Psalm 106

Hallelujah, give thanks to Jehovah!
He is good, and his mercy endures always.
Who can proclaim the great deeds of Jehovah
Or give to him his full measure of praise?

Blessed are they who uphold justice
And practice righteousness at all times.
Please remember me, O Jehovah.
When you give favor to your people,
Come to me with your salvation
That I may know the prosperity
Of those who are your chosen ones,
Share in the gladness of your nation,
And celebrate your inheritance.
We have sinned as our fathers have.
We have done wrong, acted wickedly.
Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
Understood not your miracles,
Remembered not your acts of mercy,
But rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

Yet he saved them for the sake of his name,
That he might make his mighty power known.
He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up;
He led them through its deeps as through a desert.
From the power of their foe he saved them;
From their enemy’s might he rescued them.
The waters covered their adversaries,
So that not one of them was left alive.
Then they believed his word and sang his praise.
But quickly did they forget what he had done
And waited not for his plans to be fulfilled.
In the wilderness they gave way to their lusts;
In the desert they tested God’s patience.
He relented and gave them what they wanted —
But sent them a debilitating disease.
In camp they envied Moses and Aaron,
Who were consecrated by Jehovah.
The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
It covered the company of Abiram.
A fire broke out amid their assembly
And conflagration consumed the wicked.
At Mount Sinai the people made a calf
And worshiped an idol cast of metal.
They traded the magnificence of their god
For an image of a grass-eating bull.
They forgot the god who was their savior,
Who had achieved such great things in Egypt,
Wondrous miracles in the land of Ham,
And awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.
He would have wiped them out had not Moses,
His chosen one, stood before him in the breach,
Averting the wrath that would have destroyed them.
They refused to enter the pleasing land,
Having no faith in the promise he gave them.
Instead they groused and grumbled in their tents
And did not obey the voice of Jehovah.
He lifted up his hand and swore an oath
That he would let them perish in the desert,
Disperse their offspring among foreign nations,
And scatter them throughout the lands of the earth.
They devoted themselves to the baal of Peor
And ate sacrifices made to dead gods.
They aroused the anger of Jehovah
With these acts, and a plague broke out among them.
But Phinehas made a stand and intervened.
The plague was suppressed and he was honored
For his righteousness through the generations.
They, as well, at the waters of Meribah,
Did provoke the anger of Jehovah,
And trouble came to Moses because of them:
Their rebellion made him lose his temper 
And he berated them with rash language.
They did not destroy the heathen nations
As Jehovah commanded them to do;
Instead they mingled with other peoples
And they adopted their pagan customs,
Being tricked into worshiping their idols
And sacrificing their sons and daughters
To be slaughtered before devilish idols.
They shed innocent blood, even the blood
Of their sons and daughters they sacrificed,
So that the land was poluted with their blood.
They defiled themselves with their practices
And prostituted themselves by their acts.
Thus Jehovah was angry with his people
And came to abhor his own inheritance.
He delivered them to heathen nations
To have those who hate them rule over them.
Their foes oppressed and crushed them with their power.
Many times he rescued them, but they rebelled
And were sunk by their own iniquity.
Nevertheless, he took note of their distress
Whenever he did hear their cries for help.
For their sake he remembered his covenant
And because of his kindness, he relented.
He caused their captors to treat them with mercy.

Rescue us, Jehovah, our god!
Bring us back from heathen nations
That we may thank your holy name
And glory in your song of praise.

Blessed is Jehovah, god of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Let all proclaim, “Amen!” and “Hallelujah!”

Psalm 105

Give thanks to Jehovah and proclaim his name.
Make known his achievements among the nations.

Sing to him, yea, sing your praises.
Contemplate all his miracles.
Take glory in his holy name.

Let the hearts of those who seek Jehovah be glad.

Turn to Jehovah and his holy power.
Strive continually to worship him.
Remember the wonders he has performed,
His miracles, the judgments he has pronounced,
You, offspring of Abraham, his servant,
You, sons of Jacob, his chosen people.
He is Jehovah, our god.  His divine law
Has jurisdiction over all the earth.
He will keep forever his covenant,
A vow made to a thousand generations,
Pledged to Abraham, an oath swore to Isaac,
Confirmed to Jacob as a divine decree,
An everlasting pact with Israel:
“I set aside for you the land of Canaan,
As the portion of  your inheritance.”
This said when they were but few in number,
Just a few strangers dwelling in the land,
Wandering from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people’s land.
But he allowed no one to oppress them,
And he rebuked monarchs on their behalf.
“Lay no hand upon my anointed ones
And do no injury to my prophets.”
He brought famine to the land of Canaan
And brought destruction upon their crops of grain.
He sent someone to Egypt ahead of them,
This was Joseph who was sold as a slave.
His feet bruised with shackles, his neck in irons
Until the time his prophecy came to pass
And Jehovah’s word proved that Joseph was true.
The Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
The ruler of his people released him.
He made him the master of his household
To be in charge of all that he possessed.
To command officials at his pleasure
And to give instructions to his elders.
The sons of Israel entered Egypt,
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
Jehovah made his people prolific,
So they were more numerous than their foes,
Whose hearts he turned to abhor his people
And deviously deal with his servants.

He sent to them his servant Moses
And Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They performed miracles among them
And wonders in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, made the land dark,
For had they not defied his words?
He turned their water into blood
And caused all of their fish to die.
Their land was overrun with frogs
Even the chambers of the Pharaoh.
He spoke and throughout the country
There swarmed midges and stable flies.
He gave them hail instead of rain
And lightning flashed all over the land.
He struck down their vines and fig trees
And splintered the trees of the country.
He spoke and grasshoppers appeared,
Hopping locusts without number
That devoured the vegetation,
Every green thing in the land
And consumed the fruits of the soil.
Then he struck down the land’s firstborn,
Firstfruits of all their manly vigor.
Jehovah then brought out Israel,
Carrying with them silver and gold,
And none from his tribes straggling behind.
Egypt was glad of their going,
For dread of Israel had seized them.
He spread a cloud as a covering
And fire to light up the night sky.
They asked for food, he brought them quails
And filled them with the bread of Heaven.
He split a rock and water gushed out,
Flowing like a desert river.
For he remembered his holy vow
Made to Abraham, his servant.
He brought out his people with joy,
His chosen ones with rejoicing.
He gave them lands in foreign nations,
To claim the fruit of other’s labor
That they might observe his statutes
And keep his laws.  Praise Jehovah!