Psalm 106 – New International Reader’s Version NIRV

New International Reader’s Version

Psalm 106:1-48

Psalm 106

1Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.

His faithful love continues forever.

2Who can speak enough about the mighty acts of the Lord?

Who can praise him as much as he should be praised?

3Blessed are those who always do what is fair.

Blessed are those who keep doing what is right.

4Lord, remember me when you bless your people.

Help me when you save them.

5Then 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.

6We have sinned, just as our people of long ago did.

We too have done what is evil and wrong.

7When 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.

8But he saved them for the honor of his name.

He did it to make his mighty power known.

9He ordered the Red Sea to dry up, and it did.

He led his people through it as if it were a desert.

10He saved them from the power of their enemies.

He set them free from their control.

11The waters covered their enemies.

Not one of them escaped alive.

12Then his people believed his promises

and sang praise to him.

13But they soon forgot what he had done.

They didn’t wait for what he had planned to happen.

14In the desert they longed for food.

In that dry and empty land they tested God.

15So he gave them what they asked for.

But he also sent a sickness that killed many of them.

16In their camp some of them became jealous of Moses and Aaron.

Aaron had been set apart to serve the Lord.

17The ground opened up and swallowed Dathan.

It buried Abiram and his followers.

18Fire blazed among all of them.

Flames destroyed those evil people.

19At Mount Horeb they made a metal statue of a bull calf.

They worshiped that statue of a god.

20They traded their glorious God

for a statue of a bull that eats grass.

21They forgot the God who saved them.

They forgot the God who had done great things in Egypt.

22They forgot the miracles he did in the land of Ham.

They forgot the wonderful things he did by the Red Sea.

23So he said he would destroy them.

But Moses, his chosen one,

stood up for them.

He kept God’s anger from destroying them.

24Later on, they refused to enter the pleasant land of Canaan.

They didn’t believe God’s promise.

25In their tents they told the Lord how unhappy they were.

They didn’t obey him.

26So he lifted up his hand and promised

that he would make them die in the desert.

27He promised he would scatter their children’s children among the nations.

He would make them die in other lands.

28They joined in worshiping the Baal that was worshiped at Peor.

They ate food that had been offered to gods that aren’t even alive.

29Their evil ways made the Lord angry.

So a plague broke out among them.

30But Phinehas stood up and took action.

Then the plague stopped.

31What Phinehas did made him right with the Lord.

It will be remembered for all time to come.

32By the waters of Meribah the Lord’s people made him angry.

Moses got in trouble because of them.

33They refused to obey the Spirit of God.

So Moses spoke without thinking.

34They didn’t destroy the nations in Canaan

as the Lord had commanded them.

35Instead, they mixed with those nations

and adopted their ways.

36They worshiped statues of their gods.

That became a trap for them.

37They sacrificed their sons and daughters

as offerings to false gods.

38They killed those who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong.

They killed their own sons and daughters.

They sacrificed them as offerings to statues of the gods of Canaan.

The land became “unclean” because of the blood of their children.

39The people made themselves impure by what they had done.

They weren’t faithful to the Lord.

40So the Lord became angry with his people.

He turned away from his own children.

41He handed them over to the nations.

Their enemies ruled over them.

42Their enemies treated them badly

and kept them under their power.

43Many times the Lord saved them.

But they refused to obey him.

So he destroyed them because of their sins.

44Yet he heard them when they cried out.

He paid special attention to their suffering.

45Because they were his people, he remembered his covenant.

Because of his great love, he felt sorry for them.

46He made all those who held them as prisoners

have mercy on them.

47Lord our God, save us.

Bring us back from among the nations.

Then we will give thanks to you, because your name is holy.

We will celebrate by praising you.

48Give praise to the Lord, the God of Israel,

for ever and ever.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord.