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Israel's Rebelliousness and the LORD'S Help.

^1 (F1)Praise ^(F2)the LORD!
Oh ^(C1)give thanks to the LORD, for He ^(C2)is good;
For ^(C3)His mercy is everlasting.

² Who can speak of the ^(C1)mighty deeds of the LORD,
Or can proclaim all His praise?

³ How blessed are those who maintain ^(F1)justice,
^(F2)Who ^(C1)practice righteousness at all times!

⁴ Remember me, LORD, in Your ^(C1)favor ^(F1)toward Your people.
Visit me with Your salvation,

⁵ So that I may see the ^(C1)prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may ^(C2)rejoice in the joy of Your nation,
That I may ^(C3)boast with Your ^(F1)inheritance.

^6 (C1)We have sinned ^(F1)(C2)like our fathers,
We have gone astray, we have behaved wickedly.

⁷ Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your ^(F1)wonders;
They ^(C1)did not remember ^(F2)Your abundant kindnesses,
But ^(C2)rebelled by the sea, at the ^(F3)Red Sea.

⁸ Nevertheless He saved them ^(C1)for the sake of His name,
So that He might ^(C2)make His power known.

⁹ So He ^(C1)rebuked the ^(F1)Red Sea and it ^(C2)dried up,
And He ^(C3)led them through the mighty waters, as through the wilderness.

¹⁰ So He ^(C1)saved them from the ^(F1)hand of one who hated them,
And ^(C2)redeemed them from the ^(F1)hand of the enemy.

^11 (C1)The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.

¹² Then they ^(C1)believed His words;
They ^(C2)sang His praise.

¹³ They quickly ^(C1)forgot His works;
They ^(C2)did not wait for His plan,

¹⁴ But ^(C1)became lustfully greedy in the wilderness,
And ^(C2)put God to the test in the desert.

¹⁵ So He ^(C1)gave them their request,
But ^(C2)sent a ^(F1)wasting disease among them.

¹⁶ When they became ^(C1)envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,

¹⁷ The ^(C1)earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the ^(F1)company of Abiram.

¹⁸ And a ^(C1)fire blazed up in their ^(F1)company;
The flame consumed the wicked.

¹⁹ They ^(C1)made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped a cast metal image.

²⁰ So they ^(C1)exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.

²¹ They ^(C1)forgot God their Savior,
Who had done ^(C2)great things in Egypt,

^22 (F1)(C1)Wonders in the land of Ham,
And awesome things by the ^(F2)Red Sea.

²³ Therefore ^(C1)He said that He would destroy them,
If ^(C2)Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in the gap before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.

²⁴ Then they ^(C1)rejected the ^(C2)pleasant land;
They ^(C3)did not believe His word,

²⁵ But ^(C1)grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore He ^(F1)(C1)swore to them
That He would have them fall in the wilderness,

²⁷ And that He would ^(C1)bring down their ^(F1)descendants among the nations,
And ^(C2)scatter them in the lands.

²⁸ They also ^(C1)followed ^(F1)Baal-peor,
And ate ^(C2)sacrifices offered to the dead.

²⁹ So they ^(C1)provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And a plague broke out among them.

³⁰ Then Phinehas ^(C1)stood up and ^(F1)intervened,
And so the ^(C2)plague was brought to a halt.

³¹ And it was ^(C1)credited to him as righteousness,
To all generations forever.

³² They also ^(C1)provoked Him to wrath at the waters of ^(F1)Meribah,
So that it ^(C2)went badly for Moses on their account.

³³ Because they ^(C1)were rebellious against ^(F1)His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.

³⁴ They ^(C1)did not destroy the peoples,
As ^(C2)the LORD had commanded them,

³⁵ But ^(C1)they got involved with the nations
And learned their ^(F1)practices,

³⁶ And ^(C1)served their idols,
^(C2)Which became a snare to them.

³⁷ They even ^(C1)sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the ^(C2)demons,

³⁸ And shed ^(C1)innocent blood,
The blood of their ^(C2)sons and their daughters
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was ^(C3)defiled with the blood.

³⁹ So they became ^(C1)unclean in their ^(F1)practices,
And ^(F2)(C2)were unfaithful in their deeds.

⁴⁰ Therefore the ^(C1)anger of the LORD was kindled against His people,
And He ^(C2)loathed His ^(F1)(C3)inheritance.

⁴¹ So ^(C1)He handed them over to the ^(F1)nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.

⁴² Their enemies also ^(C1)oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their ^(F1)power.

⁴³ Many times He would ^(C1)rescue them;
They, however, were rebellious in their ^(C2)plan,
And they ^(C3)sank down into their guilt.

⁴⁴ Nevertheless He looked at their distress
When He ^(C1)heard their cry;

⁴⁵ And He ^(C1)remembered His covenant for their sake,
And ^(F1)(C2)relented ^(C3)according to the greatness of His mercy.

⁴⁶ He also made them ^(C1)objects of compassion
In the presence of all their captors.

^47 (C1)Save us, LORD our God,
And ^(C2)gather us from the nations,
To give thanks to Your holy name
And ^(C3)glory in Your praise.

^48 (C1)Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
And all the people shall say, "Amen."
^(F1)Praise ^(F2)the LORD!