Psalm 106-107

GOD’S WORD Translation

106 Hallelujah!

Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
² Who can speak about all the mighty things the Lord has done?
Who can announce all the things for which he is worthy of praise?
³ Blessed are those who defend justice
and do what is right at all times.

⁴ Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people.
Come to help me with your salvation
⁵ so that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
find joy in our people’s happiness,
and brag with the people who belong to you.

⁶ We have sinned, and so did our ancestors.
We have done wrong.
We are guilty.
⁷ When our ancestors were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles.
They did not remember your numerous acts of mercy,
so they rebelled at the sea, the Red Sea.

⁸ He saved them because of his reputation
so that he could make his mighty power known.
⁹ He angrily commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He led them through deep water as though it were a desert.
¹⁰ He rescued them from the power of the one who hated them.
He rescued them from the enemy.
¹¹ Water covered their adversaries.
Not one Egyptian survived.
¹² Then our ancestors believed what he said.
They sang his praise.

¹³ They quickly forgot what he did.
They did not wait for his advice.
¹⁴ They had an unreasonable desire ⌞for food⌟ in the wilderness.
In the desert they tested God.
¹⁵ He gave them what they asked for.
He ⌞also⌟ gave them a degenerative disease.

¹⁶ In the camp certain men became envious of Moses.
They also became envious of Aaron, the Lord’s holy one.
¹⁷ The ground split open and swallowed Dathan.
It buried Abiram’s followers.
¹⁸ A fire broke out among their followers.
Flames burned up wicked people.

¹⁹ At Mount Horeb they made ⌞a statue of⌟ a calf.
They worshiped an idol made of metal.
²⁰ They traded their glorious God ^[a]
for the statue of a bull that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God, their savior,
the one who did spectacular things in Egypt,
²² miracles in the land of Ham,
and terrifying things at the Red Sea.
²³ God said he was going to destroy them,
but Moses, his chosen one, stood in his way
to prevent him from exterminating them.

²⁴ They refused ⌞to enter⌟ the pleasant land.
They did not believe what he said.
²⁵ They complained in their tents.
They did not obey the Lord.
²⁶ Raising his hand, he swore
that he would kill them in the wilderness,
²⁷ kill their descendants among the nations,
and scatter them throughout various lands.

²⁸ They joined in worshiping the god Baal while they were at Peor,
and they ate what was sacrificed to the dead.
²⁹ They infuriated God by what they did,
and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood between God and the people,
and the plague was stopped.
³¹ Because of this, Phinehas was considered righteous forever,
throughout every generation.
³² They made God angry by the water at Meribah.
Things turned out badly for Moses because of what they did,
³³ since they made him bitter so that he spoke recklessly.

³⁴ They did not destroy the people as the Lord had told them.
³⁵ Instead, they intermarried with other nations.
They learned to do what other nations did,
³⁶ and they worshiped their idols,
which became a trap for them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
³⁸ They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land became polluted with blood.
³⁹ They became filthy because of what they did.
They behaved like prostitutes.
⁴⁰ The Lord burned with anger against his own people.
He was disgusted with those who belonged to him.
⁴¹ He handed them over to other nations,
and those who hated them ruled them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed them
and made them subject to their power.
⁴³ He rescued them many times,
but they continued to plot rebellion against him
and to sink deeper because of their sin.
⁴⁴ He saw that they were suffering
when he heard their cry for help.
⁴⁵ He remembered his promise ^[b] to them.
In keeping with his rich mercy, he changed his plans.
⁴⁶ He let them find compassion
from all those who held them captive.

⁴⁷ Rescue us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and make your praise our glory.

⁴⁸ Thanks be to the Lord God of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say amen.

Hallelujah!

² Let the people the Lord defended repeat these words.
They are the people he defended from the power of their enemies
³ and gathered from other countries,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
⁴ They wandered around the desert on a deserted road
without finding an inhabited city.
⁵ They were hungry and thirsty.
They began to lose hope.
⁶ In their distress they cried out to the Lord.
He rescued them from their troubles.
⁷ He led them on a road that went straight to an inhabited city.

⁸ Let them give thanks to the Lord because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
⁹ He gave plenty to drink to those who were thirsty.
He filled those who were hungry with good food.
¹⁰ Those who lived in the dark, in death’s shadow
were prisoners in misery.
They were held in iron chains
¹¹ because they had rebelled against God’s words and had despised the advice given by the Most High.
¹² So he humbled them with hard work.
They fell down, but no one was there to help them.
¹³ In their distress they cried out to the Lord.
He saved them from their troubles.
¹⁴ He brought them out of the dark, out of death’s shadow.
He broke apart their chains.

¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the Lord because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
¹⁶ He shattered bronze gates
and cut iron bars in two.
¹⁷ Fools suffered because of their disobedience
and because of their crimes.
¹⁸ All food was disgusting to them,
and they came near death’s gates.
¹⁹ In their distress they cried out to the Lord.
He saved them from their troubles.
²⁰ He sent his message and healed them.
He rescued them from the grave.

²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
²² Let them bring songs of thanksgiving as their sacrifice.
Let them tell in joyful songs what he has done.
²³ Those who sail on the sea in ships,
who do business on the high seas,
²⁴ have seen what the Lord can do,
the miracles he performed in the depths of the sea.
²⁵ He spoke, and a storm began to blow,
and it made the waves rise high.
²⁶ The sailors aboard ship rose toward the sky.
They plunged into the depths.
Their courage melted in ⌞the face of⌟ disaster.
²⁷ They reeled and staggered like drunks,
and all their skills as sailors became useless.
²⁸ In their distress they cried out to the Lord.
He led them from their troubles.
²⁹ He made the storm calm down,
and the waves became still.
³⁰ The sailors were glad that the storm was quiet.
He guided them to the harbor they had longed for.

³¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
³² Let them glorify him when the people are gathered for worship.
Let them praise him in the company of respected leaders.
³³ He changes rivers into a desert,
springs into thirsty ground,
³⁴ and fertile ground into a layer of salt
because of the wickedness of the people living there.
³⁵ He changes deserts into lakes
and dry ground into springs.
³⁶ There he settles those who are hungry,
and they build cities to live in.
³⁷ They plant in fields and vineyards
that produce crops.
³⁸ He blesses them, and their numbers multiply,
and he does not allow a shortage of cattle.

³⁹ They became few in number and were humiliated
because of oppression, disaster, and sorrow.
⁴⁰ He poured contempt on their influential people
and made them stumble around in a pathless desert.
⁴¹ But now he lifts needy people high above suffering
and makes their families like flocks.
⁴² Decent people will see this and rejoice,
but all the wicked people will shut their mouths.

⁴³ Let those who ⌞think⌟ they are wise
pay attention to these things
so that they may understand the Lord’s blessings.