The LORD's Wonders in Behalf of Israel

1051 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. 2 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. 3 Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord . 4 Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. 5 Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given, 6 you children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7 He is the Lord our God. His justice is seen throughout the land.

8 He always stands by his covenant- the commitment he made to a thousand generations. 9 This is the covenant he made with Abraham and the oath he swore to Isaac. 10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant: 11 "I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession." 12 He said this when they were few in number, a tiny group of strangers in Canaan. 13 They wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. 14 Yet he did not let anyone oppress them. He warned kings on their behalf: 15 "Do not touch my chosen people, and do not hurt my prophets." 16 He called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supply. 17 Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them- Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 18 They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. 19 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph's character. 20 Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free; the ruler of the nation opened his prison door. 21 Joseph was put in charge of all the king's household; he became ruler over all the king's possessions. 22 He could instruct the king's aides as he pleased and teach the king's advisers. 23 Then Israel arrived in Egypt; Jacob lived as a foreigner in the land of Ham. 24 And the Lord multiplied the people of Israel until they became too mighty for their enemies.

25 Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites, and they plotted against the Lord 's servants. 26 But the Lord sent his servant Moses, along with Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians, and wonders in the land of Ham. 28 The Lord blanketed Egypt in darkness, for they had defied his commands to let his people go. 29 He turned their water into blood, poisoning all the fish. 30 Then frogs overran the land and even invaded the king's bedrooms. 31 When the Lord spoke, flies descended on the Egyptians, and gnats swarmed across Egypt. 32 He sent them hail instead of rain, and lightning flashed over the land. 33 He ruined their grapevines and fig trees and shattered all the trees. 34 He spoke, and hordes of locusts came- young locusts beyond number. 35 They ate up everything green in the land, destroying all the crops in their fields. 36 Then he killed the oldest son in each Egyptian home, the pride and joy of each family. 37 The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold; and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled. 38 Egypt was glad when they were gone, for they feared them greatly. 39 The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering and gave them a great fire to light the darkness. 40 They asked for meat, and he sent them quail; he satisfied their hunger with manna-bread from heaven. 41 He split open a rock, and water gushed out to form a river through the dry wasteland. 42 For he remembered his sacred promise to his servant Abraham. 43 So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy, his chosen ones with rejoicing. 44 He gave his people the lands of pagan nations, and they harvested crops that others had planted. 45 All this happened so they would follow his decrees and obey his instructions. Praise the Lord !

The Rebelliousness of Israel

1061 Praise the Lord ! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord ? Who can ever praise him enough? 3 There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right. 4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people; come near and rescue me. 5 Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me praise you with those who are your heritage.

6 Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly! 7 Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord 's miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea. 8 Even so, he saved them- to defend the honor of his name and to demonstrate his mighty power. 9 He commanded the Red Sea to dry up. He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert. 10 So he rescued them from their enemies and redeemed them from their foes. 11 Then the water returned and covered their enemies; not one of them survived. 12 Then his people believed his promises. Then they sang his praise.

13 Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done! They wouldn't wait for his counsel! 14 In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God's patience in that dry wasteland. 15 So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it. 16 The people in the camp were jealous of Moses and envious of Aaron, the Lord 's holy priest. 17 Because of this, the earth opened up; it swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and the other rebels. 18 Fire fell upon their followers; a flame consumed the wicked. 19 The people made a calf at Mount Sinai ; they bowed before an image made of gold. 20 They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull. 21 They forgot God, their savior, who had done such great things in Egypt- 22 such wonderful things in the land of Ham, such awesome deeds at the Red Sea. 23 So he declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the Lord and the people. He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them. 24 The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn't believe his promise to care for them. 25 Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord . 26 Therefore, he solemnly swore that he would kill them in the wilderness, 27 that he would scatter their descendants among the nations, exiling them to distant lands. 28 Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor; they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead! 29 They angered the Lord with all these things, so a plague broke out among them. 30 But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped. 31 So he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time. 32 At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord, causing Moses serious trouble. 33 They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

34 Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them. 35 Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs. 36 They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall. 37 They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons. 38 They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder. 39 They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord 's sight. 40 That is why the Lord 's anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession. 41 He handed them over to pagan nations, and they were ruled by those who hated them. 42 Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their cruel power. 43 Again and again he rescued them, but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin. 44 Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries. 45 He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love. 46 He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness. 47 Save us, O Lord our God! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you. 48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the Lord !

Laborers Together with God

31 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn't talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren't ready for anything stronger. And you still aren't ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn't that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren't you living like people of the world? 4 When one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," and another says, "I follow Apollos," aren't you acting just like people of the world?

5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God's servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field. You are God's building. 10 Because of God's grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.

11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have-Jesus Christ. 12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials-gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

16 Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world's standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, "He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness." 20 And again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless."

21 So don't boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you- 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.