hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets.”
16-22 Then he called down a famine on the country,
he broke every last blade of wheat.
But he sent a man on ahead:
Joseph, sold as a slave.
They put cruel chains on his ankles,
an iron collar around his neck,
Until God’s word came to the Pharaoh,
and God confirmed his promise.
God sent the king to release him.
The Pharaoh set Joseph free;
He appointed him master of his palace,
put him in charge of all his business
To personally instruct his princes
and train his advisors in wisdom.
23-42 Then Israel entered Egypt,
Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.
God gave his people lots of babies;
soon their numbers alarmed their foes.
He turned the Egyptians against his people;
they abused and cheated God’s servants.
Then he sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he also chose.
They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland,
miracles in the Land of Ham.
He spoke, “Darkness!” and it turned dark—
they couldn’t see what they were doing.
He turned all their water to blood
so that all their fish died;
He made frogs swarm through the land,
even into the king’s bedroom;
He gave the word and flies swarmed,
gnats filled the air.
He substituted hail for rain,
he stabbed their land with lightning;
He wasted their vines and fig trees,
smashed their groves of trees to splinters;
With a word he brought in locusts,
millions of locusts, armies of locusts;
They consumed every blade of grass in the country
and picked the ground clean of produce;
He struck down every firstborn in the land,
the first fruits of their virile powers.
He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot,
and not one among his tribes even stumbled.
Egypt was glad to have them go—
they were scared to death of them.
God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day
and a fire to light their way through the night;
They prayed and he brought quail,
filled them with the bread of heaven;
He opened the rock and water poured out;
it flowed like a river through that desert—
All because he remembered his Covenant,
his promise to Abraham, his servant.
43-45 Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy;
his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!
He made them a gift of the country they entered,
helped them seize the wealth of the nations
So they could do everything he told them—
could follow his instructions to the letter.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 105
The Voice
Psalm 105
1 Come, offer thanks to the Eternal; invoke His holy name.
Tell other people about the things He has done.
2 Sing songs of praise to Him;
tell stories of all His miracles.
3 Revel in His holy name.
May the hearts of the people who seek the Eternal celebrate and experience great joy.
4 Seek the Eternal and His power;
look to His face constantly.
5 Remember the wonderful things He has done,
His miracles and the wise decisions He has made,
6 O children of Abraham, His servant;
O children of Jacob, His chosen people!
7 He is the Eternal, our True God;
His justice extends to every corner of the earth.
8 He keeps His covenant promises forever
and remembers the word He spoke to a thousand generations—
9 The covenant He made with Abraham
and His sworn oath to Isaac, his son.
10 Then God confirmed it to Jacob—decreed it so—
to Israel He promised a never-ending covenant,
11 Saying, “I will give you the land of Canaan
as your part; it will be your inheritance.”
12 When God’s people were only a few in number—
indeed, very few—they were strangers in a foreign land.
13 They roamed from place to place,
from one kingdom to another.
14 God didn’t allow anyone to tyrannize them;
He rebuked kings in order to protect His people:
15 “Do not lay a hand on My anointed people;
do not do any harm to My prophets.”
16 He ordered famine to grip the land and
cut them off from their supply of bread.
17 But long before, He had sent a man ahead of them:
Joseph, who had been sold into slavery.[a]
18 At first, his masters shackled his feet with chains,
placed his neck into a collar of iron.
19 That was until the Eternal’s promises came to pass;
His word tested Joseph and proved him worthy.
20 The king sent out the order to release him from prison;
the ruler of Egypt liberated him from the chains.
21 Then he put Joseph in charge of the royal household,
made him ruler of all the royal possessions,
22 Allowed him to imprison the royal officials whenever he saw fit
and impart wisdom to the elders in the land.
23 Then, when the time was right, Israel also went to Egypt;
Jacob resided as an alien in the land of Ham.
24 And while they were there, the Eternal made His people prosperous;
He made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned the Egyptians’ hearts against His people[b]
to cheat and scheme against His servants.
26 Then, He sent His servant Moses
and Aaron, the men He had chosen.
27 They did all the signs He planned for them to do among the Egyptians,
and they performed miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness to cover the land;
they did not stray from His word.
29 At His command, their waters turned to blood;
their fish began to die.
30 Throngs of frogs covered the land,
invading even in the chambers of their kings.
31 At His command, a swarm of flies arrived,
and gnats came over all their land.
32 He caused hail to fall instead of rain;
lightning flashed over all their land.
33 He struck their vines and their fig trees;
He destroyed the trees over all their land.
34 At His command, locusts came;
young locusts marched beyond number,
35 And they ate up all the plants that grew
and all the fruits over their land.
36 He also brought death to the firstborn in all their land,
the first offspring of each man.
37 Then He brought His people out of slavery, weighed down with silver and gold;
and of all His tribes,
not one of them stumbled, not one was left behind.
38 Egypt was glad to see them go,
for Pharaoh’s people had been overcome with fear of them.
39 He spread out a cloud to cover His people
and sent a fire to light their way at night.
40 They asked, and He sent them coveys of quail,
satisfying their hunger with the food of heaven.
41 He split the rock and water poured out;
it flowed like a river through the desert.
42 For He remembered His holy covenant
with Abraham, His servant.
43 That’s why He rescued His people joyously
and why His chosen ones celebrated with shouts and singing.
44 When the time was right, He gave them land from other nations
so that they might possess the works of their hands,
45 So that they would be able to keep His commands
and obey His laws.
Praise the Eternal!
Footnotes
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.