| 78 | Psalms | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| [A Maskil of Asaph.] | |||
| Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! | National Lament over the destruction of Jerusalem. Psalm 78(v77) | ||
| I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, | |||
| things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. | |||
| We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought. | |||
| He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children; | |||
| that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, | |||
| so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; | |||
| and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. | |||
| The E'phraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. | |||
| They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. | |||
| They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them. | |||
| In the sight of their fathers he wrought marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zo'an. | |||
| He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. | |||
| In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. | |||
| He cleft rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. | |||
| He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers. | |||
| Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. | |||
| They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. | |||
| They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness? | |||
| He smote the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?" | |||
| Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob, his anger mounted against Israel; | |||
| because they had no faith in God, and did not trust his saving power. | |||
| Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven; | |||
| and he rained down upon them manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven. | |||
| Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. | |||
| He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; | |||
| he rained flesh upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; | |||
| he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their habitations. | |||
| And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. | |||
| But before they had sated their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, | |||
| the anger of God rose against them and he slew the strongest of them, and laid low the picked men of Israel. | |||
| In spite of all this they still sinned; despite his wonders they did not believe. | |||
| So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. | |||
| When he slew them, they sought for him; they repented and sought God earnestly. | |||
| They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. | |||
| But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. | |||
| Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant. | |||
| Yet he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often, and did not stir up all his wrath. | |||
| He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. | |||
| How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! | |||
| They tested him again and again, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. | |||
| They did not keep in mind his power, or the day when he redeemed them from the foe; | |||
| when he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the fields of Zo'an. | |||
| He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams. | |||
| He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. | |||
| He gave their crops to the caterpillar, and the fruit of their labor to the locust. | |||
| He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamores with frost. | |||
| He gave over their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to thunderbolts. | |||
| He let loose on them his fierce anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. | |||
| He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. | |||
| He smote all the first-born in Egypt, the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham. | |||
| Then he led forth his people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. | |||
| He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. | |||
| And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. | |||
| He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. | |||
| Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God, and did not observe his testimonies, | |||
| but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow. | |||
| For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their graven images. | |||
| When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. | |||
| He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among men, | |||
| and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. | |||
| He gave his people over to the sword, and vented his wrath on his heritage. | |||
| Fire devoured their young men, and their maidens had no marriage song. | |||
| Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. | |||
| Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine. | |||
| And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame. | |||
| He rejected the tent of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of E'phraim; | |||
| but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves. | |||
| He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded for ever. | |||
| He chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; | |||
| from tending the ewes that had young he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob his people, of Israel his inheritance. | |||
| With upright heart he tended them, and guided them with skilful hand. | |||
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