Study Desk

Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord , for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.^(a)

Who can declare the Lord 's mighty acts or proclaim all the praise due Him?^(b)

How happy are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times.^(c)

Remember me, Lord , when You show favor to Your people.^(d) Come to me with Your salvation

so that I may enjoy the prosperity of Your chosen ones, rejoice in the joy of Your nation, and boast about Your heritage.^(e)

Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.^(f)

Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp the significance of Your wonderful works or remember Your many acts of faithful love; instead, they rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.^(g)

Yet He saved them because of His name, to make His power known.^(h)

He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.⁽ⁱ⁾

He saved them from the hand of the adversary; He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.^(j)

Water covered their foes; not one of them remained.^(k)

Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.^(l)

They soon forgot His works and would not wait for His counsel.^(m)

They were seized with craving in the wilderness and tested God in the desert.⁽ⁿ⁾

He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.^(o)

In the camp they were envious of Moses and of Aaron, the Lord 's holy one.^(p)

The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram.^(q)

Fire blazed throughout their assembly; flames consumed the wicked.^(r)

At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped the cast metal image.^(s)

They exchanged their glory^[a][b] for the image of a grass-eating ox.^(t)

They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,^(u)

wonderful works in the land of Ham,^[c] awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.^(v)

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.^(w)

They despised the pleasant land and did not believe His promise.^(x)

They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the Lord 's voice.^(y)

So He raised His hand against them with an oath that He would make them fall in the desert^(z)

and would disperse their descendants^[d] among the nations, scattering them throughout the lands.^(aa)

They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.^[e](ab)

They provoked the Lord with their deeds, and a plague broke out against them.^(ac)

But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped.^(ad)

It was credited to him as righteousness throughout all generations to come.^(ae)

They angered the Lord at the waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered^[f] because of them;^(af)

for they embittered his spirit,^[g] and he spoke rashly with his lips.^(ag)

They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them^(ah)

but mingled with the nations and adopted their ways.^(ai)

They served their idols, which became a snare to them.^(aj)

They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.^(ak)

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.^(al)

They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.^(am)

Therefore the Lord 's anger burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.^(an)

He handed them over to the nations; those who hated them ruled them.^(ao)

Their enemies oppressed them, and they were subdued under their power.^(ap)

He rescued them many times, but they continued to rebel deliberately and were beaten down by their sin.^(aq)

When He heard their cry, He took note of their distress,^(ar)

remembered His covenant with them, and relented according to the riches of His faithful love.^(as)

He caused them to be pitied before all their captors.^(at)

Save us, Yahweh our God, and gather us from the nations, so that we may give thanks to Your holy name and rejoice in Your praise.^(au)

May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised from everlasting to everlasting.^(av) Let all the people say, "Amen!" Hallelujah!^(aw)

Give thanks to the Lord , for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.^(a)

Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim that He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe^(b)

and has gathered them from the lands— from the east and the west, from the north and the south.^(c)

Some^[a] wandered in the desolate wilderness, finding no way to a city where they could live.^(d)

They were hungry and thirsty; their spirits failed^[b] within them.^(e)

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He rescued them from their distress.^(f)

He led them by the right path to go to a city where they could live.^(g)

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for all humanity.^(h)

For He has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things.⁽ⁱ⁾

Others^[c] sat in darkness and gloom^[d]— prisoners in cruel chains^(j)—

because they rebelled against God's commands and despised the counsel of the Most High.^(k)

He broke their spirits^[e] with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.^(l)

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distress.^(m)

He brought them out of darkness and gloom^[f] and broke their chains apart.⁽ⁿ⁾

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for all humanity.^(o)

For He has broken down the bronze gates and cut through the iron bars.^(p)

Fools suffered affliction because of their rebellious ways and their sins.^(q)

They loathed all food and came near the gates of death.^(r)

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distress.^(s)

He sent His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit.^(t)

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for all humanity.^(u)

Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and announce His works with shouts of joy.^(v)

Others^[g] went to sea in ships, conducting trade on the vast waters.^(w)

They saw the Lord 's works, His wonderful works in the deep.^(x)

He spoke and raised a tempest that stirred up the waves of the sea.^[h](y)

Rising up to the sky, sinking down to the depths, their courage^[i] melting away in anguish,^(z)

they reeled and staggered like drunken men, and all their skill was useless.^(aa)

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.^(ab)

He stilled the storm to a murmur, and the waves of the sea^[j] were hushed.^(ac)

They rejoiced when the waves^[k] grew quiet. Then He guided them to the harbor they longed for.^(ad)

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for all humanity.^(ae)

Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the council of the elders.^(af)

He turns rivers into desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,^(ag)

and fruitful land into salty wasteland, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.^(ah)

He turns a desert into a pool of water, dry land into springs of water.^(ai)

He causes the hungry to settle there, and they establish a city where they can live.^(aj)

They sow fields and plant vineyards that yield a fruitful harvest.^(ak)

He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;^(al) He does not let their livestock decrease.^(am)

When they are diminished and are humbled by cruel oppression and sorrow,^(an)

He pours contempt on nobles^(ao) and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.^(ap)

But He lifts the needy out of their suffering^(aq) and makes their families multiply like flocks.^(ar)

The upright see it and rejoice,^(as) and all injustice shuts its mouth.^(at)

Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things and consider^[l] the Lord 's acts of faithful love.^(au)