Sing for joy to God
1
Sing songs to praise God, who enables us to be strong when we fight our enemies; shout joyfully to God, whom we descendants of Jacob worship!
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Start playing the music, and beat the tambourines; play nice music on the harps and lyres.
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Blow the trumpets during the festival to celebrate each new moon, each time the moon is full, and during our other festivals.
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Do that because that is a decree for us Israelite people; it is a command that God made for the descendants of Jacob.
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He made it a law at the time when God led the descendants of Joseph out of the land of Egypt. I heard a voice I did not recognize, and it said:
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“After the rulers of Egypt forced you Israelites to work as slaves, I took those heavy burdens off your backs, and I enabled you to lay down those heavy baskets of bricks that you were carrying.
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When you were greatly distressed, you called out to me, and I rescued you; I answered you out of a thundercloud. Later I tested whether you would trust me to give you water when you were in the desert at Meribah.
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You who are my people, listen while I warn you! I wish that you Israelite people would pay attention to what I say to you!
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You must not have any idols of other gods among you; you must never bow to worship any of them!
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I am Yahweh, your God; It was not any of those gods who brought you out of Egypt; I am the one who did it! So request what you want me to do for you, and I will do it.
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But my people would not listen to me; they would not obey me.
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So because they were very stubborn, I allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do.
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I wish that my people would listen to me, that the Israelite people would behave as I want them to do.
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If they did that, I would quickly defeat their enemies; I would strike dead those who are oppressing them.
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Then all those who hate me would cringe before me, and then I would punish them forever.
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But I would give you Israelites very good wheat, and I would fill your stomachs with wild honey.”
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