Psaume 107

Let the rescued give thanks

¹Give the LORD thanks, for he is good; his loyal love lasts forever. ²Let those whom the LORD has bought back say it, those he freed from the grip of the enemy, ³and brought them in from other lands, from the east and the west, the north and the south.^{a 4}Some strayed through the wilderness, along a barren track, and found no town to live in. ⁵Starving and parched, they felt their life draining out of them. ⁶In their distress they called out to the LORD, and he rescued them from their troubles. ⁷He guided them on a level road until they came to a town to live in. ⁸Let them give the LORD thanks for his loyal love and for the wonders he works for humankind. ⁹For he gives drink to those who are parched and fills the starving with good food. ¹⁰Some lived in darkness, in the blackest gloom, held fast in misery and iron, ¹¹because they had defied what God said and scorned the purpose of the Most High. ¹²So he broke their pride with hard labor; they fell, and no one came to help. ¹³In their distress they called out to the LORD, and he saved them from their troubles. ¹⁴He led them out of the darkness and the blackest gloom and snapped the chains that held them. ¹⁵Let them give the LORD thanks for his loyal love and for the wonders he works for humankind. ¹⁶For he smashes doors of bronze and hacks through bars of iron. ¹⁷Some were fools, and their rebellious ways and their wrongdoing brought suffering on them. ¹⁸They could not stand the sight of food, and came close to the gates of death. ¹⁹In their distress they called out to the LORD, and he saved them from their troubles. ²⁰He sent his word and made them well; he pulled them out of the pit of death. ²¹Let them give the LORD thanks for his loyal love and for the wonders he works for humankind. ²²Let them bring offerings of thanks and with glad shouts recount what he has done. ²³Some sailed out to sea in ships, trading over the vast waters, ²⁴they saw for themselves what the LORD does, his marvels out on the deep. ²⁵At his word a gale sprang up and drove the waves of the sea high. ²⁶Up they were tossed to the sky, and down into the depths; in such danger their nerve gave way. ²⁷They lurched and swayed like someone drunk, and all their skill at sea came to nothing. ²⁸In their distress they called out to the LORD, and he brought them out from their troubles. ²⁹He turned the gale into a gentle breath, and the waves around them fell silent. ³⁰How glad they were when all grew still! And he brought them to the harbor they longed for. ³¹Let them give the LORD thanks for his loyal love and for the wonders he works for humankind. ³²Let them lift him high where the people gather and praise him where the elders sit in council. ³³He can dry up rivers until they are desert and turn springs of water into parched land, ³⁴and rich farmland into a salt flat, for the evil done by those who live there. ³⁵He makes the desert a pool of water and dry country into bubbling springs. ³⁶There he settles the hungry, and they build a town to live in. ³⁷They seed the fields and plant vines, and gather a rich harvest. ³⁸He blesses them, and their numbers grow and grow; he does not let their herds dwindle. ³⁹Then they dwindle and are brought down by cruel rule, disaster and grief. ⁴⁰He heaps scorn on the powerful and leaves them lost in a wasteland without a road. ⁴¹But he raises the needy from their misery and makes their families grow like flocks of sheep. ⁴²Those who live upright lives look on with joy, and all wickedness has nothing more to say. ⁴³Whoever is wise should mark these things and ponder the loyal love the LORD has shown again and again.