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Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wonderful works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.
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Yet he saved them for his name's sake, so that he might make known his mighty power.
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He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry; he led them through the deep as through a desert.
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So he saved them from the hand of the foe, and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.
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The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.
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Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.
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But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.
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But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert;
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he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.
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They were jealous of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
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The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the faction of Abiram.
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Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
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They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a cast image.
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They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.
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They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
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wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
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Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
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Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise.
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They grumbled in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
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Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
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and would disperse their descendants among the nations, scattering them over the lands.
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Then they attached themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
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they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
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Then Phinehas stood up and interceded, and the plague was stopped.
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And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever.
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They angered the Lord at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account;
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for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke words that were rash.
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They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them,
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but they mingled with the nations and learned to do as they did.
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They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
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They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons;
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they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.
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Thus they became unclean by their acts, and prostituted themselves in their doings.
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Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage;
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he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them.
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Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their power.
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Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes, and were brought low through their iniquity.
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Nevertheless he regarded their distress when he heard their cry.
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For their sake he remembered his covenant, and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
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He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.
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Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.