1Praise the Lord.^a

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

2Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord

or fully declare his praise?

3Blessed are those who act justly,

who always do what is right.

4Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people,

come to my aid when you save them,

5that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,

that I may share in the joy of your nation

and join your inheritance in giving praise.

6We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;

we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

7When our ancestors were in Egypt,

they gave no thought to your miracles;

they did not remember your many kindnesses,

and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.^b

8Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,

to make his mighty 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 of the foe;

from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.

11The waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them survived.

12Then they believed his promises

and sang his praise.

13But they soon forgot what he had done

and did not wait for his plan to unfold.

14In the desert they gave in to their craving;

in the wilderness they put God to the test.

15So he gave them what they asked for,

but sent a wasting disease among them.

16In the camp they grew envious of Moses

and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.

17The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;

it buried the company of Abiram.

18Fire blazed among their followers;

a flame consumed the wicked.

19At Horeb they made a calf

and worshiped an idol cast from metal.

20They exchanged their glorious God

for an image of a bull, which eats grass.

21They forgot the God who saved them,

who had done great things in Egypt,

22miracles in the land of Ham

and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

23So he said he would destroy them—

had not Moses, his chosen one,

stood in the breach before him

to keep his wrath from destroying them.

24Then they despised the pleasant land;

they did not believe his promise.

25They grumbled in their tents

and did not obey the Lord.

26So he swore to them with uplifted hand

that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

27make their descendants fall among the nations

and scatter them throughout the lands.

28They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor

and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;

29they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds,

and a plague broke out among them.

30But Phinehas stood up and intervened,

and the plague was checked.

31This was credited to him as righteousness

for endless generations to come.

32By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord,

and trouble came to Moses because of them;

33for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,

and rash words came from Moses’ lips.^c

34They did not destroy the peoples

as the Lord 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 false gods.

38They shed innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,

and the land was desecrated by their blood.

39They defiled themselves by what they did;

by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

40Therefore the Lord was angry with his people

and abhorred his inheritance.

41He gave them into the hands of the nations,

and their foes ruled over them.

42Their enemies oppressed them

and subjected them to their power.

43Many times he delivered them,

but they were bent on rebellion

and they wasted away in their sin.

44Yet he took note of their distress

when he heard their cry;

45for their sake he remembered his covenant

and out of his great love he relented.

46He caused all who held them captive

to show them mercy.

47Save us, Lord our God,

and gather us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise.

48Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord.