28-31 Then they linked up with Baal Peor,attending funeral banquets and eating idol food.That made God so angrythat a plague spread through their ranks;Phinehas stood up and pled their caseand the plague was stopped.This was counted to his credit;his descendants will never forget it.
32-33 They angered God again at Meribah Springs;this time Moses got mixed up in their evil;Because they defied God yet again,Moses exploded and lost his temper.
34-39 They didn’t wipe out those godless culturesas ordered by God;Instead they intermarried with the heathen,and in time became just like them.They worshiped their idols,were caught in the trap of idols.They sacrificed their sons and daughtersat the altars of demon gods.They slit the throats of their babies,murdered their infant girls and boys.They offered their babies to Canaan’s gods;the blood of their babies stained the land.Their way of life stank to high heaven;they lived like whores.
40-43 And God was furious—a wildfire anger;he couldn’t stand even to look at his people.He turned them over to the heathenso that the people who hated them ruled them.Their enemies made life hard for them;they were tyrannized under that rule.Over and over God rescued them, but they never learned—until finally their sins destroyed them.
44-46 Still, when God saw the trouble they were inand heard their cries for help,He remembered his Covenant with them,and, immense with love, took them by the hand.He poured out his mercy on themwhile their captors looked on, amazed.
47 Save us, God, our God!Gather us back out of exileSo we can give thanks to your holy nameand join in the glory when you are praised!
48 Blessed be God, Israel’s God!Bless now, bless always!Oh! Let everyone say Amen!Hallelujah!