Tag Archives: for christians

³ The Red Sea^[a] saw them coming and hurried out of their way!
    The water of the Jordan River turned away.
⁴ The mountains skipped like rams,
    the hills like lambs!
⁵ What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way?
    What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?
⁶ Why, mountains, did you skip like rams?
    Why, hills, like lambs?

⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob.
⁸ He turned the rock into a pool of water;
    yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.
² Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?
    Who can ever praise him enough?
³ There is joy for those who deal justly with others
    and always do what is right.

⁴ Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people;
    come near and rescue me.
⁵ Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.
    Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;
    let me praise you with those who are your heritage.

⁶ Like our ancestors, we have sinned.
    We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!
⁷ Our ancestors in Egypt
    were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds.
They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them.
    Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.^[a]
8 Even so, he saved them—
    to defend the honor of his name
    and to demonstrate his mighty power.
⁹ He commanded the Red Sea^[b] to dry up.
    He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert.
¹⁰ So he rescued them from their enemies
    and redeemed them from their foes.
¹¹ Then the water returned and covered their enemies;
    not one of them survived.
¹² Then his people believed his promises.
    Then they sang his praise.

¹³ Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done!
    They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!
¹⁴ In the wilderness their desires ran wild,
    testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.
¹⁵ So he gave them what they asked for,
    but he sent a plague along with it.
¹⁶ The people in the camp were jealous of Moses
    and envious of Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.
¹⁷ Because of this, the earth opened up;
    it swallowed Dathan
    and buried Abiram and the other rebels.
¹⁸ Fire fell upon their followers;
    a flame consumed the wicked.

¹⁹ The people made a calf at Mount Sinai^[c];
    they bowed before an image made of gold.
²⁰ They traded their glorious God
    for a statue of a grass-eating bull.
²¹ They forgot God, their savior,
    who had done such great things in Egypt—
²² such wonderful things in the land of Ham,
    such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.
²³ So he declared he would destroy them.
    But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the Lord and the people.
    He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.

²⁴ The people refused to enter the pleasant land,
    for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.
²⁵ Instead, they grumbled in their tents
    and refused to obey the Lord.
²⁶ Therefore, he solemnly swore
    that he would kill them in the wilderness,
²⁷ that he would scatter their descendants^[d] among the nations,
    exiling them to distant lands.

²⁸ Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor;
    they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!
²⁹ They angered the Lord with all these things,
    so a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ But Phinehas had the courage to intervene,
    and the plague was stopped.
³¹ So he has been regarded as a righteous man
    ever since that time.

³² At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord,
    causing Moses serious trouble.
³³ They made Moses angry,^[e]
    and he spoke foolishly.

³⁴ Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land,
    as the Lord had commanded them.
³⁵ Instead, they mingled among the pagans
    and adopted their evil customs.
³⁶ They worshiped their idols,
    which led to their downfall.
³⁷ They even sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to the demons.
³⁸ They shed innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters.
By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan,
    they polluted the land with murder.
³⁹ They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,
    and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

⁴⁰ That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people,
    and he abhorred his own special possession.
⁴¹ He handed them over to pagan nations,
    and they were ruled by those who hated them.
⁴² Their enemies crushed them
    and brought them under their cruel power.
⁴³ Again and again he rescued them,
    but they chose to rebel against him,
    and they were finally destroyed by their sin.
⁴⁴ Even so, he pitied them in their distress
    and listened to their cries.
⁴⁵ He remembered his covenant with them
    and relented because of his unfailing love.
⁴⁶ He even caused their captors
    to treat them with kindness.

⁴⁷ Save us, O Lord our God!
    Gather us back from among the nations,
so we can thank your holy name
    and rejoice and praise you.

⁴⁸ Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
    who lives from everlasting to everlasting!
Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord!

¹ I will sing of your love and justice, Lord.
    I will praise you with songs.
² I will be careful to live a blameless life—
    when will you come to help me?
I will lead a life of integrity
    in my own home.
³ I will refuse to look at
    anything vile and vulgar.
I hate all who deal crookedly;
    I will have nothing to do with them.
⁴ I will reject perverse ideas
    and stay away from every evil.
⁵ I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.
    I will not endure conceit and pride.

⁶ I will search for faithful people
    to be my companions.
Only those who are above reproach
    will be allowed to serve me.
⁷ I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house,
    and liars will not stay in my presence.
⁸ My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked
    and free the city of the Lord from their grip.

¹ Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
²     Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy.
³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.^[a]
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

¹ Sing a new song to the Lord,
    for he has done wonderful deeds.
His right hand has won a mighty victory;
    his holy arm has shown his saving power!
² The Lord has announced his victory
    and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
³ He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
    The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

⁴ Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
    break out in praise and sing for joy!
⁵ Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and melodious song,
⁶ with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.
    Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!

⁷ Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
    Let the earth and all living things join in.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!
    Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
⁹ before the Lord,
    for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
    and the nations with fairness.

⁸ Think again, you fools!
    When will you finally catch on?
⁹ Is he deaf—the one who made your ears?
    Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?
¹⁰ He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you?
    He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?
¹¹ The Lord knows people’s thoughts;
    he knows they are worthless!

¹² Joyful are those you discipline, Lord,
    those you teach with your instructions.
¹³ You give them relief from troubled times
    until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.
¹⁴ The Lord will not reject his people;
    he will not abandon his special possession.
¹⁵ Judgment will again be founded on justice,
    and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.

¹⁶ Who will protect me from the wicked?
    Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ Unless the Lord had helped me,
    I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave.
¹⁸ I cried out, “I am slipping!”
    but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
¹⁹ When doubts filled my mind,
    your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

²⁰ Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—
    leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
²¹ They gang up against the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
²² But the Lord is my fortress;
    my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
²³ God will turn the sins of evil people back on them.
    He will destroy them for their sins.
    The Lord our God will destroy them.