Joy in Forgiveness of Israel’s Sins

106 Praise[a] the Lord!

(A)Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

Who can [b]utter the mighty acts of the Lord?
Who can declare all His praise?
Blessed are those who keep justice,
And [c]he who (B)does righteousness at (C)all times!

(D)Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people.
Oh, visit me with Your salvation,
That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with [d]Your inheritance.

(E)We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity,
We have done wickedly.
Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;
They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies,
(F)But rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.

Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
(G)That He might make His mighty power known.
(H)He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up;
So (I)He led them through the depths,
As through the wilderness.
10 He (J)saved them from the hand of him who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 (K)The waters covered their enemies;
There was not one of them left.
12 (L)Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.

13 (M)They soon forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
14 (N)But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tested God in the desert.
15 (O)And He gave them their request,
But (P)sent leanness into their soul.

16 When (Q)they envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron the saint of the Lord,
17 (R)The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan,
And covered the faction of Abiram.
18 (S)A fire was kindled in their company;
The flame burned up the wicked.

19 (T)They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped the molded image.
20 Thus (U)they changed their glory
Into 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,
Awesome things by the Red Sea.
23 (V)Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one (W)stood before Him in the breach,
To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.

24 Then they despised (X)the pleasant land;
They (Y)did not believe His word,
25 (Z)But complained in their tents,
And did not heed the voice of the Lord.
26 (AA)Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them,
(AB)To [e]overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 (AC)To [f]overthrow their descendants among the [g]nations,
And to scatter them in the lands.

28 (AD)They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices [h]made to the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
30 (AE)Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
And the plague was stopped.
31 And that was accounted to him (AF)for righteousness
To all generations forevermore.

32 (AG)They angered Him also at the waters of [i]strife,
(AH)So that it went ill with Moses on account of them;
33 (AI)Because they rebelled against His Spirit,
So that he spoke rashly with his lips.

34 (AJ)They did not destroy the peoples,
(AK)Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them,
35 (AL)But they mingled with the Gentiles
And learned their works;
36 (AM)They served their idols,
(AN)Which became a snare to them.
37 (AO)They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to (AP)demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And (AQ)the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they [j]were (AR)defiled by their own works,
And (AS)played[k] the harlot by their own deeds.

40 Therefore (AT)the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people,
So that He abhorred (AU)His own inheritance.
41 And (AV)He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 (AW)Many times He delivered them;
But they rebelled in their counsel,
And were brought low for their iniquity.

44 Nevertheless He regarded their affliction,
When (AX)He heard their cry;
45 (AY)And for their sake He remembered His covenant,
And (AZ)relented (BA)according to the multitude of His mercies.
46 (BB)He also made them to be pitied
By all those who carried them away captive.

47 (BC)Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.

48 (BD)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”

[l]Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 106:1 Heb. Hallelujah
  2. Psalm 106:2 express
  3. Psalm 106:3 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. those who do
  4. Psalm 106:5 The people of Your inheritance
  5. Psalm 106:26 make them fall
  6. Psalm 106:27 make their descendants fall also
  7. Psalm 106:27 Gentiles
  8. Psalm 106:28 offered
  9. Psalm 106:32 Or Meribah
  10. Psalm 106:39 became unclean
  11. Psalm 106:39 Were unfaithful
  12. Psalm 106:48 Heb. Hallelujah

The Value of Practical Wisdom

A (A)good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s (B)birth;
Better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to (C)heart.
[a]Sorrow is better than laughter,
(D)For by a sad countenance the heart is made [b]better.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

(E)It is better to [c]hear the rebuke of the wise
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
(F)For like the [d]crackling of thorns under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool.
This also is vanity.
Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,
(G)And a bribe [e]debases the heart.

The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
(H)The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
(I)Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Do not say,
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
And profitable (J)to those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom is [f]a (K)defense as money is a defense,
But the [g]excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives (L)life to those who have it.

13 Consider the work of God;
For (M)who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14 (N)In the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one [h]as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 7:3 Vexation or Grief
  2. Ecclesiastes 7:3 well or pleasing
  3. Ecclesiastes 7:5 listen to
  4. Ecclesiastes 7:6 Lit. sound
  5. Ecclesiastes 7:7 destroys
  6. Ecclesiastes 7:12 A protective shade, lit. shadow
  7. Ecclesiastes 7:12 advantage or profit
  8. Ecclesiastes 7:14 alongside

12 Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. (A)You have not injured me at all. 13 You know that (B)because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. 14 And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me (C)as an [a]angel of God, (D)even as Christ Jesus. 15 [b]What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

17 They (E)zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. 18 But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you. 19 (F)My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, 20 I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 4:14 Or messenger
  2. Galatians 4:15 NU Where

A Gentile Shows Her Faith(A)

21 (B)Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, (C)Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

23 But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

24 But He answered and said, (D)“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little (E)dogs.”

27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, (F)great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

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