1 P raise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

2 W ho can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord, Or can show forth all His praise?

3 H ow blessed are those who keep justice, Who practice righteousness at all times!

4 R emember me, O Lord, in Your favor toward Your people; Visit me with Your salvation,

5 T hat I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance.

6 W e have sinned like our fathers, We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.

7 O ur fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember Your abundant kindnesses, But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

8 N evertheless He saved them for the sake of His name, That He might make His power known.

9 T hus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.

10 S o He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

11 T he waters covered their adversaries; Not one of them was left.

12 T hen they believed His words; They sang His praise.

13 T hey quickly forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel,

14 B ut craved intensely in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert.

15 S o He gave them their request, But sent a wasting disease among them.

16 W hen they became envious of Moses in the camp, And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,

17 T he earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And engulfed the company of Abiram.

18 A nd a fire blazed up in their company; The flame consumed the wicked.

19 T hey made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image.

20 T hus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass.

21 T hey forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,

22 W onders in the land of Ham And awesome things by the Red Sea.

23 T herefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them.

24 T hen they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe in His word,

25 B ut grumbled in their tents; They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.

26 T herefore He swore to them That He would cast them down in the wilderness,

27 A nd that He would cast their seed among the nations And scatter them in the lands.

28 T hey joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.

29 T hus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them.

30 T hen Phinehas stood up and interposed, And so the plague was stayed.

31 A nd it was reckoned to him for righteousness, To all generations forever.

32 T hey also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account;

33 B ecause they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

34 T hey did not destroy the peoples, As the Lord commanded them,

35 B ut they mingled with the nations And learned their practices,

36 A nd served their idols, Which became a snare to them.

37 T hey even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,

38 A nd shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood.

39 T hus they became unclean in their practices, And played the harlot in their deeds.

40 T herefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people And He abhorred His inheritance.

41 T hen He gave them into the hand of the nations, And those who hated them ruled over them.

42 T heir enemies also oppressed them, And they were subdued under their power.

43 M any times He would deliver them; They, however, were rebellious in their counsel, And so sank down in their iniquity.

44 N evertheless He looked upon their distress When He heard their cry;

45 A nd He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.

46 H e also made them objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors.

47 S ave us, O Lord our God, And gather us from among the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name And glory in Your praise.

48 B lessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the Lord!