Psalm 106

New International Reader’s Version

1 Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, because he is good. His faithful love continues for ever.2 Who can speak enough about the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can praise him as much as he should be praised?3 Blessed are those who always do what is fair. Blessed are those who keep doing what is right.4 LORD, remember me when you bless your people. Help me when you save them.5 Then I will enjoy the good things you give your chosen ones. I will be joyful together with your people. I will join them when they praise you.6 We have sinned, just as our people of long ago did. We too have done what is evil and wrong.7 When our people were in Egypt, they forgot about the LORD’s miracles. They didn’t remember his many kind acts. At the Red Sea they refused to obey him.8 But he saved them for the honour of his name. He did it to make his mighty power known.9 He ordered the Red Sea to dry up, and it did. He led his people through it as if it were a desert.10 He saved them from the power of their enemies. He set them free from their control.11 The waters covered their enemies. Not one of them escaped alive.12 Then his people believed his promises and sang praise to him.13 But they soon forgot what he had done. They didn’t wait for what he had planned to happen.14 In the desert they longed for food. In that dry and empty land they tested God.15 So he gave them what they asked for. But he also sent a disease that killed many of them.16 In their camp some of them became jealous of Moses and Aaron. Aaron had been set apart to serve the LORD.17 The ground opened up and swallowed Dathan. It buried Abiram and his followers.18 Fire blazed among all of them. Flames destroyed those evil people.19 At Mount Horeb they made a metal statue of a bull calf. They worshipped that statue of a god.20 They traded their glorious God for a statue of a bull that eats grass.21 They forgot the God who saved them. They forgot the God who had done great things in Egypt.22 They forgot the miracles he did in the land of Ham. They forgot the wonderful things he did by the Red Sea.23 So he said he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stood up for them. He kept God’s anger from destroying them.24 Later on, they refused to enter the pleasant land of Canaan. They didn’t believe God’s promise.25 In their tents they told the LORD how unhappy they were. They didn’t obey him.26 So he lifted up his hand and promised that he would make them die in the desert.27 He promised he would scatter their children’s children among the nations. He would make them die in other lands.28 They joined in worshipping the Baal that was worshipped at Peor. They ate food that had been offered to gods that aren’t even alive.29 Their evil ways made the LORD angry. So a plague broke out among them.30 But Phinehas stood up and took action. Then the plague stopped.31 What Phinehas did made him right with the LORD. It will be remembered for all time to come.32 By the waters of Meribah the LORD’s people made him angry. Moses got in trouble because of them.33 They refused to obey the Spirit of God. So Moses spoke without thinking.34 They didn’t destroy the nations in Canaan as the LORD had commanded them.35 Instead, they mixed with those nations and adopted their ways.36 They worshipped statues of their gods. That became a trap for them.37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as offerings to false gods.38 They killed those who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. They killed their own sons and daughters. They sacrificed them as offerings to statues of the gods of Canaan. The land became ‘unclean’ because of the blood of their children.39 The people made themselves impure by what they had done. They weren’t faithful to the LORD.40 So the LORD became angry with his people. He turned away from his own children.41 He handed them over to the nations. Their enemies ruled over them.42 Their enemies treated them badly and kept them under their power.43 Many times the LORD saved them. But they refused to obey him. So he destroyed them because of their sins.44 Yet he heard them when they cried out. He paid special attention to their suffering.45 Because they were his people, he remembered his covenant. Because of his great love, he felt sorry for them.46 He made all those who held them as prisoners have mercy on them.47 LORD our God, save us. Bring us back from among the nations. Then we will give thanks to you, because your name is holy. We will celebrate by praising you.48 Give praise to the LORD, the God of Israel, for ever and ever. Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Praise the LORD.

Psalm 106

English Standard Version

1 Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! (1Ch 16:34; 1Ch 16:41; Ps 100:5; Ps 105:1; Ps 105:45)2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise?3 Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! (Ps 15:2)4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them,[1] (Ps 119:132)5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. (Ps 105:6; Ps 105:43)6 Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. (Le 26:40; 1Ki 8:47; Ezr 9:6; Ne 1:6; Ne 9:16; Ps 79:8; Jer 3:25; Jer 14:20; Da 9:5)7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. (Ex 14:11; Ps 106:13; Ps 106:21)8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power. (Ex 9:16; Eze 20:9; Eze 20:14)9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. (Ex 14:21; Ps 18:15; Ps 104:7; Isa 50:2; Isa 51:10; Isa 63:13)10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. (Ex 14:30; Ps 107:2)11 And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. (Ex 14:28; Ex 15:5)12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. (Ex 14:31; Ex 15:1)13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. (Ex 15:24; Ex 16:2; Ex 17:2; Ps 78:11; Ps 107:11)14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; (Ex 17:2; Nu 11:4; Ps 78:18; 1Co 10:6; 1Co 10:9)15 he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. (Ps 78:29; Isa 10:16)16 When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord, (Nu 16:1; De 33:2; Zec 14:5; Jud 1:14)17 the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. (Nu 16:31; De 11:6)18 Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. (Nu 16:35)19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. (Ex 32:4; De 9:8; Ac 7:41)20 They exchanged the glory of God[2] for the image of an ox that eats grass. (Jer 2:11; Ro 1:23)21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, (De 32:18; Ps 78:11; Ps 106:7; Ps 106:13)22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. (Ps 78:51; Ps 105:23; Ps 105:27)23 Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them. (Ex 32:10; De 9:14; Ps 105:6; Eze 20:8; Eze 22:30)24 Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. (Nu 14:31; De 1:32; De 9:23; Zec 7:14)25 They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the Lord. (Nu 14:2; De 1:27)26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness, (Ex 6:8; Nu 14:30; De 32:40; Ps 95:11; Eze 20:6; Eze 20:15; Eze 20:23)27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations, scattering them among the lands. (Ps 44:11)28 Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; (Nu 25:3; Isa 8:19; Ho 9:10)29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed. (Nu 25:7)31 And that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever. (Ge 15:6; Nu 25:10)32 They angered him at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, (Nu 20:2; De 1:37)33 for they made his spirit bitter,[3] and he spoke rashly with his lips. (Nu 20:10; Ps 78:40; Ps 107:11; Isa 63:10)34 They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them, (De 7:2; De 7:16; Jud 1:21; Jud 1:27; Jud 2:2)35 but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. (Jud 3:5; Ezr 9:2)36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. (Ex 23:33; De 7:16; Jud 2:3)37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; (De 32:17; 2Ki 16:3; Isa 57:5; Eze 16:20; Eze 20:26; 1Co 10:20)38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. (Isa 24:5)39 Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds. (Ps 73:27; Eze 20:18; Eze 20:30)40 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage; (Jud 2:14; Ps 28:9; Ps 78:59; Ps 78:62)41 he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them. (Ne 9:27)42 Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their power. (Jud 4:3; Jud 10:12)43 Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity. (Le 26:39; Jud 2:16; Ps 81:12)44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry. (Jud 3:9; Jud 4:3; Jud 6:7; Jud 10:10)45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. (Le 26:42; Ps 51:1; Ps 69:16; Ps 90:13; Ps 105:8; Ps 106:7; Isa 63:7; La 3:32)46 He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive. (1Ki 8:50; 2Ch 30:9; Ezr 9:9; Ne 1:11; Jer 42:12)47 Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. (1Ch 16:35; Ps 107:3)48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord! (Ps 41:13; Ps 104:35)