1. O GIVE thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
2. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has delivered from the hand of the adversary,
3. And gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the [Red] Sea in the south.
4. Some wandered in the wilderness in a solitary desert track; they found no city for habitation.
5. Hungry and thirsty, they fainted; their lives were near to being extinguished.
6. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.
7. He led them forth by the straight and right way, that they might go to a city where they could establish their homes.
8. Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men!
9. For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good.
10. Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and in irons, [Luke 1:79.]
11. Because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12. Therefore He bowed down their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled and fell down, and there was none 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 apart the bonds that held them. [Ps. 68:6; Acts 12:7; 16:26.]
15. Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men!
16. For He has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron apart.
17. Some are fools [made ill] because of the way of their transgressions and are afflicted because of their iniquities.
18. They loathe every kind of food, and they draw near to the gates of death.
19. Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivers them out of their distresses.
20. He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction. [II Kings 20:4, 5; Matt. 8:8.]
21. Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men! [Heb. 13:15.]
22. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and rehearse His deeds with shouts of joy and singing!
23. Some go down to the sea and travel over it in ships to do business in great waters;
24. These see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.
25. For He commands and raises up the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea.
26. [Those aboard] mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the deeps; their courage melts away because of their plight.
27. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits' end [all their wisdom has come to nothing].
28. Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses.
29. He hushes the storm to a calm and to a gentle whisper, so that the waves of the sea are still. [Ps. 89:9; Matt. 8:26.]
30. Then the men are glad because of the calm, and He brings them to their desired haven.
31. Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and 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 company of the elders.
33. He turns rivers into a wilderness, water springs into a thirsty ground, [I Kings 17:1, 7.]
34. A fruitful land into a barren, salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it. [Gen. 13:10; 14:3; 19:25.]
35. He turns a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry ground into water springs; [Isa. 41:18.]
36. And there He makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation,
37. And sow fields, and plant vineyards which yield fruits of increase.
38. He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly, and allows not their cattle to decrease.
39. When they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40. He pours contempt upon princes and causes them to wander in waste places where there is no road.
41. Yet He raises the poor and needy from affliction and makes their families like a flock.
42. The upright shall see it and be glad, but all iniquity shall shut its mouth.
43. Whoso is wise [if there be any truly wise] will observe and heed these things; and they will diligently consider the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord.