18
A fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked.
19
They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image.
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Thus they changed their glory Into 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, Awesome things by the Red Sea.
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Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
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Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word,
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But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the Lord.
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Therefore He raised up His hand in an oath against them, To overthrow them in the wilderness,
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To overthrow their descendants among the nations, And to scatter them in the lands.
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They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, And ate sacrifices made to the dead.
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Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them.
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Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, And the plague was stopped.
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And that was accounted to him for righteousness To all generations forevermore.
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They angered Him also at the waters of strife, So that it went ill with Moses on account of them;
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Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
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They did not destroy the peoples, Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them,
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But they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works;
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They served their idols, Which became a snare to them.
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They even sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons,
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And shed 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 were defiled by their own works, And played the harlot by their own deeds.
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Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people, So that He abhorred His own inheritance.
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And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, And those who hated them ruled over them.
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Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
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Many times He delivered them; But they rebelled in their counsel, And were brought low for their iniquity.
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Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, When He heard their cry;
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And for their sake He remembered His covenant, And relented according to the multitude of His mercies.
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He also made them to be pitied By all those who carried them away captive.
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Save us, O Lord our God, And gather us from among the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise.
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Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the Lord!