His Loving Kindness Endures Forever
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,
3 and gathered out of the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way.
They found no city to live in.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
they were fainting.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 He led them also by a straight way,
that they might go to a city to live in.
8 Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness,
for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul.
He fills the hungry with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
being bound in affliction and iron,
11 because they rebelled against the words of the Lord
and condemned the counsel of the Most High.
12 Therefore he humbled their hearts with hard labor.
They fell down, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to 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 broke away their chains.
15 Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness,
for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
16 For he has broken the gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.
17 Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience
and because of their iniquities.
18 Their soul abhors all kinds of food.
They draw near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saves them from their distresses.
20 He sends his word and heals them
and delivers them from their graves.
21 Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness,
for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
22 Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare his deeds with singing.
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
who do business in great waters:
24 These see the deeds of the Lord
and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commands and raises the windstorm,
which lifts up its waves.
26 They mount up to the heavens.
They go down again to the depths.
Their soul melts away because of trouble.
27 They reel back and forth
and stagger like a drunken man,
and are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brings them out of their distress.
29 He makes the storm a calm
so that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because it is calm,
so he brings them to their desired haven.
31 Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness,
for his wonderful deeds for the children of men!
32 Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the seat of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
water springs into a thirsty ground,
34 and a fruitful land into a salt waste,
for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He turns a desert into a pool of water
and a dry land into water springs.
36 There he makes the hungry live,
that they may prepare a city to live in,
37 sow fields, plant vineyards,
and reap the fruits of increase.
38 He blesses them also,
so that they are multiplied greatly.
He does not allow their livestock to decrease.
39 Again, they are diminished and bowed down
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
40 He pours contempt on princes,
and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
41 Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction,
and increases their families like a flock.
42 The upright will see it and be glad.
All the wicked will shut their mouths.
43 Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things.
They will consider the loving kindnesses of God.