Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good

106 (A)Praise the Lord!
(B)Oh give thanks to the Lord, (C)for he is good,
    (D)for his steadfast love endures forever!
Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
    or declare all his praise?
Blessed are they who observe justice,
    who (E)do righteousness at all times!

(F)Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
    help me when you save them,[a]
that I may look upon the prosperity of your (G)chosen ones,
    that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
    that I may glory with your inheritance.

(H)Both we and (I)our fathers have sinned;
    we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
    did not consider your wondrous works;
they (J)did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
    but (K)rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
Yet he saved them (L)for his name's sake,
    (M)that he might make known his mighty power.
He (N)rebuked the Red Sea, and it (O)became dry,
    and he (P)led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he (Q)saved them from the hand of the foe
    and (R)redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And (S)the waters covered their adversaries;
    not one of them was left.
12 Then (T)they believed his words;
    they (U)sang his praise.

13 But they soon (V)forgot his works;
    they did not wait for (W)his counsel.
14 But they had (X)a wanton craving in the wilderness,
    and (Y)put God to the test in the desert;
15 he (Z)gave them what they asked,
    but sent (AA)a wasting disease among them.

16 When men in the camp (AB)were jealous of Moses
    and Aaron, (AC)the holy one of the Lord,
17 (AD)the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
    and covered the company of Abiram.
18 (AE)Fire also broke out in their company;
    the flame burned up the wicked.

19 They (AF)made a calf in Horeb
    and worshiped a metal image.
20 They (AG)exchanged the glory of God[b]
    for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They (AH)forgot God, their Savior,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in (AI)the land of Ham,
    and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore (AJ)he said he would destroy them—
    had not Moses, his (AK)chosen one,
(AL)stood in the breach before him,
    to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

24 Then they (AM)despised (AN)the pleasant land,
    having (AO)no faith in his promise.
25 They (AP)murmured in their tents,
    and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he (AQ)raised his hand and swore to them
    that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
    (AR)scattering them among the lands.

28 Then they (AS)yoked themselves to the (AT)Baal of Peor,
    and ate sacrifices offered to (AU)the dead;
29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
    and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then (AV)Phinehas stood up and intervened,
    and the plague was stayed.
31 And that was (AW)counted to him as righteousness
    from generation to generation forever.

32 They (AX)angered him at the waters of Meribah,
    and it went ill with Moses on their account,
33 for they (AY)made his spirit bitter,[c]
    and he (AZ)spoke rashly with his lips.

34 They did not (BA)destroy the peoples,
    (BB)as the Lord commanded them,
35 but they (BC)mixed with the nations
    and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
    which became (BD)a snare to them.
37 They (BE)sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to (BF)the demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was (BG)polluted with blood.
39 Thus they (BH)became unclean by their acts,
    and (BI)played the whore in their deeds.

40 Then (BJ)the anger of the Lord was kindled against (BK)his people,
    and he abhorred his (BL)heritage;
41 he (BM)gave them into the hand of the nations,
    so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies (BN)oppressed them,
    and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 (BO)Many times he delivered them,
    but they were rebellious in their (BP)purposes
    and were (BQ)brought low through their iniquity.

44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
    when he (BR)heard their cry.
45 For their sake he (BS)remembered his covenant,
    and (BT)relented according to (BU)the abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be (BV)pitied
    by all those who held them captive.

47 (BW)Save us, O Lord our God,
    and (BX)gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.

48 (BY)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
(BZ)And let all the people say, “Amen!”
    (CA)Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 106:4 Or Remember me, O Lord, with the favor you show to your people; help me with your salvation
  2. Psalm 106:20 Hebrew exchanged their glory
  3. Psalm 106:33 Or they rebelled against God's Spirit

The Unfaithfulness of God’s People

106 Hallelujah!

Give thanks to the Lord,
    since he is good,
        for his gracious love exists forever.

Who can fully describe the mighty acts of the Lord
    or proclaim all his praises?
How happy are those who enforce justice,
    who live righteously all the time.
Remember me, Lord,
    when you show favor to your people.
Visit us with your deliverance,
to witness the prosperity of your chosen ones,
to rejoice in your nation’s joy,
    to glory in your inheritance.

We have sinned, along with our ancestors;
    we have committed iniquity and wickedness.
In Egypt, our ancestors neither comprehended your awesome deeds
    nor remembered your abundant gracious love.
        Instead, they rebelled beside the sea, the Reed[a] Sea.
He delivered for the sake of his name,[b]
    to make his power known.
He shouted at the Reed[c] Sea and it dried up;
    and led them through the sea as though through a desert.
10 He delivered them from the power of their foe;
    redeeming them from the power of their enemy.
11 The water overwhelmed their enemies,
    so that not one of them survived.[d]
12 Then they believed his word
    and sung his praise.

13 But they quickly forgot his deeds
    and did not wait for his counsel.
14 They were overwhelmed with craving in the wilderness,
    so God tested them in the wasteland.
15 God granted them their request,
    but sent leanness into their lives.

16 They were envious of Moses in the camp,
    and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed Dathan,
    closing over Abiram’s clan.
18 Then a fire burned among their company,
    a flame that set the wicked ablaze.

19 They fashioned a calf at Horeb
    and worshipped a carved image.
20 They exchanged their glory[e]
    with the image of a grass-eating bull.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
    who performed great things in Egypt—
22 awesome deeds in the land of Ham,[f]
    astonishing deeds at the Reed[g] Sea.
23 He would have destroyed them
    but for Moses, his chosen one,
who stood in the breach before him
    to avert[h] his destructive wrath.

24 They rejected the desirable land,
    and they didn’t trust his promise.
25 They murmured in their tents,
    and didn’t listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 So he swore an oath concerning them—
    that he would cause them to die in the wilderness,
27 to cause their children to perish among the nations
    and be scattered among many[i] lands.
28 For they adopted the worship[j] of Baal Peor
    and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 They had provoked anger by their deeds,
    so that a plague broke out against them.
30 But Phinehas intervened and prayed
    so that the plague was restrained.
31 And it was credited to him as a righteous act,
    from generation to generation—to eternity.
32 They provoked wrath at the waters of Meribah,
    and Moses suffered[k] on account of them.
33 For they rebelled against him,[l]
    so that he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips.

34 They never destroyed the people,
    as the Lord had commanded them.
35 Instead, they mingled among the nations
    and learned their ways.[m]
36 They worshipped[n] their idols,
    and this became a trap for them.
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood—
    the blood of their sons and daughters—
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    thereby polluting the land with blood.
39 Therefore, they became unclean because of what they did;
    they have acted like whores by their evil deeds.
40 The Lord’s anger burned against his people,
    so that he despised his own inheritance.
41 He turned them over to domination by nations
    where those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
    so that they were humiliated by their power.
43 He delivered them many times,
    but they demonstrated rebellion by their evil plans;
        therefore they sunk deep in their sins.

44 Yet when he saw their distress
    and heard their cries for help,[o]
45 he remembered his covenant with them,
    and so relented
        according to the greatness of his gracious love.
46 He caused all their captors to show compassion toward them.

47 Deliver us, Lord our God,
    gather us from among the nations
so we may praise your holy name
    and rejoice in praising you.
48 Blessed are you, Lord God of Israel,
    from eternity to eternity;
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
    Hallelujah!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 106:7 So MT; LXX reads Red
  2. Psalm 106:8 Or reputation
  3. Psalm 106:9 So MT; LXX reads Red
  4. Psalm 106:11 Or remained
  5. Psalm 106:20 I.e. their God
  6. Psalm 106:22 I.e. Egypt
  7. Psalm 106:22 So MT; LXX reads Red
  8. Psalm 106:23 Or turn back
  9. Psalm 106:27 The Heb. lacks many
  10. Psalm 106:28 Lit. they attached themselves with Baal Peor
  11. Psalm 106:32 Lit. and it was evil for Moses
  12. Psalm 106:33 Lit. against his spirit
  13. Psalm 106:35 Lit. deeds
  14. Psalm 106:36 Lit. served
  15. Psalm 106:44 The Heb. lacks help