Read the Bible

¹ We will celebrate
    and praise you, Lord!
    You are good to us,
    and your love never fails.
² No one can praise you enough
    for all of the mighty things
    you have done.
³ You bless those people
who are honest and fair
    in everything they do.

⁴ Remember me, Lord,
when you show kindness
    by saving your people.
⁵ Let me prosper with the rest
    of your chosen ones,
    as they celebrate with pride
    because they belong to you.

⁶ We and our ancestors
    have sinned terribly.
⁷ When they were in Egypt,
    they paid no attention
    to your marvelous deeds
    or your wonderful love.
And they turned against you
    at the Red Sea.^[a]

⁸ But you were true to your name,
    and you rescued them to prove
    how mighty you are.
⁹ You said to the Red Sea, ^[b]
    "Dry up!"
Then you led your people across
    on land as dry as a desert.
¹⁰ You saved all of them
¹¹     and drowned every one
    of their enemies.
¹² Then your people trusted you
    and sang your praises.

¹³ But they soon forgot
what you had done
    and rejected your advice.
¹⁴ They became greedy for food
    and tested you there
    in the desert.
¹⁵ So you gave them
    what they wanted,
    but later you destroyed them
    with a horrible disease.

¹⁶ Everyone in camp was jealous
of Moses
    and of Aaron,
    your chosen priest.
¹⁷ Dathan and Abiram rebelled,
    and the earth opened up
    and swallowed them.
¹⁸ Then fire broke out
and destroyed all
    of their followers.

¹⁹ At Horeb your people
made and worshiped
    the statue
²⁰     of a bull, instead of you,
    their glorious God.
²¹ You worked powerful miracles
    to save them from Egypt,
but they forgot about you
²²     and the fearsome things
    you did at the Red Sea.^[c]
23 You were angry and started
    to destroy them,
    but Moses, your chosen leader,
    begged you not to do it.

²⁴ They would not trust
    you, Lord,
    and they did not like
    the promised land.
²⁵ They would not obey you,
    and they grumbled
    in their tents.
²⁶ So you threatened them
by saying,
"I'll kill you
    out here in the desert!
²⁷     I'll scatter your children
    everywhere in the world."

²⁸ Your people became followers
    of a god named Baal Peor,
    and they ate sacrifices
    offered to the dead.^[d]
29 They did such terrible things
    that you punished them
    with a deadly disease.
³⁰ But Phinehas^[e] helped them,
    and the sickness stopped.
³¹     Now he will always
    be highly honored.

³² At Meribah Spring^[f]
they turned against you
    and made you furious.
³³ Then Moses got into trouble
    for speaking in anger.

³⁴ Our Lord, they disobeyed you
    by refusing to destroy
    the nations.
³⁵ Instead they were friendly
with those foreigners
    and followed their customs.
³⁶ Then they fell into the trap
    of worshiping idols.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters
    to demons
³⁸     and to the gods of Canaan.
Then they poured out the blood
of these innocent children
    and made the land filthy.
³⁹ By doing such gruesome things,
    they also became filthy.

⁴⁰ Finally, Lord, you were angry
    and terribly disgusted
    with your people.
⁴¹ So you put them in the power
    of nations
    that hated them.
⁴² They were mistreated and abused
    by their enemies,
⁴³     but you saved them
    time after time.
They were determined to rebel,
    and their sins caused
    their downfall.

⁴⁴ You answered their prayers
    when they were in trouble.
⁴⁵ You kept your agreement
    and were so merciful
⁴⁶     that their enemies
    had pity on them.

⁴⁷ Save us, Lord God!
    Bring us back
    from among the nations.
Let us celebrate and shout
    in praise of your holy name.

⁴⁸ Lord God of Israel,
    you deserve to be praised
    forever and ever.
Let everyone say, "Amen!
    Shout praises to the Lord!"