1Praise the LORD!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!

His faithful love endures forever.

2Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD?

Who can ever praise him enough?

3There is joy for those who deal justly with others

and always do what is right.

4Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people;

come near and rescue me.

5Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.

Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;

let me praise you with those who are your heritage.

6Like our ancestors, we have sinned.

We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!

7Our ancestors in Egypt

were not impressed by the LORD’s miraculous deeds.

They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them.

Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.a

8Even so, he saved them—

to defend the honor of his name

and to demonstrate his mighty power.

9He commanded the Red Seab to dry up.

He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert.

10So he rescued them from their enemies

and redeemed them from their foes.

11Then the water returned and covered their enemies;

not one of them survived.

12Then his people believed his promises.

Then they sang his praise.

13Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done!

They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!

14In the wilderness their desires ran wild,

testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.

15So he gave them what they asked for,

but he sent a plague along with it.

16The people in the camp were jealous of Moses

and envious of Aaron, the LORD’s holy priest.

17Because of this, the earth opened up;

it swallowed Dathan

and buried Abiram and the other rebels.

18Fire fell upon their followers;

a flame consumed the wicked.

19The people made a calf at Mount Sinaic;

they bowed before an image made of gold.

20They traded their glorious God

for a statue of a grass-eating bull.

21They forgot God, their savior,

who had done such great things in Egypt—

22such wonderful things in the land of Ham,

such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.

23So he declared he would destroy them.

But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the LORD and the people.

He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.

24The people refused to enter the pleasant land,

for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.

25Instead, they grumbled in their tents

and refused to obey the LORD.

26Therefore, he solemnly swore

that he would kill them in the wilderness,

27that he would scatter their descendantsd among the nations,

exiling them to distant lands.

28Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor;

they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!

29They angered the LORD with all these things,

so a plague broke out among them.

30But Phinehas had the courage to intervene,

and the plague was stopped.

31So he has been regarded as a righteous man

ever since that time.

32At Meribah, too, they angered the LORD,

causing Moses serious trouble.

33They made Moses angry,e

and he spoke foolishly.

34Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land,

as the LORD had commanded them.

35Instead, they mingled among the pagans

and adopted their evil customs.

36They worshiped their idols,

which led to their downfall.

37They even sacrificed their sons

and their daughters to the demons.

38They shed innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters.

By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan,

they polluted the land with murder.

39They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,

and their love of idols was adultery in the LORD’s sight.

40That is why the LORD’s anger burned against his people,

and he abhorred his own special possession.

41He handed them over to pagan nations,

and they were ruled by those who hated them.

42Their enemies crushed them

and brought them under their cruel power.

43Again and again he rescued them,

but they chose to rebel against him,

and they were finally destroyed by their sin.

44Even so, he pitied them in their distress

and listened to their cries.

45He remembered his covenant with them

and relented because of his unfailing love.

46He even caused their captors

to treat them with kindness.

47Save us, O LORD our God!

Gather us back from among the nations,

so we can thank your holy name

and rejoice and praise you.

48Praise the LORD, the God of Israel,

who lives from everlasting to everlasting!

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the LORD!