5. He made it a law for Israelwhen he attacked Egypt to set us free.I heard an unknown voice say,
6. “Now I will take the load from your shoulders;I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
7. You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;I answered out of the thundercloudand tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.Interlude
8. “Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
9. You must never have a foreign god;you must not bow down before a false god.
10. For it was I, the lord your God,who rescued you from the land of Egypt.Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
11. “But no, my people wouldn’t listen.Israel did not want me around.
12. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,living according to their own ideas.