Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good
aPraise the Lord!
bOh give thanks to the Lord, cfor he is good,
dfor his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
who ado righteousness at all times!
4 aRemember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your achosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 aBoth we and bour fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they adid not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but brebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them afor his name’s sake,
bthat he might make known his mighty power.
9 He arebuked the Red Sea, and it bbecame dry,
and he cled them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he asaved them from the hand of the foe
and bredeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And athe waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then athey believed his words;
they bsang his praise.
13 But they soon aforgot his works;
they did not wait for bhis counsel.
14 But they had aa wanton craving in the wilderness,
and bput God to the test in the desert;
15 he agave them what they asked,
but sent ba wasting disease among them.
16 When men in the camp awere jealous of Moses
and Aaron, bthe holy one of the Lord,
17 athe earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 aFire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They amade a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20 They aexchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They aforgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in athe land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore ahe said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his bchosen one,
cstood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they adespised bthe pleasant land,
having cno faith in his promise.
25 They amurmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he araised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
ascattering them among the lands.
28 Then they ayoked themselves to the aBaal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to bthe dead;
29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then aPhinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.
31 And that was acounted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.
32 They aangered him at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account,
33 for they amade his spirit bitter,
and he bspoke rashly with his lips.
34 They did not adestroy the peoples,
bas the Lord commanded them,
35 but they amixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
which became aa snare to them.
37 They asacrificed their sons
and their daughters to bthe demons;
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 apolluted with blood.
39 Thus they abecame unclean by their acts,
and bplayed the whore in their deeds.
40 Then athe anger of the Lord was kindled against bhis people,
and he abhorred his bheritage;
41 he agave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies aoppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 aMany times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their bpurposes
and were cbrought low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he aheard their cry.
45 For their sake he aremembered his covenant,
and brelented according to cthe abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be apitied
by all those who held them captive.
47 aSave us, O Lord our God,
and bgather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48 aBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
aAnd let all the people say, “Amen!”
bPraise the Lord!