New Living Translation

1 Praise the LORD!<br> Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!<br>His faithful love endures forever.<br> 2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD?<br>Who can ever praise him enough?<br> 3 There is joy for those who deal justly with others<br>and always do what is right.<br> 4 Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people;<br>come near and rescue me.<br> 5 Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.<br>Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;<br>let me praise you with those who are your heritage.<br> 6 Like our ancestors, we have sinned.<br>We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!<br> 7 Our ancestors in Egypt<br>were not impressed by the LORD’s miraculous deeds.<br>They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them.<br>Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.<br> 8 Even so, he saved them —<br>to defend the honor of his name<br>and to demonstrate his mighty power.<br> 9 He commanded the Red Sea to dry up.<br>He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert.<br> 10 So he rescued them from their enemies<br>and redeemed them from their foes.<br> 11 Then the water returned and covered their enemies;<br>not one of them survived.<br> 12 Then his people believed his promises.<br>Then they sang his praise.<br> 13 Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done!<br>They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!<br> 14 In the wilderness their desires ran wild,<br>testing God (Elohim)’s patience in that dry wasteland.<br> 15 So he gave them what they asked for,<br>but he sent a plague along with it.<br> 16 The people in the camp were jealous of Moses<br>and envious of Aaron, the LORD’s holy priest.<br> 17 Because of this, the earth opened up;<br>it swallowed Dathan<br>and buried Abiram and the other rebels.<br> 18 Fire fell upon their followers;<br>a flame consumed the wicked.<br> 19 The people made a calf at Mount Sinai ;<br>they bowed before an image made of gold.<br> 20 They traded their glorious God (Elohim)<br>for a statue of a grass-eating bull.<br> 21 They forgot God (Elohim), their savior,<br>who had done such great things in Egypt —<br> 22 such wonderful things in the land of Ham,<br>such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.<br> 23 So he declared he would destroy them.<br>But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the LORD and the people.<br>He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.<br> 24 The people refused to enter the pleasant land,<br>for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.<br> 25 Instead, they grumbled in their tents<br>and refused to obey the LORD.<br> 26 Therefore, he solemnly swore<br>that he would kill them in the wilderness,<br> 27 that he would scatter their descendants among the nations,<br>exiling them to distant lands.<br> 28 Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor;<br>they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!<br> 29 They angered the LORD with all these things,<br>so a plague broke out among them.<br> 30 But Phinehas had the courage to intervene,<br>and the plague was stopped.<br> 31 So he has been regarded as a righteous man<br>ever since that time.<br> 32 At Meribah, too, they angered the LORD,<br>causing Moses serious trouble.<br> 33 They made Moses angry,<br>and he spoke foolishly.<br> 34 Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land,<br>as the LORD had commanded them.<br> 35 Instead, they mingled among the pagans<br>and adopted their evil customs.<br> 36 They worshiped their idols,<br>which led to their downfall.<br> 37 They even sacrificed their sons<br>and their daughters to the demons.<br> 38 They shed innocent blood,<br>the blood of their sons and daughters.<br>By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan,<br>they polluted the land with murder.<br> 39 They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,<br>and their love of idols was adultery in the LORD’s sight.<br> 40 That is why the LORD’s anger burned against his people,<br>and he abhorred his own special possession.<br> 41 He handed them over to pagan nations,<br>and they were ruled by those who hated them.<br> 42 Their enemies crushed them<br>and brought them under their cruel power.<br> 43 Again and again he rescued them,<br>but they chose to rebel against him,<br>and they were finally destroyed by their sin.<br> 44 Even so, he pitied them in their distress<br>and listened to their cries.<br> 45 He remembered his covenant with them<br>and relented because of his unfailing love.<br> 46 He even caused their captors<br>to treat them with kindness.<br> 47 Save us, O LORD our God (Elohim)!<br>Gather us back from among the nations,<br>so we can thank your holy name<br>and rejoice and praise you.<br> 48 Praise the LORD, the God (Elohim) of Israel,<br>who lives from everlasting to everlasting!<br>Let all the people say, “Amen!”<br> Praise the LORD!<br>