Psalm 105–106

PSALM 105

¹O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples!

²Sing to him, sing praises to him,

tell of all his wonderful works!

³Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

⁴Seek the Lord and his strength,

seek his presence continually!

⁵Remember the wonderful works that he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

⁶O offspring of Abraham his servant,

sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

⁷He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He is mindful of his covenant for ever,

of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant which he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,

¹⁰which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

¹¹saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹²When they were few in number,

of little account, and sojourners in it,

¹³wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

¹⁴he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their account,

¹⁵saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,

do my prophets no harm!”

¹⁶When he summoned a famine on the land,

and broke every staff of bread,

¹⁷he had sent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

¹⁸His feet were hurt with fetters,

his neck was put in a collar of iron;

¹⁹until what he had said came to pass

the word of the Lord tested him.

²⁰The king sent and released him,

the ruler of the peoples set him free;

²¹he made him lord of his house,

and ruler of all his possessions,

²²to instruct his princes at his pleasure,

and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel came to Egypt;

Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

²⁴And the Lord made his people very fruitful,

and made them stronger than their foes.

²⁵He turned their hearts to hate his people,

to deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶He sent Moses his servant,

and Aaron whom he had chosen.

²⁷They wrought his signs among them,

and miracles in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and made the land dark;

they rebelled^u against his words.

²⁹He turned their waters into blood,

and caused their fish to die.

³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs,

even in the chambers of their kings.

³¹He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,

and gnats throughout their country.

³²He gave them hail for rain,

and lightning that flashed through their land.

³³He smote their vines and fig trees,

and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came,

and young locusts without number;

³⁵which devoured all the vegetation in their land,

and ate up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He smote all the first-born in their land,

the first issue of all their strength.

³⁷Then he led forth Israel with silver and gold,

and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed,

for dread of them had fallen upon it.

³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering,

and fire to give light by night.

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quails,

and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and water gushed forth;

it flowed through the desert like a river.

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise,

and Abraham his servant.

⁴³So he led forth his people with joy,

his chosen ones with singing.

⁴⁴And he gave them the lands of the nations;

and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,

⁴⁵to the end that they should keep his statutes,

and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord!

PSALM 106

¹Praise the Lord!

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures for ever!

²Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord,

or show forth all his praise?

³Blessed are they who observe justice,

who do righteousness at all times!

⁴Remember me, O Lord, when thou showest favor to thy people;

help me when thou deliverest them;

⁵that I may see the prosperity of thy chosen ones,

that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation,

that I may glory with thy heritage.

⁶Both we and our fathers have sinned;

we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

⁷Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,

did not consider thy wonderful works;

they did not remember the abundance of thy steadfast love,

but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.

⁸Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,

that he might make known his mighty power.

⁹He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry;

and he led them through the deep as through a desert.

¹⁰So he saved them from the hand of the foe,

and delivered them from the power of the enemy.

¹¹And the waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them was left.

¹²Then they believed his words;

they sang his praise.

¹³But they soon forgot his works;

they did not wait for his counsel.

¹⁴But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,

and put God to the test in the desert;

¹⁵he gave them what they asked,

but sent a wasting disease among them.

¹⁶When men in the camp were jealous of Moses

and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,

¹⁷the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

and covered the company of Abiram.

¹⁸Fire also broke out in their company;

the flame burned up the wicked.

¹⁹They made a calf in Horeb

and worshiped a molten image.

²⁰They exchanged the glory of God

for the image of an ox that eats grass.

²¹They forgot God, their Savior,

who had done great things in Egypt,

²²wondrous works in the land of Ham,

and terrible things by the Red Sea.

²³Therefore he said he would destroy them—

had not Moses, his chosen one,

stood in the breach before him,

to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

²⁴Then they despised the pleasant land,

having no faith in his promise.

²⁵They murmured in their tents,

and did not obey the voice of the Lord.

²⁶Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them

that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

²⁷and would disperse their descendants among the nations,

scattering them over the lands.

²⁸Then they attached themselves to the Baal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;

²⁹they provoked the Lord to anger with their doings,

and a plague broke out among them.

³⁰Then Phinehas stood up and interposed,

and the plague was stayed.

³¹And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness

from generation to generation for ever.

³²They angered him at the waters of Meribah,

and it went ill with Moses on their account;

³³for they made his spirit bitter,

and he spoke words that were rash.

³⁴They did not destroy the peoples,

as the Lord commanded them,

³⁵but they mingled with the nations

and learned to do as they did.

³⁶They served their idols,

which became a snare to them.

³⁷They sacrificed their sons

and their daughters to the demons;

³⁸they poured out innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;

and the land was polluted with blood.

³⁹Thus they became unclean by their acts,

and played the harlot in their doings.

⁴⁰Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,

and he abhorred his heritage;

⁴¹he gave them into the hand of the nations,

so that those who hated them ruled over them.

⁴²Their enemies oppressed them,

and they were brought into subjection under their power.

⁴³Many times he delivered them,

but they were rebellious in their purposes,

and were brought low through their iniquity.

⁴⁴Nevertheless he regarded their distress,

when he heard their cry.

⁴⁵He remembered for their sake his covenant,

and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

⁴⁶He caused them to be pitied

by all those who held them captive.

⁴⁷Save us, O Lord our God,

and gather us from among the nations,

that we may give thanks to thy holy name

and glory in thy praise.

⁴⁸Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

And let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord!