THE FIFTH BOOK OF PSALMS

PSALM 107

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good:

His lovingkindness lasts forever!

Let those delivered by Yahweh declare it

Whom he delivered from the enemy’s grasp

Gathering them from all lands

From the east and from the west

From the north and from the south.

Some wandered in waste places, in a desert,

Discovering no way to a city with dwellings.

Without food or water,

Their soul was weakened within them.

Then they yelled to Yahweh in their anguish

And he snatched them out of their suffering.

Leading them on a level road

Towards a city in which they could live.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his lovingkindness,

The wonders he has worked for the offspring of Adam.

For he replenishes the parched throat

And the hungry mouth he fills with good things.

.

Some sat in darkness under the shadow of death,

Prisoners in pain and iron,

Because they went counter to God’s commands

And held in contempt the counsel of the Most High.

So he subdued their hearts with suffering;

They were humbled and nobody helped them up.

Then they yelled to Yahweh in their anguish

And he snatched them out of their suffering.

He took them from darkness and the shadow of death,

Shattering their shackles.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his lovingkindness

The wonders he has worked for the offspring of Adam.

For he has burst the gates of brass

And severed the iron bars.

.

Some were fools in sinful living

And for their crimes they were crushed:

Their souls were sickened by all foods

And they came to the doors of death.

Then they yelled to Yahweh in their anguish

And he snatched them out of their suffering:

He sent his command and cured them

And delivered them from their dungeons.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his lovingkindness

The wonders he has worked for the offspring of Adam.

Let them give offerings of gratitude

And announce his actions with singing.

.

Some went down to the sea in ships

Doing business on the great waters;

They saw the working of Yahweh

And the wonders he did in the deep.

For he spoke and aroused the stormwind

Which whipped up the waves of the sea;

They ascended into the sky, dropped down into the deep.

Their soul melted in this misfortune.

They danced and staggered like drunk men

Evidently at their wits’ end.

Then they yelled to Yahweh in their anguish

And he snatched them out of their suffering:

He made the storm into stillness

And hushed the waves of the sea.

Then they were content with the quiet

As he helped them to their hoped-for harbour.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his lovingkindness

The wonders he has worked for the offspring of Adam.

Let them exalt him in the people’s assembly

And sing his praise in the elders’ place,

Who turns rivers into desert,

Gushing water into dry ground,

Plentiful land into a salt plain,

For the wrongdoing of those who dwell there;

Who turns desert into tarns

And parched ground into pools of water

And there he lets the hungry live

And establish a city of houses.

They sow the fields and set out the vineyards

Which may provide a harvest of fruit.

He blesses them so that they may be fruitful and multiply

And does not let their herds diminish.

But when the people are diminished and brought down

Through harassment, hurt or sorrow,

He pours contempt upon princes

Making them wander in a wasteland with no way,

But the needy he sets high above sorrow

And considers their families as his flock.

When good people see this they are glad

And the mouth of evil is shut.

Let those who are wise and aware of these things

Consider the lovingkindness of Yahweh.