New Living Translation

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!<br>His faithful love endures forever.<br> 2 Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out!<br>Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.<br> 3 For he has gathered the exiles from many lands,<br>from east and west,<br>from north and south.<br> 4 Some wandered in the wilderness,<br>lost and homeless.<br> 5 Hungry and thirsty,<br>they nearly died.<br> 6 “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,<br>and he rescued them from their distress.<br> 7 He led them straight to safety,<br>to a city where they could live.<br> 8 Let them praise the LORD for his great love<br>and for the wonderful things he has done for them.<br> 9 For he satisfies the thirsty<br>and fills the hungry with good things.<br> 10 Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom,<br>imprisoned in iron chains of misery.<br> 11 They rebelled against the words of God (Elohim),<br>scorning the counsel of the Most High.<br> 12 That is why he broke them with hard labor;<br>they fell, and no one was there to help them.<br> 13 “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,<br>and he saved them from their distress.<br> 14 He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom;<br>he snapped their chains.<br> 15 Let them praise the LORD for his great love<br>and for the wonderful things he has done for them.<br> 16 For he broke down their prison gates of bronze;<br>he cut apart their bars of iron.<br> 17 Some were fools; they rebelled<br>and suffered for their sins.<br> 18 They couldn’t stand the thought of food,<br>and they were knocking on death’s door.<br> 19 “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,<br>and he saved them from their distress.<br> 20 He sent out his word and healed them,<br>snatching them from the door of death.<br> 21 Let them praise the LORD for his great love<br>and for the wonderful things he has done for them.<br> 22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving<br>and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.<br> 23 Some went off to sea in ships,<br>plying the trade routes of the world.<br> 24 They, too, observed the LORD’s power in action,<br>his impressive works on the deepest seas.<br> 25 He spoke, and the winds rose,<br>stirring up the waves.<br> 26 Their ships were tossed to the heavens<br>and plunged again to the depths;<br>the sailors cringed in terror.<br> 27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards<br>and were at their wits’ end.<br> 28 “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble,<br>and he saved them from their distress.<br> 29 He calmed the storm to a whisper<br>and stilled the waves.<br> 30 What a blessing was that stillness<br>as he brought them safely into harbor!<br> 31 Let them praise the LORD for his great love<br>and for the wonderful things he has done for them.<br> 32 Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation<br>and before the leaders of the nation.<br> 33 He changes rivers into deserts,<br>and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.<br> 34 He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands,<br>because of the wickedness of those who live there.<br> 35 But he also turns deserts into pools of water,<br>the dry land into springs of water.<br> 36 He brings the hungry to settle there<br>and to build their cities.<br> 37 They sow their fields, plant their vineyards,<br>and harvest their bumper crops.<br> 38 How he blesses them!<br>They raise large families there,<br>and their herds of livestock increase.<br> 39 When they decrease in number and become impoverished<br>through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,<br> 40 the LORD pours contempt on their princes,<br>causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.<br> 41 But he rescues the poor from trouble<br>and increases their families like flocks of sheep.<br> 42 The godly will see these things and be glad,<br>while the wicked are struck silent.<br> 43 Those who are wise will take all this to heart;<br>they will see in our history the faithful love of the LORD.<br>