3. Join with me in praisingthe wonderful nameof the Lord our God.
4. The Lord is a mighty rock,and he never does wrong.God can always be trustedto bring justice.
5. But you lie and cheatand are unfaithful to him.You have disgraced yourselvesand are no longer worthyto be his children.
6. Israel, the Lord is your Father,the one who created you,but you repaid himby being foolish.
7. Think about past generations.Ask your parentsor any of your elders.They will tell you
8. that God Most Highgave land to every nation.He assigned a guardian angelto each of them,
9. but the Lord himselftakes care of Israel.
10. Israel, the Lord discovered youin a barren desertfilled with howling winds.God became your fortress,protecting you as thoughyou were his own eyes.
11. The Lord was like an eagleteaching its young to fly,always ready to swoop downand catch them on its back.
12. Israel, the Lord led you,and without the aidof a foreign god,
13. he helped youcapture the land.Your fields were richwith grain.Olive trees grewin your stony soil,and honey was foundamong the rocks.
14. Your flocks and herdsproduced milk and yoghurt,and you got choice meatfrom your sheep and goatsthat grazed in Bashan.Your wheat was the finest,and you drank the best wine.
15. Israel, you grew fat and rebelledagainst God, your Creator;you rejected the Mighty Rock,your only place of safety.
16. You made God jealous and angryby worshipping disgusting idolsand foreign gods.
17. You offered sacrificesto demons, those useless godsthat never helped you,new gods that your ancestorsnever worshipped.
18. You turned awayfrom God, your Creator;you forgot the Mighty Rock,the source of your life.
19. You were the Lord's children,but you made him angry.Then he rejected you