Read the Bible

¹ Praise the Lord!

Thank the Lord because he is good.
    His love continues forever.
² No one can tell all the mighty things the Lord has done;
    no one can speak all his praise.
³ Happy are those who do right,
    who do what is fair at all times.

⁴ Lord, remember me when you are kind to your people;
    help me when you save them.
⁵ Let me see the good things you do for your chosen people.
    Let me be happy along with your happy nation;
    let me join your own people in praising you.

⁶ We have sinned just as our ancestors did.
    We have done wrong; we have done evil.
⁷ Our ancestors in Egypt
    did not learn from your miracles.
They did not remember all your kindnesses,
    so they turned against you at the Red Sea.
⁸ But the Lord saved them for his own sake,
    to show his great power.
⁹ He commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
    He led them through the deep sea as if it were a desert.
¹⁰ He saved them from those who hated them.
    He saved them from their enemies,
¹¹ and the water covered their foes.
    Not one of them escaped.
¹² Then the people believed what the Lord said,
    and they sang praises to him.

¹³ But they quickly forgot what he had done;
    they did not wait for his advice.
¹⁴ They became greedy for food in the desert,
    and they tested God there.
¹⁵ So he gave them what they wanted,
    but he also sent a terrible disease among them.

¹⁶ The people in the camp were jealous of Moses
    and of Aaron, the holy priest of the Lord.
¹⁷ Then the ground opened up and swallowed Dathan
    and closed over Abiram's group.
¹⁸ A fire burned among their followers,
    and flames burned up the wicked.

¹⁹ The people made a gold calf at Mount Sinai
    and worshiped a metal statue.
²⁰ They exchanged their glorious God
    for a statue of a bull that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot the God who saved them,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
²² who had done miracles in Egypt^[a]
    and amazing things by the Red Sea.
²³ So God said he would destroy them.
    But Moses, his chosen one, stood before him
    and stopped God's anger from destroying them.

²⁴ Then they refused to go into the beautiful land of Canaan;
    they did not believe what God promised.
²⁵ They grumbled in their tents
    and did not obey the Lord.
²⁶ So he swore to them
    that they would die in the desert.
²⁷ He said their children would be killed by other nations
    and that they would be scattered among other countries.

²⁸ They joined in worshiping Baal at Peor
    and ate meat that had been sacrificed to lifeless statues.
²⁹ They made the Lord angry by what they did,
    so many people became sick with a terrible disease.
³⁰ But Phinehas prayed to the Lord,
    and the disease stopped.
³¹ Phinehas did what was right,
    and it will be remembered from now on.

³² The people also made the Lord angry at Meribah,
    and Moses was in trouble because of them.
³³ The people turned against the Spirit of God,
    so Moses spoke without stopping to think.

³⁴ The people did not destroy the other nations
    as the Lord had told them to do.
³⁵ Instead, they mixed with the other nations
    and learned their customs.
³⁶ They worshiped other nations' idols
    and were trapped by them.
³⁷ They even killed their sons and daughters
    as sacrifices to demons.
³⁸ They killed innocent people,
    their own sons and daughters,
as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan.
    So the land was made unholy by their blood.
³⁹ The people became unholy by their sins;
    they were unfaithful to God in what they did.

⁴⁰ So the Lord became angry with his people
    and hated his own children.
⁴¹ He handed them over to other nations
    and let their enemies rule over them.
⁴² Their enemies were cruel to them
    and kept them under their power.
⁴³ The Lord saved his people many times,
    but they continued to turn against him.
    So they became even more wicked.

⁴⁴ But God saw their misery
    when he heard their cry.
⁴⁵ He remembered his agreement with them,
    and he felt sorry for them because of his great love.
⁴⁶ He caused them to be pitied
    by those who held them captive.

⁴⁷ Lord our God, save us
    and bring us back from other nations.
Then we will thank you
    and will gladly praise you.

⁴⁸ Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
    He always was and always will be.
    Let all the people say, "Amen!"

Praise the Lord!