Psalm 105
New English Translation
Psalm 105[a]
105 Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on his name.
Make known his accomplishments among the nations.
2 Sing to him.
Make music to him.
Tell about all his miraculous deeds.
3 Boast about his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives.
Seek his presence continually.
5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed,[b]
6 O children[c] of Abraham,[d] God’s[e] servant,
you descendants[f] of Jacob, God’s[g] chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
he carries out judgment throughout the earth.[h]
8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,
the promise he made[i] to a thousand generations—
9 the promise[j] he made to Abraham,
the promise he made by oath to Isaac.
10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as a lasting promise,[k]
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number,
just a very few, and resident foreigners within it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another.[l]
14 He let no one oppress them;
he disciplined kings for their sake,
15 saying,[m] “Don’t touch my chosen ones.[n]
Don’t harm my prophets.”
16 He called down a famine upon the earth;
he cut off all the food supply.[o]
17 He sent a man ahead of them[p]—
Joseph was sold as a servant.
18 The shackles hurt his feet;[q]
his neck was placed in an iron collar,[r]
19 until the time when his prediction[s] came true.
The Lord’s word[t] proved him right.[u]
20 The king authorized his release;[v]
the ruler of nations set him free.
21 He put him in charge of his palace,[w]
and made him manager of all his property,
22 giving him authority to imprison his officials[x]
and to teach his advisers.[y]
23 Israel moved to[z] Egypt;
Jacob lived for a time[aa] in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord[ab] made his people very fruitful,
and made them[ac] more numerous than their[ad] enemies.
25 He caused the Egyptians[ae] to hate his people,
and to mistreat[af] his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They executed his miraculous signs among them,[ag]
and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.
28 He made it dark;[ah]
Moses and Aaron did not disobey his orders.[ai]
29 He turned the Egyptians’ water into blood,
and killed their fish.
30 Their land was overrun by frogs,
which even got into the rooms of their kings.
31 He ordered flies to come;[aj]
gnats invaded their whole territory.
32 He sent hail along with the rain;[ak]
there was lightning in their land.[al]
33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,
and broke the trees throughout their territory.
34 He ordered locusts to come,[am]
innumerable grasshoppers.
35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,
and devoured the crops of their fields.[an]
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power.[ao]
37 He brought his people[ap] out enriched[aq] with silver and gold;
none of his tribes stumbled.
38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them.[ar]
39 He spread out a cloud for a cover,[as]
and provided a fire to light up the night.
40 They asked for food,[at] and he sent quail;
he satisfied them with food from the sky.[au]
41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
42 Yes,[av] he remembered the sacred promise[aw]
he made to Abraham his servant.
43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;
his chosen ones shouted with joy.[ax]
44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,
and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,[ay]
45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey[az] his laws.
Praise the Lord.
Footnotes
- Psalm 105:1 sn Psalm 105. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God because he delivered his people from Egypt in fulfillment of his covenantal promises to Abraham. A parallel version of vv. 1-15 appears in 1 Chr 16:8-22.
- Psalm 105:5 tn Heb “and the judgments of his mouth.”
- Psalm 105:6 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
- Psalm 105:6 tc Some mss have “Israel,” which appears in the parallel version of this psalm in 1 Chr 16:13.
- Psalm 105:6 tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Psalm 105:6 tn Heb “sons.”
- Psalm 105:6 tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Psalm 105:7 tn Heb “in all the earth [are] his judgments.”
- Psalm 105:8 tn Heb “[the] word he commanded.” The text refers here to God’s unconditional covenantal promise to Abraham and the patriarchs, as vv. 10-12 make clear.
- Psalm 105:9 tn Heb “which.”
- Psalm 105:10 tn Or “eternal covenant.”
- Psalm 105:13 tn Heb “and from a kingdom to another nation.”
- Psalm 105:15 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
- Psalm 105:15 tn Heb “anointed.”
- Psalm 105:16 tn Heb “and every staff of food he broke.” The psalmist refers to the famine that occurred in Joseph’s time (see v. 17 and Gen 41:53-57).
- Psalm 105:17 tn After the reference to the famine in v. 16, v. 17 flashes back to events that preceded the famine (see Gen 37).
- Psalm 105:18 tn Heb “they afflicted his feet with shackles.”
- Psalm 105:18 tn Heb “his neck came [into] iron.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with the suffix could mean simply “he” or “his life.” But the nuance “neck” makes good sense here (note the reference to his “feet” in the preceding line). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 38.
- Psalm 105:19 tn Heb “word,” probably referring to Joseph’s prediction about the fate of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker (see Gen 41:9-14).
- Psalm 105:19 tn This line may refer to Joseph’s prediction of the famine in response to Pharaoh’s dream. Joseph emphasized to Pharaoh that the interpretation of the dream came from God (see Gen 41:16, 25, 28, 32, 39).
- Psalm 105:19 tn Heb “refined him.”
- Psalm 105:20 tn Heb “[the] king sent and set him free.”
- Psalm 105:21 tn Heb “he made him master of his house.”
- Psalm 105:22 tn Heb “to bind his officials by his will.”
- Psalm 105:22 tn Heb “and his elders he taught wisdom.”
- Psalm 105:23 tn Heb “entered.”
- Psalm 105:23 tn Heb “lived as a resident foreigner.”
- Psalm 105:24 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Psalm 105:24 tn Heb “him,” referring to “his people.”
- Psalm 105:24 tn Heb “his,” referring to “his people.”
- Psalm 105:25 tn Heb “their heart.”
- Psalm 105:25 tn Or “to deal deceptively.” The Hitpael of נָכַל (nakhal) occurs only here and in Gen 37:18, where it is used of Joseph’s brothers “plotting” to kill him.
- Psalm 105:27 tn Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e., the Israelites, see v. 25).
- Psalm 105:28 tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”sn He made it dark. The psalmist begins with the ninth plague (see Exod 10:21-29).
- Psalm 105:28 tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.
- Psalm 105:31 tn Heb “he spoke and flies came.”
- Psalm 105:32 tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”
- Psalm 105:32 tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”
- Psalm 105:34 tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”
- Psalm 105:35 tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”
- Psalm 105:36 tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51).sn Verses 28-36 recall the plagues in a different order than the one presented in Exodus: v. 28 (plague 9), v. 29 (plague 1), v. 30 (plague 2), v. 31a (plague 4), v. 31b (plague 3), vv. 32-33 (plague 7), vv. 34-35 (plague 8), v. 36 (plague 10). No reference is made in Ps 105 to plagues 5 and 6.
- Psalm 105:37 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Lord’s people) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Psalm 105:37 tn The word “enriched” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
- Psalm 105:38 tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”
- Psalm 105:39 tn Or “curtain.”
- Psalm 105:40 tn Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form should probably be emended to a plural שָׁאֲלוּ (shaʾalu, “they asked”), the ו (vav) having fallen off by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the following form).
- Psalm 105:40 tn Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see Exod 16:4, 13-15).
- Psalm 105:42 tn Or “for.”
- Psalm 105:42 tn Heb “his holy word.”
- Psalm 105:43 tn Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing cry, his chosen ones.”
- Psalm 105:44 tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”
- Psalm 105:45 tn Heb “guard.”
Psalm 105
New American Standard Bible
The Lord’s Wonderful Works in Behalf of Israel.
105 (A)Give thanks to the Lord, (B)call upon His name;
(C)Make His deeds known among the peoples.
2 Sing to Him, (D)sing praises to Him;
[a](E)Tell of all His [b]wonders.
3 Boast in His holy name;
May the (F)heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
4 Seek the Lord and (G)His strength;
(H)Seek His face continually.
5 Remember His [c](I)wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the (J)judgments [d]spoken by His mouth,
6 You [e]descendants of (K)Abraham, His servant,
You sons of (L)Jacob, His (M)chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
His (N)judgments are in all the earth.
8 He has (O)remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a (P)thousand generations,
9 The (Q)covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His (R)oath to Isaac.
10 Then He (S)confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, “(T)To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the [f](U)portion of your inheritance,”
12 When they were only a (V)few people in number,
Very few, and (W)strangers in it.
13 And they wandered from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people,
14 He (X)allowed no one to oppress them,
And He [g](Y)rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
15 “(Z)Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do not harm My prophets.”
16 And He (AA)called for a famine upon the land;
He (AB)broke the whole staff of bread.
17 He (AC)sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was (AD)sold as a slave.
18 They forced his (AE)feet into shackles,
[h]He was put in irons;
19 Until the time that his (AF)word came to pass,
The word of the Lord (AG)refined him.
20 The (AH)king sent and released him,
The ruler of peoples, and set him free.
21 He (AI)made him lord of his house,
And ruler over all his possessions,
22 To [i]imprison his high officials [j](AJ)at will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.
23 (AK)Israel also came into Egypt;
So Jacob (AL)lived in the land of Ham.
24 And He (AM)made His people very fruitful,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He (AN)turned their heart to hate His people,
To (AO)deal cunningly with His servants.
26 He (AP)sent His servant Moses,
And (AQ)Aaron, whom He had chosen.
27 They [k](AR)performed His wondrous acts among them,
And miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He (AS)sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not (AT)rebel against His words.
29 He (AU)turned their waters into blood,
And caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with (AV)frogs
Even in the (AW)chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and a (AX)swarm of flies
And (AY)gnats invaded all their territory.
32 He [l]gave them (AZ)hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He also (BA)struck their vines and their fig trees,
And smashed the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke, and (BB)locusts came,
And creeping locusts, beyond number,
35 And they ate all the vegetation in their land,
And ate the fruit of their ground.
36 He also (BC)fatally struck all the firstborn in their land,
The (BD)first fruits of all their vigor.
37 Then He brought [m]the Israelites out with (BE)silver and gold,
And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.
38 Egypt was (BF)glad when they departed,
For the (BG)dread of them had fallen upon [n]the Egyptians.
39 He spread out a (BH)cloud as a [o]covering,
And (BI)fire to illumine by night.
40 [p]They (BJ)asked, and He brought (BK)quail,
And satisfied them with the [q](BL)bread of heaven.
41 He opened the [r]rock and (BM)water flowed out;
[s]It ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For He (BN)remembered His holy word
With His servant Abraham;
43 And He led out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful (BO)shout.
44 He also (BP)gave them the lands of the [t]nations,
So that they (BQ)might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
45 And that they might (BR)keep His statutes
And comply with His laws;
[u]Praise [v]the Lord!
Footnotes
- Psalm 105:2 Or Meditate on
- Psalm 105:2 I.e., wonderful acts
- Psalm 105:5 I.e., wonderful acts
- Psalm 105:5 Lit of His mouth
- Psalm 105:6 Lit seed
- Psalm 105:11 Lit measuring line
- Psalm 105:14 Or punished
- Psalm 105:18 Lit His soul came into
- Psalm 105:22 Lit bind
- Psalm 105:22 Lit at his
- Psalm 105:27 Lit set the words of His signs
- Psalm 105:32 Or made their rain hail
- Psalm 105:37 Lit them
- Psalm 105:38 Lit them
- Psalm 105:39 Or curtain
- Psalm 105:40 Or One
- Psalm 105:40 Or food
- Psalm 105:41 Or boulder
- Psalm 105:41 Lit They went
- Psalm 105:44 Or Gentiles
- Psalm 105:45 Or Hallelujah!
- Psalm 105:45 Heb Yah
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