Friday, May 16, 2014

Psalm 34

Give thanks to Adonai! Call on his name!
Make his deeds known among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him,
talk about all his wonders.
Glory in his holy name;
let those seeking Adonai have joyful hearts.

Seek Adonai and his strength;
always seek his presence.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his signs and his spoken rulings.
You descendants of Avraham his servant,
you offspring of Ya'akov, his chosen ones,
he is Adonai our God!

His rulings are everywhere on earth.
He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded to a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Avraham,
the oath he swore to Yitz'chak,
and established as a law for Ya'akov,
for Isra'el as an everlasting covenant:
"To you I will give the land of Kena'an
as your allotted heritage."
When they were but few in number,
and not only few, but aliens there too,
wandering from nation to nation,
from this kingdom to that people,
he allowed no one to oppress them.

Yes, for their sakes he rebuked even kings:
"Don't touch my anointed ones
or do my prophets harm!"

He called down famine on the land,
broke off all their food supply,
but sent a man ahead of them —
Yosef, who was sold as a slave.
They shackled his feet with chains,
and they bound him in irons;
until the time when his word proved true,
God's utterance kept testing him.
The king sent and had him released,
the ruler of peoples set him free;
he made him lord of his household,
in charge of all he owned,
correcting his officers as he saw fit
and teaching his counselors wisdom.
Then Isra'el too came into Egypt,
Ya'akov lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
There God made his people very fruitful,
made them too numerous for their foes,
whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
and treat his servants unfairly.
He sent his servant Moshe
and Aharon, whom he had chosen.
They worked his signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, and the land grew dark;
they did not defy his word.
He turned their water into blood
and caused their fish to die.
Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the royal chambers.
He spoke, and there came swarms of insects
and lice throughout their land.
He gave them hail instead of rain,
with fiery [lightning] throughout their land.
He struck their vines and fig trees,
shattering trees all over their country.
He spoke, and locusts came,
also grasshoppers without number;
they ate up everything green in their land,
devoured the fruit of their ground.
He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their strength.
Then he led his people out,
laden with silver and gold;
among his tribes not one stumbled.
Egypt was happy to have them leave,
because fear of [Isra'el] had seized them.
He spread out a cloud to screen them off
and fire to give them light at night.
When they asked, he brought them quails
and satisfied them with food from heaven.
He split a rock, and water gushed out,
flowing as a river over the dry ground,
for he remembered his holy promise
to his servant Avraham.
He led out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
Then he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they possessed what peoples had toiled to produce,
in order to obey his laws
and follow his teachings.
HalleluYah!


Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)