Psalm 106, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION
Prior Chapter  |  Next Chapter

1

Praise the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love continues forever.
 

2

Who can speak enough about the mighty acts of the Lord?
Who can praise him as much as he should be praised?
 

3

Blessed are those who always do what is fair.
Blessed are those who keep doing what is right.
 

4

Lord, remember me when you show favour to your people.
Help me when you save them.
 

5

Then I will enjoy the good things you give your chosen ones.
I will be joyful together with your people.
I will join them when they praise you.
 

6

We have sinned, just as our people of long ago did.
We too have done what is evil and wrong.
 

7

When our people were in Egypt,
they forgot about the Lord’s miracles.
They didn’t remember his many kind acts.
At the Red Sea they refused to obey him.
 

8

But he saved them for the honour of his name.
He did it to make his mighty power known.
 

9

He ordered the Red Sea to dry up, and it did.
He led his people through it as if it were a desert.
 

10

He saved them from the power of their enemies.
He set them free from their control.
 

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 counsel.
 

14

In the desert they gave in to their craving;
in the wasteland they put God to the test.
 

15

So he gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease upon 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 worshipped an idol cast from metal.
 

20

They exchanged their Glory
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 desert,
 

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 provoked the LORD to 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 worshipped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
 

37

They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
 

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 handed them over to 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

But 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 them to be pitied
by all who held them captive.
 

47

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

48

Give praise to the Lord, the God of Israel,
for ever and ever.
Let all of the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord.