A thanksgiving to God for his benefits to his people Israel.

¹ Alleluia. Confess to the Lord, and invoke his name. Announce his works among the nations.

² Sing to him, and sing psalms to him. Describe all his wonders.

³ Be praised in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

⁴ Seek the Lord, and be confirmed. Seek his face always.

⁵ Remember his miracles, which he has done, his portents and the judgments of his mouth:

⁶ you offspring of Abraham his servant, you sons of Jacob his elect.

⁷ He is the Lord our God. His judgments are throughout the entire earth.

⁸ He has remembered his covenant for all ages: the word that he entrusted to a thousand generations,

⁹ which he assigned to Abraham, and his oath to Isaac.

¹⁰ And he stationed the same for Jacob with a precept, and for Israel with an eternal testament,

¹¹ saying: To you, I will give the land of Canaan, the allotment of your inheritance.¹

1. 104:11Literally, ‘the line of your inheritance.’ A line or string was used to cast a certain type of lot.(Conte)

¹² Though they may have been but a small number, very few and foreigners there,

¹³ and though they passed from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people,

¹⁴ he allowed no man to harm them, and he reproved kings on their behalf.

¹⁵ Do not be willing to touch my Christ, and do not be willing to malign my prophets.

¹⁶ And he called a famine upon the land, and he crushed every foundation of the bread.

¹⁷ He sent a man before them: Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.

¹⁸ They humbled his feet in shackles; the iron pierced his soul,

¹⁹ until his word arrived. The eloquence of the Lord inflamed him.

²⁰ The king sent and released him; he was the ruler of the people, and he dismissed him.

²¹ He established him as master of his house and ruler of all his possessions,

²² so that he might instruct his princes as himself, and teach his elders prudence.

²³ And Israel entered into Egypt, and Jacob became a sojourner in the land of Ham.

²⁴ And he helped his people greatly, and he strengthened them over their enemies.

²⁵ He turned their heart to hate his people, and to deal deceitfully with his servants.¹

1. 104:25He turned their heart, etc: Not that God (who is never the author of sin) moved the Egyptians to hate and persecute his people; but that the Egyptians took occasion of hating and envying them, from the sight of the benefits which God bestowed upon them.(Challoner)

²⁶ He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, the one whom he chose.

²⁷ He placed with them signs of his word, and portents in the land of Ham.

²⁸ He sent darkness and made it conceal, and he did not afflict them with his speech.¹²

1. 104:28They would not listen to God’s word, so He in turn did not aggravate them by continuing to speak to them. Instead, he gave them signs in the form of afflictions.(Conte)
2. 104:28Grieved not his words: That is, he was not wanting to fulfil his words: or he did not grieve Moses and Aaron, the carriers of his words: or he did not grieve his words, that is, his sons, the children of Israel, who enjoyed light whilst the Egyptians were oppressed with darkness.(Challoner)

²⁹ He turned their waters into blood, and he slaughtered their fish.

³⁰ Their land brought forth frogs, even in the inner chambers of their kings.

³¹ He spoke, and there came forth common flies and gnats, in every region.¹

1. 104:31Sciniphs: See the annotation, Ex.8.16.(Challoner)

³² He gave them a shower of hail and a burning fire, in the same land.

³³ And he struck their vineyards and their fig trees, and he crushed the trees of their region.

³⁴ He spoke, and the locust came forth, and the caterpillar, of which there was no number.¹

1. 104:34Bruchus: An insect of the locust kind.(Challoner)

³⁵ And it devoured all the grass in their land, and it consumed all the fruit of their land.

³⁶ And he struck all the first-born in their land, the first-fruits of all their labor.

³⁷ And he led them out with silver and gold, and there was not an infirm one among their tribes.

³⁸ Egypt was joyful at their departure, for the fear of them lay heavy upon them.

³⁹ He spread a cloud for their protection, and a fire, to give them light through the night.

⁴⁰ They petitioned, and the quail came; and he satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

⁴¹ He ruptured the rock and the waters flowed: rivers gushed in the dry land.

⁴² For he had called to mind his holy word, which he kept near to his servant Abraham.

⁴³ And he led forth his people in exultation, and his elect in rejoicing.

⁴⁴ And he gave them the regions of the Gentiles, and they possessed the labors of the peoples,

⁴⁵ so that they might observe his justifications, and inquire about his law.¹

1. 104:45His justifications: That is, his commandments; which here, and in many other places of the scripture, are called justifications, because the keeping of them makes man just. The Protestants render it by the word statutes, in favour of their doctrine, which does not allow good works to justify.(Challoner)