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Book 5

(Psalms 107-150)

107 Praise the Lord, because he is good!
    His faithful love will last forever!
Everyone the Lord has saved should repeat that word of thanks.
    Praise him, all who have been rescued from the enemy.
He gathered his people together from many different countries.
    He brought them from east and west, north and south.[a]

Some of them wandered in the dry desert.
    They were looking for a place to live,
    but they could not find a city.
They were hungry and thirsty
    and growing weak.
Then they called to the Lord for help,
    and he saved them from their troubles.
He led them straight to the city where they would live.
Thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and for the amazing things he does for people.
He satisfies those who are thirsty.
    He fills those who are hungry with good things.

10 Some of God’s people were prisoners,
    locked behind bars in dark prisons.
11 That was because they had fought against what God said.
    They refused to listen to the advice of God Most High.
12 God made life hard for those people
    because of what they did.
They stumbled and fell,
    and there was no one to help them.
13 They were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help,
    and he saved them from their troubles.
14 He took them out of their dark prisons.
    He broke the ropes that held them.
15 Thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and for the amazing things he does for people.
16 He breaks down their bronze gates.
    He shatters their iron bars.

17 Some people became fools and turned against God,
    and they suffered for the evil they did.
18 They became so sick that they refused to eat,
    so they almost died.
19 They were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help,
    and he saved them from their troubles.
20 He gave the command and healed them,
    so they were saved from the grave.
21 Thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and for the amazing things he does for people.
22 Offer sacrifices of thanks to him.
    Sing with joy about all that he has done.

23 Some sailed the sea in ships.
    Their work carried them across the water.
24 They saw what the Lord can do.
    They saw the amazing things he did at sea.
25 He gave the command, and a strong wind began to blow.
    The waves became higher and higher.
26 The waves lifted them high into the sky
    and dropped them into the deep sea.
    The storm was so dangerous that the men lost their courage.
27 They were stumbling and falling like someone who is drunk.
    Their skill as sailors was useless.
28 They were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help,
    and he saved them from their troubles.
29 He stopped the storm
    and calmed the waves.
30 The sailors were happy that the sea became calm,
    and he led them safely to where they wanted to go.
31 Thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and for the amazing things he does for people.
32 Praise God in the great assembly.
    Praise him when the older leaders meet together.

33 He changed rivers into a desert.
    He stopped springs from flowing.
34 He made the fertile land become salty,
    because the people living there did such evil things.
35 He changed the desert into a land with pools of water.
    He caused springs to flow from dry ground.
36 He led the hungry to that good land,
    and they built a city to live in.
37 They planted seeds in their fields and grapes in their vineyards,
    and they had a good harvest.
38 God blessed them with many children
    and plenty of animals.
39 But because of disaster and troubles,
    their families became small and weak.
40 God shames even great leaders
    and makes them wander through empty deserts.
41 But he rescues the poor from their misery.
    He makes their families large like flocks of sheep.
42 Good people see this and are happy.
    But the wicked see it and don’t know what to say.
43 Whoever is wise will remember these things
    and begin to understand the Lord’s faithful love.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 107:3 south Or “the Sea.” This might refer to all the coastal areas around the Mediterranean Sea.

107 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:

12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.

13 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

15 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

19 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

21 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

24 These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.

25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.

28 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

31 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;

34 A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

35 He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

36 And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;

37 And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

38 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

39 Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

41 Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

42 The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

43 Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.