1Praise the Lord! Thank the Lord, for he is good! His trustworthy love lasts forever.

2Who can give an account of all the wonderful things the Lord has done? ³⁶²Who can give him all the praise he is due?

3Happy are those who treat people fairly, who always do what is right.

4Please remember me when you are generous to your people; think of me when you come to save.

5Let me see your chosen people prosperous; let me be happy together with your nation; let me share in being proud of you with those who belong to you.

6We have sinned just like our forefathers. We have done wrong. We are guilty.

7They didn't pay attention to the wonderful things you did. They didn't keep in mind how much you loved them, but chose to rebel at the sea, the Red Sea. ³⁶³

8Even so he saved them because of the kind of person he is, and to show his power

9He gave his order ³⁶⁴to the Red Sea, and it dried up. He led his people across the seabed as if it were a desert.

10He rescued them from those who hated them; he saved them from their enemies' power.

11The water drowned their enemies—none of them survived,

12Then his people trusted in what he promised, and sang his praises.

13But they quickly forgot what he had done for them, and they didn't listen to his advice.

14They were filled with desperate cravings ³⁶⁵in the wilderness; they provoked God in the desert.

15He gave them what they wanted, but sent them a plague ³⁶⁶as well.

16In the camp the people became jealous of Moses, and of Aaron, the Lord's holy priest.

17The earth split open and swallowed up Dathan; it buried Abiram and his followers. ³⁶⁷

18Fire broke out among them—a flame that burned them up.

19At Mount Sinai ³⁶⁸they made a calf, they bowed down before a metal idol. ³⁶⁹

20They replaced their God of glory with a bull that eats grass!

21They forgot God, their Savior, who had done marvelous things in Egypt;

22performing miracles in the land of Ham, ³⁷⁰doing amazing things at the Red Sea.

23So he said he was going to destroy them. But Moses, his chosen leader, placed himself between the Lord and the people to persuade the Lord not to destroy them in his anger.

24Later the people refused to enter the Promised Land; they didn't trust him to do as he'd promised.

25They complained in their tents about the Lord, and refused to obey what he told them.

26So he raised his hand to give them a serious warning that he would bring them down in the wilderness,

27that he would disperse ³⁷¹their descendants among the heathen nations, scattering them among countries far away.

28They gave their allegiance to Baal Peor, ³⁷²and ate food sacrificed to the dead.

29They provoked the Lord by what they did, making him angry, so a plague broke out among them.

30But Phinehas took a stand for the Lord and intervened, and the plague was stopped in its tracks.

31He has been considered as a man who lived right ³⁷³from that time on and for all generations.

32They also angered him at the waters of Meribah where things went badly for Moses because of them.

33They upset him so much that he spoke without thinking in the heat of the moment.

34They did not destroy the heathen peoples as the Lord had told them to do,

35but instead they joined in with them and adopted their way of life.

36They worshiped their pagan idols which became a trap for them.

37The even sacrificed their sons and daughters to these demons.

38They shed the blood of innocent children, their sons and daughters, sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan. By doing so they defiled the land with blood.

39They also defiled themselves by what they did: their actions were spiritual adultery.

40So the Lord was angry with his people—he loathed those who belonged to him.

41He handed them over to the heathen nations. These people who hated them now became their rulers.

42Their enemies dominated and subdued them with their power.

43The Lord repeatedly rescued them, but they continued with their rebellious ideas, until they were finally destroyed by their own sins.

44Despite all this, the Lord was moved by their suffering; he heard their sad cries.

45He remembered the agreement he had made with them, and he held back because of his great kindness and love.

46He made the people who captured them treat them with mercy.

47Save us, Lord, our God! Bring us back together from among the nations, so we can thank you and declare how magnificent and holy you are.

48How wonderful is the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives forever and ever! Let all the people say “Amen”! Praise the Lord!