Joy in Forgiveness of Israel’s Sins

1 Praise 1the Lord!

aOh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

2 Who can 2utter the mighty acts of the Lord?

Who can declare all His praise?

3 Blessed are those who keep justice,

And 3he who bdoes righteousness at call times!

4 dRemember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people.

Oh, visit me with Your salvation,

5 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 4Your inheritance.

6 eWe have sinned with our fathers,

We have committed iniquity,

We have done wickedly.

7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;

They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies,

fBut rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.

8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,

gThat He might make His mighty power known.

9 hHe rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up;

So iHe led them through the depths,

As through the wilderness.

10 He jsaved them from the hand of him who hated them,

And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

11 kThe waters covered their enemies;

There was not one of them left.

12 lThen they believed His words;

They sang His praise.

13 mThey soon forgot His works;

They did not wait for His counsel,

14 nBut lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,

And tested God in the desert.

15 oAnd He gave them their request,

But psent leanness into their soul.

16 When qthey envied Moses in the camp,

And Aaron the saint of the Lord,

17 rThe earth opened up and swallowed Dathan,

And covered the faction of Abiram.

18 sA fire was kindled in their company;

The flame burned up the wicked.

19 tThey made a calf in Horeb,

And worshiped the molded image.

20 Thus uthey 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 vTherefore He said that He would destroy them,

Had not Moses His chosen one wstood before Him in the breach,

To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.

24 Then they despised xthe pleasant land;

They ydid not believe His word,

25 zBut complained in their tents,

And did not heed the voice of the Lord.

26 aTherefore He raised up His hand in an oath against them,

bTo 5overthrow them in the wilderness,

27 cTo 6overthrow their descendants among the 7nations,

And to scatter them in the lands.

28 dThey joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,

And ate sacrifices 8made to the dead.

29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,

And the plague broke out among them.

30 eThen Phinehas stood up and intervened,

And the plague was stopped.

31 And that was accounted to him ffor righteousness

To all generations forevermore.

32 gThey angered Him also at the waters of 9strife,

hSo that it went ill with Moses on account of them;

33 iBecause they rebelled against His Spirit,

So that he spoke rashly with his lips.

34 jThey did not destroy the peoples,

kConcerning whom the Lord had commanded them,

35 lBut they mingled with the Gentiles

And learned their works;

36 mThey served their idols,

nWhich became a snare to them.

37 oThey even sacrificed their sons

And their daughters to pdemons,

38 And shed innocent blood,

The blood of their sons and daughters,

Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;

And qthe land was polluted with blood.

39 Thus they 1were rdefiled by their own works,

And splayed 2the harlot by their own deeds.

40 Therefore tthe wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people,

So that He abhorred uHis own inheritance.

41 And vHe 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 wMany times He delivered them;

But they rebelled in their counsel,

And were brought low for their iniquity.

44 Nevertheless He regarded their affliction,

When xHe heard their cry;

45 yAnd for their sake He remembered His covenant,

And zrelented aaccording to the multitude of His mercies.

46 bHe also made them to be pitied

By all those who carried them away captive.

47 cSave 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 dBlessed be the Lord God of Israel

From everlasting to everlasting!

And let all the people say, “Amen!”

3Praise the Lord!