105:1 Give thanks to the Lord!
Call on his name!
Make known his accomplishments among the nations!
105:2 Sing to him!
Make music to him!
Tell about all his miraculous deeds!
105:3 Boast about his holy name!
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
105:4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives!
Seek his presence continually!
105:5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed,
105:6 O children of Abraham, God’s servant,
you descendants of Jacob, God’s chosen ones!
105:7 He is the Lord our God;
he carries out judgment throughout the earth.
105:8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,
the promise he made to a thousand generations –
105:9 the promise he made to Abraham,
the promise he made by oath to Isaac!
105:10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as a lasting promise,
105:11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
105:12 When they were few in number,
just a very few, and resident aliens within it,
105:13 they wandered from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another.
105:14 He let no one oppress them;
he disciplined kings for their sake,
105:15 saying, “Don’t touch my chosen ones!
Don’t harm my prophets!”
105:16 He called down a famine upon the earth;
he cut off all the food supply.
105:17 He sent a man ahead of them –
Joseph was sold as a servant.
105:18 The shackles hurt his feet;
his neck was placed in an iron collar,
105:19 until the time when his prediction came true.
The Lord’s word proved him right.
105:20 The king authorized his release;
the ruler of nations set him free.
105:21 He put him in charge of his palace,
and made him manager of all his property,
105:22 giving him authority to imprison his officials
and to teach his advisers.
105:23 Israel moved to Egypt;
Jacob lived for a time in the land of Ham.
105:24 The Lord made his people very fruitful,
and made them more numerous than their enemies.
105:25 He caused them to hate his people,
and to mistreat his servants.
105:26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
105:27 They executed his miraculous signs among them,
and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.
105:28 He made it dark;
they did not disobey his orders.
105:29 He turned their water into blood,
and killed their fish.
105:30 Their land was overrun by frogs,
which even got into the rooms of their kings.
105:31 He ordered flies to come;
gnats invaded their whole territory.
105:32 He sent hail along with the rain;
there was lightning in their land.
105:33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,
and broke the trees throughout their territory.
105:34 He ordered locusts to come,
innumerable grasshoppers.
105:35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,
and devoured the crops of their fields.
105:36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power.
105:37 He brought his people out enriched with silver and gold;
none of his tribes stumbled.
105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them.
105:39 He spread out a cloud for a cover,
and provided a fire to light up the night.
105:40 They asked for food, and he sent quails;
he satisfied them with food from the sky.
105:41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
105:42 Yes, he remembered the sacred promise
he made to Abraham his servant.
105:43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;
his chosen ones shouted with joy.
105:44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,
and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,
105:45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey his laws.
Praise the Lord!
106:1 Praise the Lord!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures!
106:2 Who can adequately recount the Lord’s mighty acts,
or relate all his praiseworthy deeds?
106:3 How blessed are those who promote justice,
and do what is right all the time!
106:4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people!
Pay attention to me, when you deliver,
106:5 so I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
rejoice along with your nation,
and boast along with the people who belong to you.
106:6 We have sinned like our ancestors;
we have done wrong, we have done evil.
106:7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds,
they failed to remember your many acts of loyal love,
and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea.
106:8 Yet he delivered them for the sake of his reputation,
that he might reveal his power.
106:9 He shouted at the Red Sea and it dried up;
he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.
106:10 He delivered them from the power of the one who hated them,
and rescued them from the power of the enemy.
106:11 The water covered their enemies;
not even one of them survived.
106:12 They believed his promises;
they sang praises to him.
106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done;
they did not wait for his instructions.
106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving for meat;
they challenged God in the desert.
106:15 He granted their request,
then struck them with a disease.
106:16 In the camp they resented Moses,
and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.
106:17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it engulfed the group led by Abiram.
106:18 Fire burned their group;
the flames scorched the wicked.
106:19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,
and worshiped a metal idol.
106:20 They traded their majestic God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
106:21 They rejected the God who delivered them,
the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,
106:22 amazing feats in the land of Ham,
mighty acts by the Red Sea.
106:23 He threatened to destroy them,
but Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him
and turned back his destructive anger.
106:24 They rejected the fruitful land;
they did not believe his promise.
106:25 They grumbled in their tents;
they did not obey the Lord.
106:26 So he made a solemn vow
that he would make them die in the desert,
106:27 make their descendants die among the nations,
and scatter them among foreign lands.
106:28 They worshiped Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
106:29 They made the Lord angry by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
106:30 Phinehas took a stand and intervened,
and the plague subsided.
106:31 This brought him a reward,
an eternal gift.
106:32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered because of them,
106:33 for they aroused his temper,
and he spoke rashly.
106:34 They did not destroy the nations,
as the Lord had commanded them to do.
106:35 They mixed in with the nations
and learned their ways.
106:36 They worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
106:37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
106:38 They shed innocent blood –
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land was polluted by bloodshed.
106:39 They were defiled by their deeds,
and unfaithful in their actions.
106:40 So the Lord was angry with his people
and despised the people who belong to him.
106:41 He handed them over to the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
106:42 Their enemies oppressed them;
they were subject to their authority.
106:43 Many times he delivered them,
but they had a rebellious attitude,
and degraded themselves by their sin.
106:44 Yet he took notice of their distress,
when he heard their cry for help.
106:45 He remembered his covenant with them,
and relented because of his great loyal love.
106:46 He caused all their conquerors
to have pity on them.
106:47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God!
Gather us from among the nations!
Then we will give thanks to your holy name,
and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.
106:48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise,
in the future and forevermore.
Let all the people say, “We agree! Praise the Lord!”