الشعب أنكر جميل ربّه
1 هلِّلويا!
إحمَدُوا الرّبَّ لأنَّه صالِـحٌ،
لأنَّ إلى الأبدِ رَحمَتَهُ.
2 كَيفَ أُحدِّثُ بِـجَبَروتِ الرّبِّ
وأُسمِعُ كُلَّ تَهليلٍ لَه؟
3 هَنيئا لِمَنْ يُراعي العَدلَ
ويعمَلُ بِالصِّدْقِ في كُلِّ حينٍ.
4 أُذكُرني بِرِضاكَ على شعبِكَ،
وافْتَقِدْني يا ربُّ يومَ خلاصِهِم،
5 لأِرى هَناءَ الّذينَ اخْتَرتَهُم،
وأفرَحَ بِفرَحِ أُمَّتِكَ
وأتَهَلَّلَ معَهُم وهُم ميراثُكَ.
6 خَطِئْنا نحنُ وآباؤُنا،
وفَعَلْنا الإثْمَ والشَّرَّ.
7 آباؤُنا في أرضِ مِصْرَ
لم يُدرِكوا عجائِبَكَ،
ولا ذكَروا كثرةَ رَحمتِكَ،
بل تَمَرَّدُوا على الرّبِّ العليِّ،
هُناكَ عِندَ البحرِ الأحمرِ.
8 لكِنَّهُ لأجلِ اسْمِهِ
خلَّصَهُم لِـيُعَرِّفَ بِـجَبَروتِهِ.
9 إنتَهَرَ البحرَ الأحمرَ فَجَفَّ،
فَسَيَّرَهُم في لُجَجٍ كالقَفْرِ،
10 وخَلَّصَهُم مِنْ يَدِ المُبغِضِ
وافتَداهُم مِنْ يدِ العَدُوِّ.
11 غَمَرَتِ المياهُ خُصومَهُم،
فما بقيَ مِنهُم أحدٌ.
12 فآمَنوا بِكلامِ الرّبِّ
وأنشَدوا وهَلَّلوا لهُ.
13 أسرَعوا فنَسَوا أعمالَهُ
ولم ينتَظِروا مَشورَتَهُ.
14 إِشْتَهَوا شهوَةً في البرِّيَّةِ
وجَرَّبُوا اللهَ في القَفْرِ،
15 فمَنَحَهُم ما طَلَبوهُ،
وأَشبَعَهُم حتّى التُّخْمةِ.
16 حسَدوا موسى في مَحلَّتِهِم
وهرونَ قُدُّوسَ الرّبِّ،
17 فانفَتَحَتِ الأرضُ وابتَلَعَت داثانَ
وأطبَقَت على جماعةِ أبِيرامَ،
18 واشتعلت نارٌ في جماعَتِهِم،
فأحرَقَ اللَّهيـبُ الأشرارَ.
19 صنَعوا عِجْلا في حوريـبَ
وسَجَدوا لِتِمثالٍ مَسبوكٍ،
20 فأبدَلوا اللهَ المَجيدَ
بِشَكلِ ثورٍ يأكُلُ العُشْبَ.
21 نسَوا اللهَ مُخَلِّصَهُم
صانعَ العَظائمِ في مِصْرَ،
22 العَجائبِ في أرضِ حامٍ
والأهوالِ عِندَ البحرِ الأحمرِ.
23 فهَمَّ الرّبُّ أنْ يُدَمِّرَهُم
لو لم يقِفْ موسى مُختارُهُ
في سَفْحِ الجبَلِ أمامَهُ
ليرُدَّ غضَبَهُ عَنْ إهلاكِهِم.
24 رفَضوا الأرضَ الشَّهيَّةَ،
ولم يؤمِنُوا بِكلمَتِهِ،
25 بل تذَمَّروا في خيامِهِم
ولم يسمعوا لِصوتِ الرّبِّ.
26 فرَفَعَ يدَهُ مُهَدِّدا
بِأنْ يُسقِطَهُم في البرِّيَّةِ،
27 ويُسقِطَ نَسلَهُم في الأمَمِ
ويُبَدِّدَهُم في البُلدانِ.
28 تعَلَّقوا بِبَعلِ فَغورَ
وأكلوا ذبائحَ الأصنامِ
29 وغاظوا الرّبَّ بِأعمالِهِم،
فانتَشَرَ الوباءُ في ما بَينَهُم.
30 قامَ فِنحاسُ وسيطا لهُم
فكَفَّ الوباءُ عَنِ الفَتْكِ بِهِم.
31 فَحُسِبَ لَه ذلِكَ الفَضْلُ،
جيلا بَعدَ جيلٍ إلى الأبدِ.
32 أغضَبوا الرّبَّ عِندَ ماءِ مَريـبَةَ،
فتأذَّى موسى مِنْ أجلِهِم.
33 فثارت ثائِرَتُهُ علَيهِم،
وهجاهُم بِكلامٍ تجاوز الحدَّ.
34 لم يُدَمِّروا تِلكَ الشُّعوبَ،
كما أمرَ الرّبُّ أن يفعَلُوا،
35 بلِ اخْتَلَطُوا بالأمَمِ،
وتَعَلَّمُوا سُوءَ أعمالِهِم.
36 عبَدوا أصنامَ آلهِتهِم
فصارَت شَركا لهُم،
37 وقَدَّموا بَنيهِم وبَناتِهِم
ذبـيحةً لِتلكَ الشَّياطينِ.
38 ذبَحوهُم لأِصنامِ كنعانَ
وسَفكوا دَمَهُمُ الزَّكيَ
فتَدَنَّستِ الأرضُ بالدِّماءِ.
39 تنَجَّسوا بأعمالِهِم وزَنَوا
بِما ارْتَكبوا مِنْ أفعالٍ،
40 فغَضِبَ الرّبُّ على شعبِهِ،
وكَرِهَهُم وهُم ميراثُهُ.
41 سَلَّمَهُم إلى أيدي الأُمَمِ،
فَتَسَلَّطَ علَيهِم مُبغِضوهُم،
42 ضَيَّقَ علَيهِم أعداؤُهُم،
فخَضَعوا تَحتَ أيديهِم.
43 وكثيرا ما أنقَذَهُم
فاستَمَرُّوا على عِصيانِهِم
وهَلَكوا في ذُنوبِهِم.
44 لكنَّهُ رأى ضِيقَهُم،
عِندَ سَماعِهِ صُراخَهُم.
45 فَذكَرَ عَهدَهُ لهُم
ونَدِمَ لِكثرةِ رَحمتِهِ.
46 أبدى لهُم رأفَتَهُ،
أمامَ الّذينَ سَبَوهُم.
47 خَلِّصْنا يا ربُّ إلهَنا،
واجْمَعْنا مِنْ بَينِ الأُمَمِ
لِنَحمَدَ اسمَكَ القُدُّوسَ
ونُسَبِّحَ ونُهَلِّلَ لكَ.
48 تبارَكَ الرّبُّ إلهُ إِسرائيلَ،
مِنَ الأزَلِ وإلى الأبدِ.
يقولُ كُلُّ الشَّعبِ آمينَ. هَلِّلويا.
A Nation Asks for Forgiveness
1 We will celebrate
and praise you, Lord!
You are good to us,
and your love never fails.
2 No one can praise you enough
for all the mighty things
you have done.
3 You bless those people
who are honest and fair
in everything they do.
4 Remember me, Lord,
when you show kindness
by saving your people.
5 Let me prosper with the rest
of your chosen ones,
as they celebrate with pride
because they belong to you.
6 We and our ancestors
have sinned terribly.
7 When they were in Egypt,
they paid no attention
to your marvelous deeds
or your wonderful love.
And they turned against you
at the Red Sea.
8 But you were true to your name,
and you rescued them to prove
how mighty you are.
9 You said to the Red Sea,
“Dry up!”
Then you led your people across
on land as dry as a desert.
10 You saved all of them
11 and drowned every one
of their enemies.
12 Then your people trusted you
and sang your praises.
13 But they soon forgot
what you had done
and rejected your advice.
14 They became greedy for food
and tested you there
in the desert.
15 So you gave them
what they wanted,
but later you destroyed them
with a horrible disease.
16 Everyone in camp was jealous
of Moses and of Aaron,
your chosen priest.
17 Dathan and Abiram rebelled,
and the earth opened up
and swallowed them.
18 Then fire broke out
and destroyed all
of their followers.
19 At Horeb your people
made and worshiped the statue
20 of a bull, instead of you,
their glorious God.
21 You worked powerful miracles
to save them from Egypt,
but they forgot about you
22 and the fearsome things
you did at the Red Sea.
23 You were angry and started
to destroy them,
but Moses, your chosen leader,
begged you not to do it.
24 They would not trust
you, Lord,
and they did not like
the promised land.
25 They would not obey you,
and they grumbled
in their tents.
26 So you threatened them
by saying, “I'll kill you
out here in the desert!
27 I'll scatter your children
everywhere in the world.”
28 Your people became followers
of a god named Baal Peor,
and they ate sacrifices
offered to the dead.
29 They did such terrible things
that you punished them
with a deadly disease.
30 But Phinehas helped them,
and the sickness stopped.
31 Now he will always
be highly honored.
32 At Meribah Spring
they turned against you
and made you furious.
33 Then Moses got into trouble
for speaking in anger.
34 Our Lord, they disobeyed you
by refusing to destroy
the nations.
35 Instead they were friendly
with those foreigners
and followed their customs.
36 Then they fell into the trap
of worshiping idols.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons
38 and to the gods of Canaan.
Then they poured out the blood
of these innocent children
and made the land filthy.
39 By doing such gruesome things,
they also became filthy.
40 Finally, Lord, you were angry
and terribly disgusted
with your people.
41 So you put them in the power
of nations that hated them.
42 They were mistreated and abused
by their enemies,
43 but you saved them
time after time.
They were determined to rebel,
and their sins caused
their downfall.
44 You answered their prayers
when they were in trouble.
45 You kept your agreement
and were so merciful
46 that their enemies
had pity on them.
47 Save us, Lord God!
Bring us back
from among the nations.
Let us celebrate and shout
in praise of your holy name.
48 Lord God of Israel,
you deserve to be praised
forever and ever.
Let everyone say, “Amen!
Shout praises to the Lord!”