Old/New Testament

⁴ Trust the Lord
    and his mighty power.
⁵ Remember his miracles
and all his wonders
    and his fair decisions.
⁶ You belong to the family
    of Abraham, his servant;
you are his chosen ones,
    the descendants of Jacob.

⁷ The Lord is our God,
bringing justice
    everywhere on earth.
⁸ He will never forget
his agreement or his promises,
    not in thousands of years.
* ^9 (B) God made an eternal promise
^{10     (C)} to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
¹¹ when he said, “I'll give you
    the land of Canaan.”

¹² At the time there were
only a few of us,
    and we were homeless.
¹³ We wandered from nation
to nation, from one country
    to another.
^14 (D) God did not let anyone
    mistreat our people.
Instead he protected us
    by punishing rulers
¹⁵ and telling them,
“Don't touch my chosen leaders
    or harm my prophets!”

^16 (E) God kept crops from growing
until food was scarce
    everywhere in the land.
^17 (F) But he had already sent Joseph,
    sold as a slave into Egypt,
^18 (G) with chains of iron
    around his legs and neck.

¹⁹ Joseph remained a slave
until his own words
    had come true,
and the Lord had finished
    testing him.
^20 (H) Then the king of Egypt
    set Joseph free
^21 (I) and put him in charge
    of everything he owned.
²² Joseph was in command
    of the officials,
and he taught the leaders
    how to use wisdom.

^23 (J) Jacob and his family
came and settled in Egypt
    as foreigners.
^24 (K) They were the Lord's people,
so he let them grow stronger
    than their enemies.
²⁵ They served the Lord,
and he made the Egyptians plan
    hateful things against them.
^26 (L) God sent his servant Moses.
He also chose and sent Aaron
²⁷     to his people in Egypt,
and they worked miracles
    and wonders there.
^28 (M) Moses and Aaron obeyed God,
and he sent darkness
    to cover Egypt.
^29 (N) God turned their rivers
into streams of blood,
    and the fish all died.
^30 (O) Frogs were everywhere,
    even in the royal palace.
^31 (P) When God gave the command,
flies and gnats
    swarmed all around.

^32 (Q) In place of rain,
God sent hailstones
    and flashes of lightning.
³³ He destroyed their grapevines
    and their fig trees,
and he made splinters
    of all the other trees.
^34 (R) God gave the command,
and more grasshoppers came
    than could be counted.
³⁵ They ate every green plant
and all the crops that grew
    in the land of Egypt.
^36 (S) Then God took the life
    of every first-born son.

^37 (T) When God led Israel from Egypt,
they took silver and gold,
    and no one was left behind.
³⁸ The Egyptians were afraid
    and gladly let them go.
^39 (U) God hid them under a cloud
and guided them by fire
    during the night.

^40 (V) When they asked for food,
he sent more birds
    than they could eat.
^41 (W) God even split open a rock,
and streams of water
    gushed into the desert.
⁴² God never forgot
his sacred promise
    to his servant Abraham.

⁴³ When the Lord rescued
his chosen people from Egypt,
    they celebrated with songs.
^44 (X) The Lord gave them the land
and everything else
    the nations had worked for.
⁴⁵ He did this so that his people
would obey all his laws.
    Shout praises to the Lord!

⁴ Remember me, Lord,
when you show kindness
    by saving your people.
⁵ Let me prosper with the rest
    of your chosen ones,
as they celebrate with pride
    because they belong to you.

⁶ We and our ancestors
    have sinned terribly.
^7 (Z) When they were in Egypt,
    they paid no attention
to your marvelous deeds
    or your wonderful love.
And they turned against you
    at the Red Sea.^[a]

⁸ But you were true to your name,
and you rescued them to prove
    how mighty you are.
^9 (AA) You said to the Red Sea,^[b]
    “Dry up!”
Then you led your people across
    on land as dry as a desert.
¹⁰ You saved all of them
¹¹ and drowned every one
    of their enemies.
^12 (AB) Then your people trusted you
    and sang your praises.

¹³ But they soon forgot
what you had done
    and rejected your advice.
^14 (AC) They became greedy for food
and tested you there
    in the desert.
¹⁵ So you gave them
    what they wanted,
but later you destroyed them
    with a horrible disease.

^16 (AD) Everyone in camp was jealous
of Moses and of Aaron,
    your chosen priest.
¹⁷ Dathan and Abiram rebelled,
and the earth opened up
    and swallowed them.
¹⁸ Then fire broke out
and destroyed all
    of their followers.

^19 (AE) At Horeb your people
made and worshiped the statue
²⁰     of a bull, instead of you,
    their glorious God.
²¹ You worked powerful miracles
    to save them from Egypt,
but they forgot about you
²² and the fearsome things
    you did at the Red Sea.^[c]
23 You were angry and started
    to destroy them,
but Moses, your chosen leader,
    begged you not to do it.

^24 (AF) They would not trust
    you, Lord,
and they did not like
    the promised land.
²⁵ They would not obey you,
and they grumbled
    in their tents.
²⁶ So you threatened them
by saying, “I'll kill you
    out here in the desert!
^27 (AG) I'll scatter your children
    everywhere in the world.”

^28 (AH) Your people became followers
    of a god named Baal Peor,
and they ate sacrifices
    offered to the dead.^[d]
29 They did such terrible things
that you punished them
    with a deadly disease.
³⁰ But Phinehas^[e] helped them,
    and the sickness stopped.
³¹ Now he will always
    be highly honored.

^32 (AI) At Meribah Spring^[f]
they turned against you
    and made you furious.
³³ Then Moses got into trouble
    for speaking in anger.

^34 (AJ) Our Lord, they disobeyed you
by refusing to destroy
    the nations.
³⁵ Instead they were friendly
with those foreigners
    and followed their customs.
³⁶ Then they fell into the trap
    of worshiping idols.
^37 (AK) They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons
^{38     (AL)} and to the gods of Canaan.
Then they poured out the blood
of these innocent children
    and made the land filthy.
³⁹ By doing such gruesome things,
    they also became filthy.

^40 (AM) Finally, Lord, you were angry
and terribly disgusted
    with your people.
⁴¹ So you put them in the power
    of nations that hated them.
⁴² They were mistreated and abused
    by their enemies,
⁴³ but you saved them
    time after time.
They were determined to rebel,
and their sins caused
    their downfall.

⁴⁴ You answered their prayers
    when they were in trouble.
⁴⁵ You kept your agreement
    and were so merciful
⁴⁶ that their enemies
    had pity on them.

^47 (AN) Save us, Lord God!
Bring us back
    from among the nations.
Let us celebrate and shout
    in praise of your holy name.

⁴⁸ Lord God of Israel,
you deserve to be praised
    forever and ever.
Let everyone say, “Amen!
    Shout praises to the Lord!”