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Psalm 105

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
    Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
    Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name;
    rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
Search for the Lord and for his strength;
    continually seek him.
Remember the wonders he has performed,
    his miracles, and the rulings he has given,
you children of his servant Abraham,
    you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He is the Lord our God.
    His justice is seen throughout the land.
He always stands by his covenant—
    the commitment he made to a thousand generations.
This is the covenant he made with Abraham
    and the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
    and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:
11 “I will give you the land of Canaan
    as your special possession.”

12 He said this when they were few in number,
    a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.
13 They wandered from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another.
14 Yet he did not let anyone oppress them.
    He warned kings on their behalf:
15 “Do not touch my chosen people,
    and do not hurt my prophets.”

16 He called for a famine on the land of Canaan,
    cutting off its food supply.
17 Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—
    Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with fetters
    and placed his neck in an iron collar.
19 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,[a]
    the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
20 Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
    the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.
21 Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household;
    he became ruler over all the king’s possessions.
22 He could instruct[b] the king’s aides as he pleased
    and teach the king’s advisers.

23 Then Israel arrived in Egypt;
    Jacob lived as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 And the Lord multiplied the people of Israel
    until they became too mighty for their enemies.
25 Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites,
    and they plotted against the Lord’s servants.

26 But the Lord sent his servant Moses,
    along with Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians,
    and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 The Lord blanketed Egypt in darkness,
    for they had defied[c] his commands to let his people go.
29 He turned their water into blood,
    poisoning all the fish.
30 Then frogs overran the land
    and even invaded the king’s bedrooms.
31 When the Lord spoke, flies descended on the Egyptians,
    and gnats swarmed across Egypt.
32 He sent them hail instead of rain,
    and lightning flashed over the land.
33 He ruined their grapevines and fig trees
    and shattered all the trees.
34 He spoke, and hordes of locusts came—
    young locusts beyond number.
35 They ate up everything green in the land,
    destroying all the crops in their fields.
36 Then he killed the oldest son in each Egyptian home,
    the pride and joy of each family.

37 The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold;
    and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they were gone,
    for they feared them greatly.
39 The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering
    and gave them a great fire to light the darkness.
40 They asked for meat, and he sent them quail;
    he satisfied their hunger with manna—bread from heaven.
41 He split open a rock, and water gushed out
    to form a river through the dry wasteland.
42 For he remembered his sacred promise
    to his servant Abraham.
43 So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy,
    his chosen ones with rejoicing.
44 He gave his people the lands of pagan nations,
    and they harvested crops that others had planted.
45 All this happened so they would follow his decrees
    and obey his instructions.

Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. 105:19 Hebrew his word.
  2. 105:22 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads bind or imprison.
  3. 105:28 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads had not defied.

Praise to Yahweh for His Work on Behalf of Israel

105 Give thanks to Yahweh; proclaim his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him; sing praises concerning him;
tell of all his wonderful works.
Boast about his holy name.
Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.
Make supplication to Yahweh and his might;
seek his face continually.
Remember his wonders that he has done,
his signs and the judgments of his mouth,
O offspring of Abraham his servant,
you descendants[a] of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is Yahweh our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded
for a thousand generations,
that he made with Abraham,
and by his oath swore to Isaac.
10 He then confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the allotment that is your[b] inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number[c]
a trifle—and were sojourners in it,
13 and they wandered about among the nations,[d]
from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them,
and he rebuked kings on account of them,
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones,
nor harm my prophets.”
16 Then he called for a famine upon the land;
he broke every supply[e] of bread.
17 He sent a man on ahead of them;
Joseph was sold as a slave.
18 They clamped[f] his feet in fetters.[g]
His neck[h] went into irons.[i]
19 Until the time his word came about,
the word of Yahweh tested[j] him.
20 The king sent and he freed him;
the ruler of the peoples sent and let him loose.
21 He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to obligate[k] his officials as he saw fit[l]
and teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt,
and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Ham.
24 And he[m] made his people very fruitful.
He also made them[n] stronger than their[o] enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
to deal deceitfully against his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses,
together with Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They set before them the words concerning his signs
and portents in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made it dark,
and they did not rebel against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood
and it killed their fish.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came flies
and gnats throughout all their territory.[p]
32 He gave hail for their rains
and the fire of lightning in their land.
33 And he struck their vines and fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke and there came locusts
and young locusts without number.
35 And they ate up all the vegetation in their land,
and they ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 And he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first of all their virility.
37 Then he brought them out with silver and gold,
and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
because the fear of them[q] had fallen upon them.
39 He spread out a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light at night.
40 They[r] asked, and he brought quail,
and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock and waters flowed;
they coursed[s] through the dry places like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy promise;[t]
he remembered Abraham his servant.
43 And so he brought out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with rejoicing.
44 And he gave to them the lands of the nations,
and they inherited the labor of the peoples,
45 so that they might observe his statutes,
and keep his laws.
Praise Yah.[u]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 105:6 Or “children,” or “sons”
  2. Psalm 105:11 Hebrew plural
  3. Psalm 105:12 Literally “men of number,” that is, so few you could count them
  4. Psalm 105:13 Literally “from people to people”
  5. Psalm 105:16 Literally “staff”
  6. Psalm 105:18 Hebrew “oppressed, hurt”
  7. Psalm 105:18 Hebrew “fetter”
  8. Psalm 105:18 Hebrew nephesh can designate the life, soul, appetite, desire, or throat/neck.
  9. Psalm 105:18 Hebrew “iron”
  10. Psalm 105:19 Or “refined”
  11. Psalm 105:22 Hebrew “to bind, imprison” The LXX’s “to instruct” presupposes ysr instead of 'sr, and might be correct in light of the parallelism that is fairly tight in this psalm
  12. Psalm 105:22 Literally “in his desire soul
  13. Psalm 105:24 That is, God
  14. Psalm 105:24 Hebrew “him”
  15. Psalm 105:24 Hebrew “his”
  16. Psalm 105:31 Hebrew “borders”
  17. Psalm 105:38 That is, Israel
  18. Psalm 105:40 Hebrew “He”
  19. Psalm 105:41 Or “surged”
  20. Psalm 105:42 Literally “word”
  21. Psalm 105:45 Hebrew hallelujah