Give Thanks to the LORD, for He Is Good

1Hallelujah (Praise the LORD)!a

Give thanks to the LORD {YHWH}, for He is good;

His loving devotion endures forever.

2Who can describe the mighty acts of the LORD {YHWH}

or fully proclaim His praise?

3Blessed are those who uphold justice,

who practice righteousness at all times.

4Remember me, O LORD {YHWH}, in Your favor to Your people;

visit me with Your salvation,

5that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,

and rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,

and give glory with Your inheritance.

6We have sinned like our fathers;

we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

7Our fathers in Egypt (land of bondage) did not grasp Your wonders

or remember Your abundant kindness;

but they rebelled by the sea,

there at the Red Sea (the Sea of Reeds).b

8Yet He saved them for the sake of His name,

to make His power known.

9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;

He led them through the depths as through a desert.

10He saved them from the hand that hated them;

He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

11The waters covered their foes;

not one of them remained.

12Then they believed His promises

and sang His praise.

13Yet they soon forgot His works

and failed to wait for His counsel.

14They craved intensely in the wilderness

and tested God in the desert.

15So He granted their request,

but sent a wasting disease upon them.

16In the camp they envied Moses (drawn out),

as well as Aaron (light bringer), the holy one of the LORD {YHWH}.

17The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan (belonging to a fountain);

it covered the assembly of Abiram (my father is exalted).

18Then fire blazed through their company;

flames consumed the wicked.

19At Horeb (Mount Sinai)c they made a calf

and worshiped a molten image.

20They exchanged their Glory (their glorious God)d

for the image of a grass-eating ox.

21They forgot God their Savior,

who did great things in Egypt (land of bondage),

22wondrous works in the land of Ham (hot),

and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

23So He said He would destroy them—

had not Moses (drawn out) His chosen one

stood before Him in the breach

to divert His wrath from destroying them.

24They despised the pleasant land;

they did not believe His promise.

25They grumbled in their tents

and did not listen to the voice of the LORD {YHWH}.

26So He raised His hand and swore

to cast them down in the wilderness,

27to disperse (cast down)e their offspring among the nations

and scatter them throughout the lands.

28They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor (lord of the gap)

and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

29So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds,

and a plague broke out among them.

30But Phinehas (mouth of brass) stood and intervened,

and the plague was restrained.

31It was credited to him as righteousness

for endless generations to come.

32At the waters of Meribah (quarreling)f they angered the LORD,

and trouble came to Moses (drawn out) because of them.

33For they rebelled against His Spirit {Ruachow},g

and Moses spoke rashly with his lips.

34They did not destroy the peoples

as the LORD {YHWH} had commanded them,

35but they mingled with the nations

and adopted their customs.

36They worshiped their idols,

which became a snare to them.

37They sacrificed their sons

and their daughters to demons.

38They shed innocent blood—

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan (lowland),

and the land was polluted with blood.

39They defiled themselves by their actions

and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

40So the anger of the LORD {YHWH} burned against His people,

and He abhorred His own inheritance.

41He delivered them into the hand of the nations,

and those who hated them ruled over them.

42Their enemies oppressed them

and subdued them under their hand.

43Many times He rescued them,

but they were bent on rebellion

and sank down in their iniquity.

44Nevertheless He heard their cry;

He took note of their distress.

45And He remembered His covenant with them,

and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

46He made them objects of compassion

to all who held them captive.

47Save us, O LORD our God {YHWH Elohenu},

and gather us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to Your holy name,

that we may glory in Your praise.

48Blessed be the LORD, the God {YHWH Elohe} of Israel (he wrestles with God),

from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Hallelujah!