Psalm 107:23–43

²³Others sailed out on the ocean in ships.

They traded goods on the mighty waters.

²⁴They saw the works of the Lord.

They saw the miracles he did on the ocean.

²⁵He spoke and stirred up a storm.

It lifted the waves high.

²⁶They rose up to the heavens. Then they went down deep into the ocean.

In that kind of danger the people’s boldness melted away.

²⁷They were unsteady like those who get drunk.

They didn’t know what to do.

²⁸Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.

And he brought them out of their troubles.

²⁹He made the storm as quiet as a whisper.

The waves of the ocean calmed down.

³⁰The people were glad when the ocean became calm.

Then he guided them to the harbor they were looking for.

³¹Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.

Let them give thanks for the miracles he does for his people.

³²Let them honor him among his people who gather for worship.

Let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.

³³He turned rivers into a desert.

He turned flowing springs into thirsty ground.

³⁴He turned land that produced crops into a salty land where nothing could grow.

He did it because the people who lived there were evil.

³⁵He turned the desert into pools of water.

He turned the dry and cracked ground into flowing springs.

³⁶He brought hungry people there to live.

They built a city where they could settle down.

³⁷They planted fields and vineyards

that produced large crops.

³⁸He blessed the people, and they greatly increased their numbers.

He kept their herds from getting smaller.

³⁹Then the number of God’s people got smaller.

They were brought low by trouble, suffering and sorrow.

⁴⁰The One who looks down on proud nobles

made them wander in a desert where no one lives.

⁴¹But he lifted needy people out of their suffering.

He made their families increase like flocks of sheep.

⁴²Honest people see it and are filled with joy.

But no one who is evil has anything to say.

⁴³Let those who are wise pay attention to these things.

Let them think about the Lord’s great love.