Chapter 106

¹Praise Yahweh!

Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,

For his loving kindness endures forever.

²Who can utter the mighty acts of Yahweh,

Or fully declare all his praise?

³Blessed are those who keep justice.

Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.

⁴Remember me, Yahweh, with the favor that you show to your people.

Visit me with your salvation,

⁵That I may see the prosperity of your chosen,

That I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,

That I may glory with your inheritance.

⁶We have sinned with our fathers.

We have committed iniquity.

We have done wickedly.

⁷Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt.

They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses,

But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

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

That he might make his mighty power known.

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

So he led them through the depths, as through a desert.

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

And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

¹¹The waters covered their adversaries.

There was not one of them left.

¹²Then they believed his words.

They sang his praise.

¹³They soon forgot his works.

They didn’t wait for his counsel,

¹⁴But gave in to craving in the desert,

And tested God in the wasteland.

¹⁵He gave them their request,

But sent leanness into their soul.

¹⁶They envied Moses also in the camp,

And Aaron, Yahweh’s saint.

¹⁷The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

And covered the company of Abiram.

¹⁸A fire was kindled in their company.

The flame burned up the wicked.

¹⁹They made a calf in Horeb,

And worshiped a molten image.

²⁰Thus they exchanged their glory

For an image of a bull that eats grass.

²¹They forgot God, their Savior,

Who had done great things in Egypt,

²²Wondrous works in the land of Ham,

And awesome things by the Red Sea.

²³Therefore he said that he would destroy them,

Had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach,

To turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.

²⁴Yes, they despised the pleasant land.

They didn’t believe his word,

²⁵But murmured in their tents,

And didn’t listen to Yahweh’s voice.

²⁶Therefore he swore to them

That he would overthrow them in the wilderness,

²⁷That he would overthrow their seed among the nations,

And scatter them in the lands.

²⁸They joined themselves also to Baal Peor,

And ate the sacrifices of the dead.

²⁹Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds.

The plague broke in on them.

³⁰Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment,

So the plague was stopped.

³¹That was credited to him for righteousness,

For all generations to come.

³²They angered him also at the waters of Meribah,

So that Moses was troubled for their sakes;

³³Because they were rebellious against his spirit,

He spoke rashly with his lips.

³⁴They didn’t destroy the peoples,

As Yahweh commanded them,

³⁵But mixed themselves with the nations,

And learned their works.

³⁶They served their idols,

Which became a snare to them.

³⁷Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.

³⁸They shed innocent blood,

Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,

Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.

The land was polluted with blood.

³⁹Thus were they defiled with their works,

And prostituted themselves in their deeds.

⁴⁰Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people.

He abhorred his inheritance.

⁴¹He gave them into the hand of the nations.

Those who hated them ruled over them.

⁴²Their enemies also oppressed them.

They were brought into subjection under their hand.

⁴³Many times he delivered them,

But they were rebellious in their counsel,

And were brought low in their iniquity.

⁴⁴Nevertheless he regarded their distress,

When he heard their cry.

⁴⁵He remembered for them his covenant,

And repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.

⁴⁶He made them also to be pitied

By all those who carried them captive.

⁴⁷Save us, Yahweh, our God,

Gather us from among the nations,

To give thanks to your holy name,

To triumph in your praise!

⁴⁸Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,

From everlasting even to everlasting!

Let all the people say, “Amen.”

Praise Yah!

BOOK V