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105. Psalm 105

¹ Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
   make known among the nations what he has done.
² Sing to him, sing praise to him;
   tell of all his wonderful acts.
³ Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
⁴ Look to the LORD and his strength;
   seek his face always.

    ⁵ Remember the wonders he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
⁶ you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
   his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
⁷ He is the LORD our God;
   his judgments are in all the earth.

    ⁸ He remembers his covenant forever,
   the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant he made with Abraham,
   the oath he swore to Isaac.
¹⁰ He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
   to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
¹¹ “To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as the portion you will inherit.”

    ¹² When they were but few in number,
   few indeed, and strangers in it,
¹³ they wandered from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress them;
   for their sake he rebuked kings:
¹⁵ “Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.”

    ¹⁶ He called down famine on the land
   and destroyed all their supplies of food;
¹⁷ and he sent a man before them—
   Joseph, sold as a slave.
¹⁸ They bruised his feet with shackles,
   his neck was put in irons,
¹⁹ till what he foretold came to pass,
   till the word of the LORD proved him true.
²⁰ The king sent and released him,
   the ruler of peoples set him free.
²¹ He made him master of his household,
   ruler over all he possessed,
²² to instruct his princes as he pleased
   and teach his elders wisdom.

    ²³ Then Israel entered Egypt;
   Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
²⁴ The LORD made his people very fruitful;
   he made them too numerous for their foes,
²⁵ whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
   to conspire against his servants.
²⁶ He sent Moses his servant,
   and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
²⁷ They performed his signs among them,
   his wonders in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness and made the land dark—
   for had they not rebelled against his words?
²⁹ He turned their waters into blood,
   causing their fish to die.
³⁰ Their land teemed with frogs,
   which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
   and gnats throughout their country.
³² He turned their rain into hail,
   with lightning throughout their land;
³³ he struck down their vines and fig trees
   and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,
   grasshoppers without number;
³⁵ they ate up every green thing in their land,
   ate up the produce of their soil.
³⁶ Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
   the firstfruits of all their manhood.
³⁷ He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,
   and from among their tribes no one faltered.
³⁸ Egypt was glad when they left,
   because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

    ³⁹ He spread out a cloud as a covering,
   and a fire to give light at night.
⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought them quail;
   he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
   it flowed like a river in the desert.

    ⁴² For he remembered his holy promise
   given to his servant Abraham.
⁴³ He brought out his people with rejoicing,
   his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
⁴⁴ he gave them the lands of the nations,
   and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
⁴⁵ that they might keep his precepts
   and observe his laws.

Praise the LORD. Hebrew Hallelu Yah

37. And he brought them forth with silver and gold ²³⁰²³⁰ Allusion is made to the Israelites carrying with them in their departure from Egypt, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, which they borrowed of the Egyptians, Exodus 12:36. The prophet, on the other hand, celebrates the grace of God which preserved the chosen people untouched and safe from all these plagues. If both parties had been indiscriminately afflicted with them, the hand of God would not have been so signally manifest. But now when the Israelites, amidst so many calamities, experienced an entire exemption from harm, this difference exhibits to us, as in a picture, God’s fatherly care about his own people. For this reason, it is stated, Nor was there a feeble person, or one who stumbled; ²³¹²³¹ “And there was not any one stumbling among his tribes. The LXX. have rendered כושל by ἀσθενης infirm, so that they understood the Psalmist to say, there was no one incapable of following the multitude, — no one was prevented by disease or infirmity from accomplishing the journey.” — Phillips. What a striking contrast between their condition and that of their oppressors! While in every Egyptian dwelling, death had left his victim, not one of all the children of Israel was unable to prosecute his heaven-directed flight from that land of bondage. for the verb כשל, kashal, has both these meanings. But I prefer taking it simply in this sense, That whilst Egypt was hastening to destruction, the people of God were vigorous, and free from every malady. When it is said, He brought them forth, and when it is afterwards added, in his tribes, there is a change of the number, which is quite common in the Hebrew language. Some refer the word his to God; but this I am afraid is too forced.