Psalm 106
Israel’s Unfaithfulness to God
1Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.
2Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts
or proclaim all the praise due him?
3How happy are those who uphold justice,
who practice righteousness at all times.
4Remember me, Lord,
when you show favor to your people.
Come to me with your salvation
5so that I may enjoy the prosperity
of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your nation,
and boast about your heritage.
6Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.
7Our 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.
8Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
to make his power known.
9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10He saved them from the power of the adversary;
he redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11Water covered their foes;
not one of them remained.
12Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
13They soon forgot his works
and would not wait for his counsel.
14They were seized with craving in the wilderness
and tested God in the desert.
15He gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease among them.
16In the camp they were envious of Moses
and of Aaron, the Lord’s holy one.
17The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it covered the assembly of Abiram.
18Fire blazed throughout their assembly;
flames consumed the wicked.
19At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped the cast metal image.
20They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating ox.
21They forgot God their Savior,
who did great things in Egypt,
22wondrous works in the land of Ham,
awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.
23So 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.
24They despised the pleasant land
and did not believe his promise.
25They grumbled in their tents
and did not listen to the Lord.
26So he raised his hand against them with an oath
that he would make them fall in the desert
27and would disperse their descendants
among the nations,
scattering them throughout the lands.
28They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
29They angered the Lord with their deeds,
and a plague broke out against them.
30But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stopped.
31It was credited to him as righteousness
throughout all generations to come.
32They angered the Lord at the Waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered because of them,
33for they embittered his spirit,
and he spoke rashly with his lips.
34They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them
35but mingled with the nations
and adopted their ways.
36They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
38They 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.
39They defiled themselves by their actions
and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
40Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against his people,
and he abhorred his own inheritance.
41He handed them over to the nations;
those who hated them ruled over them.
42Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were subdued under their power.
43He rescued them many times,
but they continued to rebel deliberately
and were beaten down by their iniquity.
44When he heard their cry,
he took note of their distress,
45remembered his covenant with them,
and relented according to the abundance
of his faithful love.
46He caused them to be pitied
before all their captors.
47Save 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.
48Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Hallelujah!