Psalms 78
1 A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.
“A psalm of Asaph.” Give ear, O my people, to my instruction! Incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,
I will open my mouth in a psalm; I will utter sayings of ancient times.
3 that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
What we have heard and learned, And our fathers have told us,
4 We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed.
We will not hide from their children; Showing to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, His might, and the wonders he hath wrought.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
For he appointed statutes in Jacob, And established a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers To make known to their children;
6 that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children
So that the generation to come might know them; The children, which should be born, and rise up, Who should declare them to their children;
7 that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.
That they might put their trust in God, And not forget his deeds, But keep his commandments;
8 Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
And might not be, like their forefathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, —A generation whose heart was not fixed upon God, And whose spirit was not steadfast toward the Almighty.
9 The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle.
The children of Ephraim were like armed bowmen, Who turn their backs in the day of battle.
10 They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.
They kept not the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law;
11 They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.
And forgot his mighty deeds, And the wonders he had shown them.
12 He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; Yea, he made the waters to stand as a heap.
14 He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.
By day he led them by a cloud, And all the night by a light of fire.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink, as from the great deep.
16 He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.
From the rock he brought flowing streams, And made water to run down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
Yet still they sinned against him, And provoked the Most High in the desert.
18 They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.
They tempted God in their hearts, By asking food for their delight.
19 They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
Yea, they spake against God, and said, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?”
Behold! he smote the rock, and the water flowed, And streams gushed forth: Is he also able to give bread? Can he provide flesh for his people?”
21 Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,
When, therefore, the LORD heard this, he was wroth: So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger arose against Israel.
22 because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.
Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his aid.
23 Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
Yet he had commanded the clouds above, And had opened the doors of heaven;
24 He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.
And had rained down upon them manna for food, And had given them the corn of heaven.
25 Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.
Every one ate the food of princes; He sent them bread to the full.
26 He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.
Then he caused a strong wind to blow in the heavens, And by his power he brought a south wind;
27 He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
He rained down flesh upon them as dust, And feathered fowls as the sand of the sea.
28 He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.
He caused them to fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.
29 So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.
So they did eat, and were filled; For he gave them their own desire.
30 Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,
Their desire was not yet satisfied, And their meat was yet in their mouths,
31 God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.
When the wrath of God came upon them, And slew their strong men, And smote down the chosen men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
For all this they sinned still, And put no trust in his wondrous works.
33 So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.
Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in sudden destruction.
34 When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.
When he slew them, they sought him; They returned, and sought earnestly for God;
35 And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
And remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High their redeemer.
36 But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.
But they only flattered him with their mouths, And spake falsely to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
For their hearts were not true to him, Nor were they steadfast in his covenant.
38 And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.
Yet, being full of compassion, he forgave their iniquity, And would not utterly destroy them; Often he restrained his indignation, And stirred not up all his anger.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
He remembered that they were but flesh, —A breath, that passeth and cometh not back.
40 How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
How often did they provoke him in the wilderness! How often did they anger him in the desert!
41 Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Again and again they tempted God, And offended the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember His power — the day He redeemed them from the adversary,
They remembered not his hand, Nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy;
43 when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
What signs he had wrought in Egypt, And what wonders in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink.
He turned their rivers into blood, So that they could not drink of their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
He sent amongst them flies, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.
He gave also their fruits to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.
47 He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore-trees with frost.
48 He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.
He also gave up their cattle to hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity— a band of destroying angels.
He sent against them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and woe, —A host of angels of evil.
50 He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.
He made a way for his anger, He spared them not from death, But gave up their lives to the pestilence.
51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.
He smote all the firstborn in Egypt; The first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
53 He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.
He led them on safely, so that they feared not, While the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired.
He brought them to his own sacred border, Even to this mountain which his right hand had gained.
55 He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
He cast out the nations before them, And divided their land by a measuring-line, as an inheritance, And caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.
Yet they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, And kept not his statutes;
57 They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.
Like their fathers they were faithless, and turned back; They turned aside, like a deceitful bow.
58 They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
They provoked his anger by their high places, And stirred up his jealousy by their graven images.
59 On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
God saw this, and was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
So that he forsook the habitation at Shiloh, The tabernacle where he dwelt among men,
61 He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.
And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the hand of the enemy.
62 He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.
His own people he gave up to the sword, And was wroth with his own inheritance.
63 Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.
Fire consumed their young men, And their maidens did not bewail them.
64 His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.
But at length the Lord awaked as from sleep, As a hero who had been overpowered by wine;
66 He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame.
He smote his enemies, and drove them back, And covered them with everlasting disgrace.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.
Yet he rejected the tents of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of Ephraim;
68 But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
But chose the tribe of Judah, The Mount Zion which he loved;
69 He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever.
Where he built, like the heavens, his sanctuary; Like the earth, which he hath established for ever.
70 He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
And he chose David, his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.
From tending the suckling ewes he brought him To feed Jacob his people, And Israel his inheritance.
72 So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands.
He fed them with an upright heart, And guided them with skilful hands.
