Psalms 106

1 Hallelujah. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.

Praise Yahweh! Praise Yahweh, because he does good things [for us]; he faithfully loves [us] forever/continually!

2 Who can express the mighty acts of the LORD, or make all His praise to be heard?

[Because Yahweh has done many great things], no one can [RHQ] tell all the great things that Yahweh has done, and no one can praise him enough/sufficiently.

3 Happy are they that keep justice, that do righteousness at all times.

(Happy are/He is pleased with) those who act fairly/justly, with those who always do what is right.

4 Remember me, O LORD, when Thou favourest Thy people; O think of me at Thy salvation;

Yahweh, be kind to me when you help your people; help me when you rescue/save them.

5 That I may behold the prosperity of Thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation, that I may glory with Thine inheritance.

Allow me to see it when your people become prosperous again and when [all the people of] your nation, [Israel], are happy; allow me to be happy with them! I want to praise you along with [all] those [others] who belong to you.

6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have done iniquitously, we have dealt wickedly.

We and our ancestors have sinned; we have done things that were very wicked [DOU].

7 Our fathers in Egypt gave no heed unto Thy wonders; they remembered not the multitude of Thy mercies; but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

When our ancestors were in Egypt, they did not pay attention to the wonderful things that Yahweh did; they forgot about the many times that he showed that he faithfully loved them. Instead, when they were at the Red Sea, they rebelled against God, who is greater than any other god.

8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known.

But he rescued them for the sake of his own [reputation] in order that he could show that he is very powerful.

9 And He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up; and He led them through the depths, as through a wilderness.

He rebuked the Red Sea and it became dry, and [then] while he led our ancestors across it, they walked through it as though it were as dry as a desert [SIM].

10 And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

In that way he rescued them from the power [MTY] of their enemies who hated them [DOU].

11 And the waters covered their adversaries; there was not one of them left.

[Then] their enemies were drowned in the water [of the Red Sea]; not one of them was left.

12 Then believed they His words; they sang His praise.

When that happened, our ancestors believed [that Yahweh had truly done for them] what he had promised to do, and they sang to praise him.

13 They soon forgot His works; they waited not for His counsel;

But they soon forgot what he had done for them; they [did things] without waiting to find out what Yahweh wanted them to do.

14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tried God in the desert.

They intensely wanted [food like they formerly ate in Egypt]. They [did evil things to] find out [if they could do those things without God punishing them].

15 And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

[So] he gave them what they requested, but he [also] caused a terrible disease to afflict them.

16 They were jealous also of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron the holy one of the LORD.

[Later] when [some of] the men became jealous of Moses and [his older brother] Aaron, who was dedicated [to serve Yahweh by being a priest],

17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.

the ground opened up and swallowed Dathan and [also] buried Abiram and his family.

18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

And [God sent] a fire down [from heaven] which burned up [all] the wicked [people who (supported them/agreed with) them].

19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped a molten image.

Then the [Israeli leaders] made a gold statue at Sinai [Mountain] and worshiped it.

20 Thus they exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox that eateth grass.

Instead of worshiping [our] glorious God, they [started to] worship a statue of a bull that eats grass!

21 They forgot God their saviour, who had done great things in Egypt;

They forgot about God, who had rescued them by the great miracles that he performed in Egypt.

22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, terrible things by the Red Sea.

They forgot about the wonderful things that he did for them in Egypt and the amazing/awesome things that he did for them at the Red Sea.

23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn back His wrath, lest He should destroy them.

Because of that, God said that he would get rid of the Israelis, but Moses, whom God had chosen [to serve him], pleaded with God [not to get rid of them]. And as a result God did not destroy them.

24 Moreover, they scorned the desirable land, they believed not His word;

[Later], our ancestors (refused/were afraid) to enter beautiful [Canaan] land because they did not believe [that God would enable them to take the land from the people who were living there, as] he had promised.

25 And they murmured in their tents, they hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.

They stayed in their tents and grumbled and would not pay attention to what Yahweh said that they should do.

26 Therefore He swore concerning them, that He would overthrow them in the wilderness;

So he solemnly [MTY] told them that he would cause them to die [there] in the desert,

27 And that He would cast out their seed among the nations, and scatter them in the lands.

and that he would scatter their descendants among the [people of other] nations/people-groups [who did not believe in him], and that he would allow them to die in those lands.

28 They joined themselves also unto Baal of Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

Later the Israeli people [started to] worship [the idol of] Baal [who they thought lived] at Peor [Mountain], and they ate [meat that had been] sacrificed to [Baal and those other] lifeless gods.

29 Thus they provoked Him with their doings, and the plague broke in upon them.

Yahweh became [very] angry because of what they had done, [so again] he sent a terrible disease to attack/strike them.

30 Then stood up Phinehas, and wrought judgment, and so the plague was stayed.

But Phinehas stood up and punished/killed [the ones who had sinned greatly], and as a result the (plague/serious disease) ended.

31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness, unto all generations for ever.

People have remembered that righteous thing that Phinehas did, and in future years people will remember it.

32 They angered Him also at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses because of them;

[Then] at Meribah Springs our ancestors caused Yahweh to become angry, and as a result Moses had trouble.

33 For they embittered his spirit, and he spoke rashly with his lips.

They caused Moses to become very angry [IDM], and he said things that were foolish.

34 They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them;

Our ancestors did not destroy the people [who did not believe in Yahweh] like he told them to do.

35 But mingled themselves with the nations, and learned their works;

Instead, they mingled with people from those people-groups, and they started to do the evil things that those people did.

36 And they served their idols, which became a snare unto them;

Our ancestors worshiped the idols of those people, which resulted in their being destroyed/exiled/taken to another country [MET].

37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,

[Some of] the Israelis sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons [that those idols represented].

38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.

They killed [MTY] their own children, who (were innocent/had not done things that were wrong), and offered them as sacrifices to the idols in Canaan. [As a result], Canaan land was polluted by those murders [MTY].

39 Thus were they defiled with their works, and went astray in their doings.

So by their deeds they caused themselves to become unacceptable to God; [because they did not faithfully worship only God], [they became like] women who sleep with other men [instead of sleeping only with their husbands] [MET].

40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against His people, and He abhorred His inheritance.

So Yahweh became very angry with his people; he was completely disgusted with them.

41 And He gave them into the hand of the nations; and they that hated them ruled over them.

[As a result] he allowed people-groups [who did not believe in him] to conquer them, so those who hated our ancestors started to rule over them.

42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were subdued under their hand.

Their enemies (oppressed them/treated them cruelly) and completely controlled them [MET].

43 Many times did He deliver them; but they were rebellious in their counsel, and sank low through their iniquity.

Many times Yahweh rescued them, but they continued to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed because of the sins that they committed.

44 Nevertheless He looked upon their distress, when He heard their cry;

However, Yahweh [always] heard them when they cried out to him; he listened to them when they were distressed.

45 And He remembered for them His covenant, and repented according to the multitude of His mercies.

For their sake, he thought about the agreement/promise that he had made [to bless] them, and because he never stopped loving them very much, he changed his mind [about punishing them more].

46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captive.

He caused all those who had taken the Israelis [to Babylonia] to (feel sorry for/pity) them.

47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks unto Thy holy name, that we may triumph in Thy praise.

Yahweh our God, rescue/save us and bring us back [to Israel] from among those people-groups in order that we may thank you [MTY] and joyfully praise you.

48 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting, and let all the people say: 'Amen.' Hallelujah.

Praise Yahweh, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], praise him now and forever! And I want everyone to say, “Amen/May it be so!” Praise Yahweh!