1 | Alleluia. Confess to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is with every generation. |
2 | Let those who have been redeemed by the Lord say so: those whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered from the regions, |
3 | from the rising of the sun and its setting, from the north and from the sea. |
4 | They wandered into solitude in a waterless place. They did not find the way of the city to be their dwelling place. |
5 | They were hungry, and they were thirsty. Their soul fainted within them. |
6 | And they cried out to the Lord in tribulation, and he rescued them in their necessity. |
7 | And he led them in the right way, so that they might go forth to a city of habitation. |
8 | Let his mercies confess to the Lord, and let his miracles confess to the sons of men. |
9 | For he has satisfied the empty soul, and he has satisfied the hungry soul with good things: |
10 | those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, shackled by extreme poverty and by iron. |
11 | For they exasperated the eloquence of God, and they irritated the deliberation of the Most High. |
12 | And their heart was brought low with hardships. They were weakened, and there was no one to help them. |
13 | And they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation, and he freed them from their distress. |
14 | And he led them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and he broke apart their chains. |
15 | Let his mercies confess to the Lord, and let his miracles confess to the sons of men. |
16 | For he has crushed the gates of brass and broken the iron bars. |
17 | He has taken them up, from the way of their iniquity. For they were brought low, because of their injustices. |
18 | Their soul abhorred all food, and they drew near even to the gates of death. |
19 | And they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation, and he delivered them in their necessity. |
20 | He sent his word, and he healed them, and he rescued them from their utter destruction. |
21 | Let his mercies confess to the Lord, and let his miracles confess to the sons of men. |
22 | And let them offer sacrifice with the sacrifice of praise, and let them announce his works in exultation. |
23 | Those who descend to the sea in ships, making their livelihood in the great waters: |
24 | these have seen the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. |
25 | He spoke: and a windstorm stood up, and its waves were exalted. |
26 | They ascend even to the heavens, and they descend even to the abyss. Their soul will waste away in distress. |
27 | They were troubled, and they moved like a drunkard, and all their wisdom was consumed. |
28 | And they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation, and he led them out of their distress. |
29 | And he replaced the storm with a breeze, and its waves were stilled. |
30 | And they were joyful that it was stilled, and he led them into the haven that they desired. |
31 | Let his mercies confess to the Lord, and let his miracles confess to the sons of men. |
32 | And let them exalt him in the Church of the people, and praise him in the chair of the elders. |
33 | He has placed rivers in the desert and sources of water in dry places, |
34 | a fruit-bearing land in the midst of brine, before the malice of those who dwell in it. |
35 | He has placed a desert in the midst of pools of waters, and a land without water in the midst of sources of water. |
36 | And he has gathered the hungry together there, and they constructed a city of habitation. |
37 | And they sowed fields and planted vineyards, and they produced the fruit of nativity. |
38 | And he blessed them, and they were multiplied exceedingly. And he did not diminish their beasts of burden. |
39 | And they became few, and they were afflicted by the tribulation of evils and of sorrow. |
40 | Contempt was poured over their leaders, and he caused them to wander in an impassable place, and not on the way. |
41 | And he helped the poor out of destitution, and he stationed families like sheep. |
42 | The upright will see, and they will rejoice. And every iniquity will block its mouth. |
43 | Who is wise and will keep these things? And who will understand the mercies of the Lord? |