Read the Bible

¹ Tell the Lord
    how thankful you are,
    because he is kind
    and always merciful.

² Let Israel shout,
    "God is always merciful!"
³ Let the family of Aaron
the priest shout,
    "God is always merciful!"
⁴ Let every true worshiper
of the Lord shout,
    "God is always merciful!"

⁵ When I was really hurting,
    I prayed to the Lord.
    He answered my prayer,
    and took my worries away.
⁶ The Lord is on my side,
    and I am not afraid
    of what others can do to me.
⁷ With the Lord on my side,
    I will defeat all
    of my hateful enemies.
⁸ It is better to trust the Lord
    for protection
    than to trust anyone else,
⁹     including strong leaders.

¹⁰ Nations surrounded me,
    but I got rid of them
    by the power of the Lord.
¹¹ They attacked from all sides,
    but I got rid of them
    by the power of the Lord.
¹² They swarmed around like bees,
but by the power of the Lord,
    I got rid of them
    and their fiery sting.
¹³ Their attacks were so fierce
that I nearly fell,
    but the Lord helped me.
¹⁴ My power and my strength
come from the Lord,
    and he has saved me.

¹⁵ From the tents of God's people
come shouts of victory:
    "The Lord is powerful!
¹⁶ With his mighty arm
the Lord wins victories!
    The Lord is powerful!"

¹⁷ And so my life is safe,
    and I will live to tell
    what the Lord has done.
¹⁸ He punished me terribly,
    but he did not let death
    lay its hands on me.

¹⁹ Open the gates of justice!
    I will enter and tell the Lord
    how thankful I am.

²⁰ Here is the gate of the Lord!
    Everyone who does right
    may enter this gate.

²¹ I praise the Lord
    for answering my prayers
    and saving me.
²² The stone that the builders
    tossed aside
    has now become
    the most important stone.

²³ The Lord has done this,
    and it is amazing to us.
²⁴ This day belongs to the Lord!
    Let's celebrate
    and be glad today.
²⁵ We'll ask the Lord to save us!
    We'll sincerely ask the Lord
    to let us win.

²⁶ God bless the one who comes
    in the name of the Lord!
    We praise you from here
    in the house of the Lord.

²⁷ The Lord is our God,
    and he has given us light!
Start the celebration!
    March with palm branches
    all the way to the altar.^[a]

²⁸ The Lord is my God!
    I will praise him and tell him
    how thankful I am.

²⁹ Tell the Lord
    how thankful you are,
    because he is kind
    and always merciful.