Psalm 107

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary
And gathered from the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;
They did not find a way to an inhabited city.
They were hungry and thirsty;
Their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He delivered them out of their distresses.
He led them also by a straight way,
To go to an inhabited city.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,
And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Prisoners in misery and chains,
Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
And broke their bands apart.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
For He has shattered gates of bronze
And cut bars of iron asunder.

Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
Their soul abhorred all kinds of food,
And they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And tell of His works with joyful singing.

Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters;
They have seen the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep.
For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind,
Which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths;
Their soul melted away in their misery.
They reeled and staggered like a drunken man,
And were at their wits' end.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brought them out of their distresses.
He caused the storm to be still,
So that the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad because they were quiet,
So He guided them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise Him at the seat of the elders.

He changes rivers into a wilderness
And springs of water into a thirsty ground;
A fruitful land into a salt waste,
Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
He changes a wilderness into a pool of water
And a dry land into springs of water;
And there He makes the hungry to dwell,
So that they may establish an inhabited city,
And sow fields and plant vineyards,
And gather a fruitful harvest.
Also He blesses them and they multiply greatly,
And He does not let their cattle decrease.

When they are diminished and bowed down
Through oppression, misery and sorrow,
He pours contempt upon princes
And makes them wander in a pathless waste.
But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction,
And makes his families like a flock.
The upright see it and are glad;
But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things,
And consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.

~Psalm 107 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 106

Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the LORD,
Or can show forth all His praise?
How blessed are those who keep justice,
Who practice righteousness at all times!

Remember me, O LORD, in Thy favor toward Thy people;
Visit me with Thy salvation,
That I may see the prosperity of Thy chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation,
That I may glory with Thine inheritance.

We have sinned like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Thy wonders;
They did not remember Thine abundant kindnesses,
But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name,
That He might make His power known.
Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up,
And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.
So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.

They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
But craved intensely in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.

When they became envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the company of Abiram.
And a fire blazed up in their company;
The flame consumed the wicked.

They made a calf in Horeb
And worshiped a molten image.
Thus they exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
Wonders in the land of Ham
And awesome things by the Red Sea.
Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe in His word,
But grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the LORD.
Therefore He swore to them
That He would cast them down in the wilderness,
And that He would cast their seed among the nations
And scatter them in the lands.

They joined themselves also to Baal-peor,
And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
Then Phinehas stood up and interposed,
And so the plague was stayed.
And it was reckoned to him for righteousness,
To all generations forever.

They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah,
So that it went hard with Moses on their account;
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.

They did not destroy the peoples,
As the LORD commanded them,
But they mingled with the nations
And learned their practices,
And served their idols,
Which became a snare to them.
They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,
And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with the blood.
Thus they became unclean in their practices,
And played the harlot in their deeds.

Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against His people
And He abhorred His inheritance.
Then He gave them into the hand of the nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their power.
Many times He would deliver them;
They, however, were rebellious in their counsel,
And so sank down in their iniquity.

Nevertheless He looked upon their distress
When He heard their cry;
And He remembered His covenant for their sake,
And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.
He also made them objects of compassion
In the presence of all their captors.

Save us, O LORD our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
To give thanks to Thy holy name
And glory in Thy praise.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, "Amen."
Praise the LORD!

~Psalm 106 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 105

Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
Remember His wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth,
O seed of Abraham, His servant,
O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
He is the LORD our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.

He has remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac.
Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the portion of your inheritance,"
When they were only a few men in number,
Very few, and strangers in it.
And they wandered about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
He permitted no man to oppress them,
And He reproved kings for their sakes:
"Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm."

And He called for a famine upon the land;
He broke the whole staff of bread.
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
They afflicted his feet with fetters,
He himself was laid in irons;
Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the LORD tested him.
The king sent and released him,
The ruler of peoples, and set him free.
He made him lord of his house
And ruler over all his possessions,
To imprison his princes at will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.
Israel also came into Egypt;
Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
And He caused His people to be very fruitful,
And made them stronger than their adversaries.

He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.
He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron, whom He had chosen.
They performed His wondrous acts among them,
And miracles in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His words.
He turned their waters into blood
And caused their fish to die.
Their land swarmed with frogs
Even in the chambers of their kings.
He spoke, and there came a swarm of flies
And gnats in all their territory.
He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
He struck down their vines also and their fig trees,
And shattered the trees of their territory.
He spoke, and locusts came,
And young locusts, even without number,
And ate up all vegetation in their land,
And ate up the fruit of their ground.
He also struck down all the firstborn in their land,
The first fruits of all their vigor.

Then He brought them out with silver and gold,
And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.
Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the dread of them had fallen upon them.
He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to illumine by night.
They asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
He opened the rock and water flowed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.
For He remembered His holy word
With Abraham His servant;
And He brought forth His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful shout.
He gave them also the lands of the nations,
That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples' labor,
So that they might keep His statutes
And observe His laws,
Praise the LORD!

~Psalm 105 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 81

Sing for joy to God our strength;
Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
Raise a song, strike the timbrel,
The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast day.
For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When he went throughout the land of Egypt
I heard a language that I did not know:

"I relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the basket.
"You called in trouble and I rescued you;
I answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
"Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, if you would listen to Me!
"Let there be no strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
"I, the LORD, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

"But My people did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not obey Me.
"So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in their own devices.
"Oh that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
"I would quickly subdue their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
"Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
"But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

~Psalm 81 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 78

Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should teach them to their children,
That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and tell them to their children,
That they should put their confidence in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
And not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows,
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
They did not keep the covenant of God,
And refused to walk in His law;
And they forgot His deeds,
And His miracles that He had shown them.
He wrought wonders before their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through;
And He made the waters stand up like a heap.
Then He led them with the cloud by day,
And all the night with a light of fire.
He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.
He brought forth streams also from the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
And in their heart they put God to the test
By asking food according to their desire.
Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
“Behold, He struck the rock, so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He give bread also?
Will He provide meat for His people?”

Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath,
And a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also mounted against Israel;
Because they did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
Yet He commanded the clouds above,
And opened the doors of heaven;
And He rained down manna upon them to eat,
And gave them food from heaven.
Man did eat the bread of angels;
He sent them food in abundance.
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by His power He directed the south wind.
When He rained meat upon them like the dust,
Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Round about their dwellings.
So they ate and were well filled;
And their desire He gave to them.
Before they had satisfied their desire,
While their food was in their mouths,
The anger of God rose against them,
And killed some of their stoutest ones,
And subdued the choice men of Israel.
In spite of all this they still sinned,
And did not believe in His wonderful works.
So He brought their days to an end in futility,
And their years in sudden terror.

When He killed them, then they sought Him,
And returned and searched diligently for God;
And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
But they deceived Him with their mouth,
And lied to Him with their tongue.
For their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them;
And often He restrained His anger,
And did not arouse all His wrath.
Thus He remembered that they were but flesh,
A wind that passes and does not return.

How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
And again and again they tempted God,
And pained the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember His power,
The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,
When He performed His signs in Egypt,
And His marvels in the field of Zoan,
And turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, they could not drink.
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.
He gave also their crops to the grasshopper,
And the product of their labor to the locust.
He destroyed their vines with hailstones,
And their sycamore trees with frost.
He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones,
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
He sent upon them His burning anger,
Fury, and indignation, and trouble,
A band of destroying angels.
He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave over their life to the plague,
And smote all the first-born in Egypt,
The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham.
But He led forth His own people like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
And He led them safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea engulfed their enemies.

So He brought them to His holy land, 

To this hill country which His right hand had gained.
He also drove out the nations before them,
And He apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,
But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers;
They turned aside like a treacherous bow.
For they provoked Him with their high places,
And aroused His jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard, He was filled with wrath,
And greatly abhorred Israel;
So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent which He had pitched among men,
And gave up His strength to captivity,
And His glory into the hand of the adversary.
He also delivered His people to the sword,
And was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
Fire devoured His young men;
And His virgins had no wedding songs.
His priests fell by the sword;
And His widows could not weep.

Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,
Like a warrior overcome by wine.
And He drove His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting reproach.
He also rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which He loved.
And He built His sanctuary like the heights, 

Like the earth which He has founded forever.
He also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him,
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands.

~Psalm 78 NASB (1977)