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

² Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord
or fully declare his praise?
³ Blessed are those who act justly,
who always do what is right.

⁴ Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people,
come to my aid when you save them,
⁵ that 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.

⁶ We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
⁷ When 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.
⁸ Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
to make his mighty 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 hand of the foe;
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
¹¹ The waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
¹² Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.

¹³ But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
¹⁴ In the desert they gave in to their craving;
in the wilderness they put God to the test.
¹⁵ So he gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease among them.

¹⁶ In the camp they grew envious of Moses
and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
¹⁷ The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it buried the company of Abiram.
¹⁸ Fire blazed among their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.
¹⁹ At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
²⁰ They exchanged their glorious God
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
²¹ They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,
²² miracles in the land of Ham
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
²³ So 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.

²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe his promise.
²⁵ They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
²⁶ So he swore to them with uplifted hand
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
²⁷ make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands.

²⁸ They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
²⁹ they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.
³¹ This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.
³² By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord,
and trouble came to Moses because of them;
³³ for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,
and rash words came from Moses’ lips.

³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them,
³⁵ but they mingled with the nations
and adopted their customs.
³⁶ They worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to false gods.
³⁸ They 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.
³⁹ They defiled themselves by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

⁴⁰ Therefore the Lord was angry with his people
and abhorred his inheritance.
⁴¹ He gave them into the hands of the nations,
and their foes ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed them
and subjected them to their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them,
but they were bent on rebellion
and they wasted away in their sin.
⁴⁴ Yet he took note of their distress
when he heard their cry;
⁴⁵ for their sake he remembered his covenant
and out of his great love he relented.
⁴⁶ He caused all who held them captive
to show them mercy.

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

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

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord.