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Praise to Yahweh for His Faithfulness in Israel’s History

106 Praise Yah.[a] Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loyal love is forever.
Who can utter the mighty deeds of Yahweh,
or proclaim all his praise?
Blessed are those who observe justice,
he who does righteousness at all times.
Remember me, O Yahweh, when you show favor to your people.
Look after me when you deliver,
that I may see the good done your chosen ones,
to be glad in the joy of your nation,
to glory together with your inheritance.
We have sinned along with our ancestors.[b]
We have committed iniquity; we have incurred guilt.
Our ancestors[c] in Egypt did not understand your wonderful works.
They did not remember your many acts of loyal love,
and so they rebelled by the sea at the Red Sea.[d]
Yet he saved them for the sake of his name,
to make known his might.
So he rebuked the Red Sea,[e] and it dried up,
and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 Thus he saved them from the hand of the hater
and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 But waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his words;
they sang his praise.
13 They quickly forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
14 And they craved intensely[f] in the wilderness,
and tested God in the desert.
15 So he gave to them their request,
but he sent leanness into their souls.[g]
16 And they were jealous of Moses in the camp,
and of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and it covered over the gang of Abiram.
18 Also fire burned in their assembly;
the flame devoured the wicked.
19 They made a calf at Horeb
and bowed down to a cast image.
20 And so they exchanged their glory
for an image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wonders in the land of Ham,
awesome deeds by the Red Sea.[h]
23 So he said he would exterminate them,
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to reverse his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they refused the desirable land;
they did not believe his word,
25 but grumbled in their tents.
They did not obey the voice of Yahweh.
26 So he made an oath[i] against them,
to make them drop in the wilderness,
27 and to disperse[j] their descendants[k] among the nations
and to scatter them among the lands.
28 They also attached themselves to Baal of Peor,
and they ate sacrifices offered to the dead.[l]
29 Thus they provoked to anger by their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and so the plague was stopped,
31 and it was reckoned to him as righteousness
throughout all generations.[m]
32 They also angered God at the waters of Meribah,
and it went badly for Moses on account of them,
33 because they rebelled against his Spirit,[n]
and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips.
34 They did not exterminate the peoples,
as Yahweh had commanded them, [o]
35 but they mingled with the nations
and learned their works,
36 and served their idols,
which became[p] a snare to them.
37 They even sacrificed their sons and daughters
to the demons,
38 and they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and so the land was defiled with the blood.[q]
39 And they became unclean by their works,
and were unfaithful in their deeds.
40 So Yahweh’s anger burned against his people,
and he abhorred his inheritance.
41 Then he gave them into the hand of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 And their enemies oppressed them,
and they were subdued under their hand.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they rebelled in their counsel,
and were brought low by their iniquity.
44 Yet he looked upon their distress
when he heard their cry.
45 And he remembered his covenant with them,
and relented based on the abundance of his loyal love.
46 And he let them find compassion[r]
before all their captors.
47 Save us, O Yahweh our God,
and gather us from the nations,
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and boast in your praise.
48 Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel,
from everlasting and to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise Yah.[s]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 106:1 Hebrew hallelujah
  2. Psalm 106:6 Or “fathers”
  3. Psalm 106:7 Or “fathers”
  4. Psalm 106:7 Literally “sea of reed”
  5. Psalm 106:9 Literally “sea of reed”
  6. Psalm 106:14 Literally “craved a craving”
  7. Psalm 106:15 Hebrew “soul” or “inner self”
  8. Psalm 106:22 Literally “sea of reed”
  9. Psalm 106:26 Literally “he lifted his hand,” an act accompanying an oath
  10. Psalm 106:27 Or “let drop”
  11. Psalm 106:27 Literally “seed”
  12. Psalm 106:28 Hebrew “sacrifices of dead”
  13. Psalm 106:31 Literally “for a generation and a generation”
  14. Psalm 106:33 A slightly different verbal form yields “they embittered his spirit”
  15. Psalm 106:34 Hebrew “said to them”
  16. Psalm 106:36 Hebrew “and they became”
  17. Psalm 106:38 Hebrew “bloods,” that is, bloodshed
  18. Psalm 106:46 Literally “gave them to have mercies”
  19. Psalm 106:48 Hebrew hallelujah

Israel’s Failure to Trust God

106 Praise the Lord!

Thank the Lord because he is good.
    His ·love [loyalty] continues forever.
·No one [L Who…?] can tell all the mighty things the Lord has done;
    ·no one [L who…?] can ·speak [declare] all his praise.
·Happy [Blessed] are those who ·do [keep; observe; guard] ·right [justice],
    who do what is ·fair [righteous] at all times.

Lord, remember me when you ·are kind [show favor] to your people;
    ·help [come to] me when you ·save them [give them victory].
Let me see the ·good things you do for [prosperity of] your chosen people.
    Let me ·be happy [rejoice] along with your ·happy [rejoicing] nation;
let me join your ·own people [inheritance] in praising you.

We have sinned just as our ·ancestors [fathers] did.
    We have done wrong; we have done evil.
Our ·ancestors [fathers] in Egypt
    did not ·learn [grow in wisdom] from your ·miracles [wonderful acts].
They did not remember all your ·kindnesses [loyalty],
    so they ·turned [rebelled] against you at the ·Red [or Reed] Sea [78:13; Ex. 14–15].
But the Lord ·saved them [gave them victory] ·for his own sake [L because of his name],
    to ·show [reveal] his great power.
He ·commanded [reprimanded; rebuked] the ·Red [or Reed] Sea [v. 7], and it dried up.
    He led them through the deep sea as if it were a ·desert [wilderness].
10 He ·saved them [gave them victory over] from those who hated them.
    He ·saved [redeemed] them from the ·power [hand] of their enemies,
11 and the water covered their foes.
    Not one of them ·escaped [L was left].
12 Then the people ·believed what the Lord said [L had faith in his word],
    and they sang praises to him.

13 But they quickly forgot what he had done;
    they did not wait for his ·advice [counsel].
14 They ·became greedy for food [developed deep cravings] in the ·desert [wilderness; Num. 11],
    and they tested God ·there [L in desolate places; Ex. 17:7].
15 So he gave them what they ·wanted [asked for],
    but he also sent ·a terrible disease [a wasting sickness; emaciation] among them [Num. 11:33–35].

16 The people in the camp were jealous of Moses
    and of Aaron, the holy ·priest [one] of the Lord.
17 Then the ground opened up and swallowed Dathan
    and closed over Abiram’s ·group [assembly].
18 A fire burned among their ·followers [congregation],
    and flames burned up the wicked [Num. 16].

19 The people made a gold calf at ·Mount Sinai [L Horeb; C another name for Sinai]
    and ·worshiped [bowed down to] a metal statue [Ex. 32; Deut. 9:7–17].
20 They exchanged their ·glorious God [L glory; C God’s manifest presence]
    for ·a statue [the image] of a bull that eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who ·saved them [had given them victory],
    who had done great things in Egypt,
22 who had done miracles in the land of Ham [C Egypt]
    and amazing things by the ·Red [or Reed] Sea [v. 7].
23 So God said he would destroy them.
    But Moses, his chosen one, stood ·before him [L in the breech before him]
and ·stopped God’s anger from destroying them [calmed his destructive wrath; Ex. 32:30—33:23; Deut. 9:18–21].

24 Then they refused to go into the ·beautiful land of Canaan [desired/coveted land];
    they did not ·believe what God promised [L trust his word; Num. 14:1–12].
25 They ·grumbled [complained] in their tents [Deut. 1:27; 1 Cor. 10:10]
    and did not ·obey [L listen to] the Lord.
26 So he ·swore [L lifted his hand; C an oath-taking gesture] to them
    that ·they would die [L he would make them fall] in the ·desert [wilderness].
27 He ·said their children would be killed by [L would make their seed fall to] other nations
    and that they would be scattered among other countries [C as happened in the exile; Num. 14:27–35].

28 They ·joined in worshiping [L yoked themselves to] Baal at Peor
    and ate ·meat that had been sacrificed to lifeless statues [L sacrifices to the dead; Num. 25].
29 They ·made the Lord angry [L provoked him] by what they did,
    so ·many people became sick with a terrible disease [plague broke out among them].
30 But Phinehas ·prayed to the Lord [L stood and prayed],
    and the ·disease [plague] ·stopped [was restrained; Num. 25:6–9].
31 ·Phinehas did what was right [L It was counted/credited to him as righteousness],
    ·and it will be remembered from now on [L throughout the generations, forever; Num. 25:10–13; Mal. 2:4–6].

32 The people also made the Lord angry at Meribah [81:7; 95:8],
    and Moses was in trouble because of them.
33 The people ·turned [rebelled] against ·the Spirit of God [L his Spirit/spirit],
    so Moses ·spoke without stopping to think [L chattered with his lips; Num. 20:10–11].

34 The people did not destroy the other nations
    as the Lord had told them to do [Deut. 7:16; 20:17–18].
35 Instead, they mixed with the other nations
    and learned their ·customs [deeds; Judg. 3:5–6].
36 They ·worshiped [L served] other nations’ idols [Judg. 2:19]
    and were ·trapped by them [L a snare to them].
37 They even killed their sons and daughters
    as sacrifices to demons [Lev. 18:21; Deut. 12:31; 2 Kin. 16:1; 21:6; 23:10; Jer. 7:31; Ezek. 16:20–21; 20:31; 1 Cor. 10:20].
38 They ·killed [L spilled the blood of] innocent people,
    their own sons and daughters,
as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan [Jer. 19:4].
    So the land was ·made unholy [polluted] by their blood.
39 The people became ·unholy [unclean; C ritually] by their ·sins [L acts];
    they ·were unfaithful to God in [prostituted themselves by] what they did.

40 So the Lord became angry with his people
    and ·hated [was disgusted with] his own ·children [L inheritance].
41 He ·handed them over to [L gave them over to the hand/power of] other nations
    and let ·their enemies [L those who hated them] ·rule over [dominate] them.
42 Their enemies ·were cruel to [oppressed] them
    and ·kept them [they were brought into subjection] under their ·power [L hand].
43 The Lord ·saved [rescued] his people many times,
    but they continued to ·turn [rebel] against him.
So they ·became even more wicked [L were brought low by their iniquity].

44 But God saw their ·misery [distress]
    when he heard their cry.
45 He remembered his ·agreement [treaty; covenant] with them,
    and he felt ·sorry [compassion] for them because of his great ·love [loyalty].
46 He caused them to be ·pitied [shown mercy/compassion]
    by those who held them captive.

47 Lord our God, ·save us [give us victory]
    and ·bring us back [gather us] from other nations [C perhaps from the exile].
Then we will ·thank [praise] ·you [L your holy name]
    and will ·gladly praise you [glory in your praise].

48 ·Praise [Bless] the Lord, the God of Israel.
    He ·always was and always will be [is from everlasting to everlasting].
Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord!