Learning Snowboarding...

Had a hard fall on the back of my head again (1st time was when I was skiing) and so planned to read up more on this sport. A great link which I found online.

The Simplicity of the Good News

The Gospel is also the Good News. Why this news is GOOD when all the other news in this world is always bad? The saying is always, ‘No News is Good News’.

To answer this question, we can only look to the bible:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ~1 Corinthians 15:3-9~

Dear friends, this is the Good News, this is the Gospel.

It is this simple.

We being created in God’s image has sinned and fallen away from Him. He desires us now to be reconciled back to him and therefore, he sent his Son to point us back to Him, to endure the most violent execution in history in order to purify us of our sins and to intercede at the right hand of God for us today.

God resurrected Christ to give His approval for the work of the Cross so today Christians can boldly declare that the grave is empty and because He lives, they can face tomorrow. They are crucified with Christ and living for Him everyday…

The Gospel is easy to understand but difficult to live it out. As a child of God, I still need to work my spiritual life out with fear and trembling. Please pray for me in my spiritual journey with Christ. Thanks.

A Birthday Card ...

A Motorbike...

A 'PTO' which is important...

Greetings and Concerns from my Singapore church family...

Thanks... (",)

April 5 Happenings in UT

Cards & Gifts from my church family...

Card from my family all the way back in Singapore...

Birthday or not birthday, the day ends as usual with the sun on the WEST.

Just one more day in Utah and one more day closer to seeing my LORD!

What's Good About A Recession?

A message which I heard today during Saturday evening service at South Mountain Community Church. Personally, I learnt something from the four ground rules when I questioned God on why must certain things happened in my life. Enjoy the sermon notes. =)

By Pastor Paul Robile – April 04 – 05, 2009

Ground Rules for discussing “why?” to anything in our lives.

1. God is SOVEREIGN over all things = He either causes or allows all things = Everything has a PURPOSE. [Proverbs 19:21 & Psalms 33:10 & Isaiah 46:10]

2. All of God’s purposes are GOOD. [Luke 18:19]

3. God has the RIGHT to do whatever He deems best. [Job 38:1-2; 40:1-5]

4. We can’t know ALL the reasons why God does what He does.

Four Good Reasons For a Recession

Reason #1: It exposes HIDDEN sin. [Job 1:1; 42:5-6]

When God shakes us it can expose our sin of SELF-RELIANCE. [1 Corinthians 1:8-9]

When God shakes us it can reveal the sin of COVETOUSNESS. [1 Timothy 6:10]

“Covetousness” = When we locate our joy in our GOODS rather than God’s GRACE. [2 Corinthians 8:1-2]

“Covetousness” = When we place our TRUST in our money rather than God’s mercy. [Acts 4:34]

When God shakes the economy it serves to reveal the DECEIT and GREED that was formerly hidden.

Reason #2: It helps to WAKE US UP to the plight of the developing world. [Hebrews 13:3]

Reason #3: It helps us not live RANDOM lives. [2 Thessalonians 1:11]

Reason #4: It helps us to face our FEARS. [1 Peter 3:14]

Note: God advances His work again and again when it looks the least possible.

Final Thoughts
God has given me all that’s NECESSARY in order for me to accomplish all that He has for me to do.

Are you a Sheep or a Goat?

Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
The Sheep and the Goats

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

This passage which is taken from the bible is a parable given by Jesus who is the Son of Man ["In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. ~Daniel 7:13-14] and also the Son of God ["All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ~Matthew 11:27]

Jesus is the Shepherd who will leave His ninety-nine sheep in the open country and go after the one lost sheep who went astray. [Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. ~Luke 15:3-7]

The key question which I will like to ask you who are reading this blog entry now: Are you that one lost sheep which He is searching for?

Jesus is searching for you, my friend.

Nobody in this world is a goat who is to be put on His left. [The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. ~2 Peter 3:9]

Remember that all of us are sinners in His Sight. [for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ~Romans 3:23] All of us are GOATS in the beginning. We DESERVED to be put on His left. YES, ALL OF US!

However, my friend, that is not the case today since that day when Jesus Christ came and died on the cross for ALL OF US. He did not merely die to redeem the Christians. He died to redeem ALL OF US. He is the Shepherd while we are His sheep.

And hence, Paul continued on to write verses 24 to 26 after he penned down Romans 3:23. [and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. ~Romans 3:24-26]

Grace through faith is the key thing to be a sheep for Jesus. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense [G.R.A.C.E] is given freely through the blood of the unblemished Lamb of God who is Jesus Christ Himself. Do you know the Blood Bank motto – “Give Blood, Give Life”? Jesus Christ gave His Blood to bring us to live the Eternal Life which God has prepared for all of us.

To call one a Christian is to declare – Christ, I Am Nothing [C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N]. We are now related to Christ Jesus as sheep are related to the Shepherd. As Jesus calls God His Father, we are also adopted as sons of God [he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will ~ Ephesians 1:5]

This is the reason Christians call each other Brothers and Sisters because all of them belong to the same family of God. When you are a Christian, you are connected to the Universal church of believers. This simply means that wherever you go, you have a family somewhere. Isn’t this just wonderful?

So, are you a sheep or a goat today?

April's Fool Snow - no joke!

April 1 - SNOW

April 5 - SUNSHINE

That is how the weather in UT is - CRAZY

The United States of America

Let us wait patiently for the release of the 5 new circulating quarters in 2009:

A good link to the History of the Quarter.

"We live in Singapura"

A Great Song by Hossan Leong

A Different Tune, A Different Feel

The fall of snow just before Spring tonight has brought back fond and sad memories to my mind... Enjoy this video.

Ski Novice

Confessions

I wonder if one loses someone whom is very dear to him / her, how does he / she look to God and focus on Him to find himself / herself back to face the reality

A man lost his father whom is a pastor when he was three years old. His mum has to work very hard to support him. Even coming from a Christian family, he cannot help but blame God for taking his dad away in the years of growing up.

“So what if my dad reads the bible at least three times a day? So what if my dad preaches to a congregation of 10 000 people and helps to save souls for Christ daily?” “So what if I do have God as my heavenly father? Stop telling me that! I just want to have a similar loving physical father as well.”

His dad is still dead today. Friends around him have fathers to drive them to schools but he is left alone and does not have even a godly fatherly figure to grow up or model after. His mum having taken over the role of the only breadwinner in the house is constantly away from home working. The event of losing his dad from young has caused turmoil in his life. He finds it hard to focus on Christ even though he does acknowledge that Jesus is the ONLY ONE TRUE HOLY GOD.

Well, I am not this man. I have merely lost a friend whom at that point in time is still not even a close friend of mine. She is just someone whom I have admired and hoped to know her better as a friend. She is also not a believer so going into a life-long relationship with her is simply not possible at all. However, I do not know why God allows her to be taken away at such a young age and furthermore when she still have zero knowledge of Christ. Why? The following day of her death, I was sobbing quietly in my house.

The months following her death were also the months that I rebelled against God for many actions done to hurt Him. As a matter of fact, I reacted in that exact same manner as the man who has lost his father at a tender age. “Stop telling me that God is by my side, ok? Stop telling me facts which me as a Christian already know?!” I simply was sad and emotional when friends of mine reminded that God is constantly with me.

Words of fury can be seen on the msn message windows.

“If you said that God is constantly with me, what is wrong with me eating alone everyday? What is wrong with me not going out to make new friends? You told me God is with me, so why do I even need friends?”

With all these non-loving comments, I have not spoken to many of my Singapore church friends anymore. I will just like to take this chance to apologize to all whom I have offended with my above comments.

Life is indeed all about relationships and relationships certainly surpasses all the cash and materialistic things which you can ever acquire in your lifetime. In my search for a life-long partner, I too longed for such a relationship. However, it seems to elude from me time and time again. Not because I am not intentional enough but I guess if all is not God’s will for me; I will have to learn how to accept the life of celibacy by His grace alone.

Friends of mine, I will like to ask that all of you to stop probing me on BGR issues anymore. With this confession, I will like to truly learn how to submit to God’s will for me in this area. Even if in future I may not be coming back to Singapore ever again, I do pray and hope that I can still hold on to God’s Truth and live out my life as a true blue believer in Christ, experiencing His love and leaning on to His grace in life.

May God bless all of you. Amen.

Seasons

Spring

Plants begin to flower

Clocks are put foward one hour

More daylight hours and the weather becomes warmer

Summer

Hot, dry weather

Long hours of daylight

People often go the the beaches and have barbeques

Autumn

Leaves fall off trees

Clocks are put back one hour

Weather becomes cooler with fewer daylight hours

Winter

Cold, wet weather

Short hours of daylight

Activities include skiing, ice skating and building snowman

Movie Recommendation

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A movie that induces you to think about your life and what you have been doing all this while. Watch it if you are free... :)

Good Job, My Job

There is this joke going around in my workplace. Whenever somebody says, “Good Job!” to you, think about this for a second. You are just doing your job.

Titled this post as “Good Job, My Job” simply because I am just doing my job and it is a good job done. Much thoughts in this post has accumulated in my mind after watching the movie, “The Devil Wears Prada”

As the global economy looms, many people are either jobless, going for interviews or holding tight to their current jobs with fear and trembling. The work week has been cut short to just maybe three or four days out of five now. If you go for an eye check, the optometrist will ask you to go for LASIK. If you go for car inspection, the mechanic will ask you to perform an overhaul of your entire car. If you go for dental check, the dentist will ask you to do all sorts of polishing and crowns. All this and more just to earn your cash away.

Times are really bad and nobody knows exactly how long will the current poor economy go on. Need a job to pay your rent, your house mortgage and many more things but that job still eludes from you. Nobody is going to talk about that dream job at least for this year. Everyone just wants to get a job.

My friends, brace on. Life is more than just that dream job, that good job or just that job. Life is all about relationships. Take this time to be with your families and loved ones. Catch up on the time which you have lost while you were doing that dream job, good job or just that job. Guess you will feel happier than just complaining about the dying economy. Hey, today is the day! Show your care and concern to your loved ones. Have a blessed Valentine’s Day! =)

Let the Healing Begins...

The most common saying about healing I guess is this, “Time will heal everything.”

In my opinion, I think this is absolutely right simply because our imperfect minds do not retain 100% of the events or information even after a mere 24 hours. Hence with time (which only has an addition function), I will say about 100% of the events or information is already lost. Much like an unresolved leakage current to your chip causing much power consumption or lost information.

And therefore, healing can begin because most or in fact all of the events or information is lost. Even when I am a memory chip manufacturer, I cannot help in this retaining of information.

The only way to retain information I guess is to keep refreshing the events or information. It works for microchips and I think it works for human minds.

In conclusion, in order for healing to truly begin, I think I will have to terminate refreshing of events or information in my imperfect mind and making use of prolonged timing to induce healing.

Where is God in this picture?

God being my wonderful counselor will be the One to displace the refreshing of events or information in my imperfect mind. The only way is to input His Word into my mind in order to displace past memories.

Bro Soh's Liberty Hills APT

My 1st Acoustic Guitar

Self-Cooked Dinner @ Liberty Hills

CNY Steamboat in UT 2009

Let's embrace the Word of GOD

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” And this person is my LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. He came to show us the Way, to shine as the Light of the World and to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

One key verse in the book of John is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

A closer study on this verse using blueletterbible.org shows this:

Therefore upon close consideration, I guess I am a lousy student of the Word of God because there is still so much to learn and apply from the Bible. Let’s embrace the Word of God as our only treasure in our lives. Let us read through the Bible every year and be immersed in learning all about our Father’s attributes, remembering history is HIS-story…

My Room and My Car in US

Praises & Thanksgivings to GOD

Thank God that I have finally managed to settle my apartment and car issues as of today. All PRAISES to HIM and HIM ONLY. Amen. :)

Visiting my Pastor from Singapore

My Bed Assembled

08's Lessons for Trialing Years Ahead

2008 is a year of learning for me. A year where I learnt how to resign from my job. A year of flying twenty-four hours to the other side of the globe. A year of learning how to drive on the right side of the road. A year of learning how to take good photographs. A year of learning how to mourn for a friend.

This is a year where I have to learn too many things and also a year where I made real godly friends. This is also a year where I am exposed and immersed in the American culture in entirety. This is also a year where I have gone through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter seasons. This is also a year where I am found sobbing, weeping and crying the most in front of the LORD.

A year where I realize what is the most important thing in life. A year where I have truly learnt the most wonderful gift in life is to be able to establish a relationship with Jesus Christ.

2009 is just around the corner and as the whole world wishes one another “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” on a hourly basis of various time zones; it is indeed time to make new year resolutions once again which according to my Utah Pastor that normally they will not last for more than three days. How true. ~haha~

A new year ahead but my LORD has already made all things NEW as shared by my Utah Pastor during last church prayer meeting. A new goal for myself will be to memorize a verse from each individual book of the bible. Therefore, I hope that when the time comes again for me to reflect on 2009, I can share with all of you the sixty-six verses which I have memorized in the new year.

Have a blessed 2009. God bless you. Amen!

My 1st White Christmas

T.O.W upon my LORD

Early this year when I first stepped into US for my job training in Feb, there was a heavy snowstorm which has not been experienced in Utah at least for the last ten years. The main road SR-92 to my company was closed and many cars were being towed away from the road after the closure. Employees in my company could not go home for that day as the only road was closed. It was quite a chaotic situation but the towing company did earn a cool US$30,000! (Estimated towing fee is US$100 per vehicle and there are probably about three hundred vehicles on SR-92 that day.)

Okay, so much for my introduction for this blog posting. The main idea to get back is TOW. I titled this post, “T.O.W upon my LORD”. T.O.W here has a similar idea to cars being towed as I definitely need the strength of my LORD to tow me through these two years of working in the US. Therefore, this post which is written on this day when I am going to report to my next company will serve as a post which I can look back after my two years here in Utah.

T.O.W upon my LORD. T.O.W in my context here means Trust.Obey.Wait upon my LORD. After all that has happened in this year and many accounts of personal reflection, I realized that ultimately I can only trust upon my LORD, obey upon my LORD and wait upon my LORD. It is true and each of these verbs (action words) cannot do without the presence of the other two. I cannot trust my LORD without obeying and waiting upon my LORD. I cannot obey my LORD without trusting and waiting upon my LORD. I cannot wait upon my LORD without trusting and obeying my LORD.

Very often, I think Christians need to trust upon the LORD based solely on the promises spelt out clearly by Him whom has revealed Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ in the Bible. One key verse which I can memorize and remind myself daily to trust the LORD is:

And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his promise. - Romans 8:28

A GREAT PROMISE by the LORD! Need to remember, mediate and recite it daily. Amen to this fantastic verse.

Next comes obeying upon the LORD. Jesus Himself said that John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” And again down the passage in verse 21, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

With trust upon my LORD as my firm foundation, I can obey my LORD. Based solely on His promise in Romans 8:28, I gladly obey His commands and observe John 14:15 and John 14:21. The simple reason is I treasure my relationship with Him and want to further my fellowship with Him to experience His love more each day of my life.

With the trust and obedience to my LORD, it comes in naturally that I will need to wait upon my LORD for all things which I am sure He will gladly grant to me according to His sovereign timing. Psalm 27:14 is one memory verse to rejuvenate my soul as I wait upon my LORD:

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. – Psalm 27:14

I guess putting these three faith action words under the acronym of T.O.W leave me a good impression of what it is really like to T.O.W upon my LORD. It is like my spiritual vehicle is depending upon the sole strength of my LORD to go through the highs and lows of life. Seriously praying that I will not be distracted for the coming New Year and be always TOWing upon my LORD. Amen.

Satan's AGM for 2009 & Beyond

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said,

"We can't keep people from going to pray."

"We can't keep them from reading their holy books and knowing the truth."

"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their GOD."

"Once they gain that connection with GOD, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their prayers; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with GOD."

"This is what I want you to do," said the devil: "Distract them from gaining hold of their GOD and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children."

"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."

"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive."

"To keep the TV, DVDs, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly."

"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."

"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."

"Invade their driving moments with billboards."

"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweep stakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives."

"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."

"Give them headaches too!"

"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere."

"That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them distractions to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of life."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."

"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."

"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead."

"Keep them busy, busy, and busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences.

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from GOD."

"Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause." "It will work!" "It will work!"

It was quite a plan! The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing people everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there. Having little time for their God or their families. Having no time to tell others about the power of GOD to change lives. I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes? You be the judge!!!!! Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?

Please pass this on, if you aren't too BUSY ...

Psalm 105

 1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; 

       make known among the nations what he has done.

 2 Sing to him, sing praise to him; 

       tell of all his wonderful acts.

 3 Glory in his holy name; 

       let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

 4 Look to the LORD and his strength; 

       seek his face always.

 5 Remember the wonders he has done, 

       his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

 6 O descendants of Abraham his servant, 

       O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

 7 He is the LORD our God; 

       his judgments are in all the earth.

 8 He remembers his covenant forever, 

       the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

 9 the covenant he made with Abraham, 

       the oath he swore to Isaac.

 10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, 

       to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

 11 "To you I will give the land of Canaan 

       as the portion you will inherit."

 12 When they were but few in number, 

       few indeed, and strangers in it,

 13 they wandered from nation to nation, 

       from one kingdom to another.

 14 He allowed no one to oppress them; 

       for their sake he rebuked kings:

 15 "Do not touch my anointed ones; 

       do my prophets no harm."

 16 He called down famine on the land 

       and destroyed all their supplies of food;

 17 and he sent a man before them— 

       Joseph, sold as a slave.

 18 They bruised his feet with shackles, 

       his neck was put in irons,

 19 till what he foretold came to pass, 

       till the word of the LORD proved him true.

 20 The king sent and released him, 

       the ruler of peoples set him free.

 21 He made him master of his household, 

       ruler over all he possessed,

 22 to instruct his princes as he pleased 

       and teach his elders wisdom.

 23 Then Israel entered Egypt; 

       Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

 24 The LORD made his people very fruitful; 

       he made them too numerous for their foes,

 25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people, 

       to conspire against his servants.

 26 He sent Moses his servant, 

       and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

 27 They performed his miraculous signs among them, 

       his wonders in the land of Ham.

 28 He sent darkness and made the land dark— 

       for had they not rebelled against his words?

 29 He turned their waters into blood, 

       causing their fish to die.

 30 Their land teemed with frogs, 

       which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.

 31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, 

       and gnats throughout their country.

 32 He turned their rain into hail, 

       with lightning throughout their land;

 33 he struck down their vines and fig trees 

       and shattered the trees of their country.

 34 He spoke, and the locusts came, 

       grasshoppers without number;

 35 they ate up every green thing in their land, 

       ate up the produce of their soil.

 36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, 

       the firstfruits of all their manhood.

 37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, 

       and from among their tribes no one faltered.

 38 Egypt was glad when they left, 

       because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

 39 He spread out a cloud as a covering, 

       and a fire to give light at night.

 40 They asked, and he brought them quail 

       and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

 41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; 

       like a river it flowed in the desert.

 42 For he remembered his holy promise 

       given to his servant Abraham.

 43 He brought out his people with rejoicing, 

       his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

 44 he gave them the lands of the nations, 

       and they fell heir to what others had toiled for-

 45 that they might keep his precepts 

       and observe his laws. 

       Praise the LORD.