Psalm 106Israel's Unfaithfulness to God

1. Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.

2. Who can declare the Lord's mighty acts
or proclaim all the praise due him?

3. How happy are those who uphold justice,
who practice righteousness at all times.

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

Come to me with your salvation


5. so that I may enjoy the prosperity
of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your nation,
and boast about your heritage.

6. Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.

7. Our ancestors in Egypt did not grasp
the significance of your wondrous works
or remember your many acts of faithful love;
instead, they rebelled by the sea--the Red Sea.

8. Yet he saved them for his name's sake,
to make his power known.

9. He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.

10. He saved them from the power of the adversary;
he redeemed them from the power of the enemy.

11. Water covered their foes;
not one of them remained.

12. Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.

13. They soon forgot his works
and would not wait for his counsel.

14. They were seized with craving in the wilderness
and tested God in the desert.

15. He gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease among them.

16. In the camp they were envious of Moses
and of Aaron, the Lord's holy one.

17. The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it covered the assembly of Abiram.

18. Fire blazed throughout their assembly;
flames consumed the wicked.

19. At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped the cast metal image.

20. They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating ox.

21. They forgot God their Savior,
who did great things in Egypt,

22. wondrous works in the land of Ham,
awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.

23. So he said he would have destroyed them--
if Moses his chosen one
had not stood before him in the breach
to turn his wrath away from destroying them.

24. They despised the pleasant land
and did not believe his promise.

25. They grumbled in their tents
and did not listen to the Lord.

26. So he raised his hand against them with an oath
that he would make them fall in the desert

27. and would disperse their descendants
among the nations,
scattering them throughout the lands.

28. They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

29. They angered the Lord with their deeds,
and a plague broke out against them.

30. But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stopped.


31. It was credited to him as righteousness
throughout all generations to come.

32. They angered the Lord at the Waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered because of them,

33. for they embittered his spirit,
and he spoke rashly with his lips.

34. They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them

35. but mingled with the nations
and adopted their ways.

36. They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.

37. They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.

38. They shed innocent blood--
the blood of their sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
so the land became polluted with blood.

39. They defiled themselves by their actions
and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

40. Therefore the Lord's anger burned against his people,
and he abhorred his own inheritance.

41. He handed them over to the nations;
those who hated them ruled over them.

42. Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were subdued under their power.

43. He rescued them many times,
but they continued to rebel deliberately
and were beaten down by their iniquity.

44. When he heard their cry,
he took note of their distress,

45. remembered his covenant with them,
and relented according to the abundance
of his faithful love.

46. He caused them to be pitied
before all their captors.

47. Save us, Lord our God,
and gather us from the nations,
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and rejoice in your praise.

48. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, "Amen!"
Hallelujah!




