Book 5
(Psalms 107-150)
107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures!
107:2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out,
those whom he delivered from the power of the enemy,
107:3 and gathered from foreign lands,
from east and west,
from north and south.
107:4 They wandered through the wilderness on a desert road;
they found no city in which to live.
107:5 They were hungry and thirsty;
they fainted from exhaustion.
107:6 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
107:7 He led them on a level road,
that they might find a city in which to live.
107:8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people!
107:9 For he has satisfied those who thirst,
and those who hunger he has filled with food.
107:10 They sat in utter darkness,
bound in painful iron chains,
107:11 because they had rebelled against God’s commands,
and rejected the instructions of the sovereign king.
107:12 So he used suffering to humble them;
they stumbled and no one helped them up.
107:13 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
107:14 He brought them out of the utter darkness,
and tore off their shackles.
107:15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people!
107:16 For he shattered the bronze gates,
and hacked through the iron bars.
107:17 They acted like fools in their rebellious ways,
and suffered because of their sins.
107:18 They lost their appetite for all food,
and they drew near the gates of death.
107:19 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
107:20 He sent them an assuring word and healed them;
he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped.
107:21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people!
107:22 Let them present thank offerings,
and loudly proclaim what he has done!
107:23 Some traveled on the sea in ships,
and carried cargo over the vast waters.
107:24 They witnessed the acts of the Lord,
his amazing feats on the deep water.
107:25 He gave the order for a windstorm,
and it stirred up the waves of the sea.
107:26 They reached up to the sky,
then dropped into the depths.
The sailors’ strength left them because the danger was so great.
107:27 They swayed and staggered like a drunk,
and all their skill proved ineffective.
107:28 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
107:29 He calmed the storm,
and the waves grew silent.
107:30 The sailors rejoiced because the waves grew quiet,
and he led them to the harbor they desired.
107:31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people!
107:32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people!
Let them praise him in the place where the leaders preside!
107:33 He turned streams into a desert,
springs of water into arid land,
107:34 and a fruitful land into a barren place,
because of the sin of its inhabitants.
107:35 As for his people, he turned a desert into a pool of water,
and a dry land into springs of water.
107:36 He allowed the hungry to settle there,
and they established a city in which to live.
107:37 They cultivated fields,
and planted vineyards,
which yielded a harvest of fruit.
107:38 He blessed them so that they became very numerous.
He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number.
107:39 As for their enemies, they decreased in number and were beaten down,
because of painful distress and suffering.
107:40 He would pour contempt upon princes,
and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.
107:41 Yet he protected the needy from oppression,
and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.
107:42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,
and every sinner shuts his mouth.
107:43 Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things!
Let them consider the Lord’s acts of loyal love!