Psalms 78
1 A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.
Þjóð mín, hlustaðu á kenningu mína. Gefðu gaum að því sem ég hef að segja.
2 I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,
Nú ætla ég að rifja upp fyrir þér liðna atburði,
3 that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
frásagnir sem varðveist hafa frá kynslóð til kynslóðar.
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.
Ég birti ykkur sannleikann, svo að þið getið sagt börnum ykkar frá dásemdarverkum Drottins, öllum þeim undrum sem hann vann.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
Lögmál sitt gaf hann Ísrael og bauð forfeðrunum að kenna það börnum sínum
6 that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children
sem síðan skyldu kenna það sínum afkomendum. Þannig skyldi lögmál hans berast frá einni kynslóðinni til annarrar.
7 that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.
Því hefur sérhver kynslóð getað haldið lög Guðs, treyst honum og heyrt um hans dásemdarverk.
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.
Ný kynslóð skyldi ekki þurfa að fara að fordæmi feðra sinna sem voru þrjóskir, óhlýðnir og ótrúir og forhertu sig gegn Guði.
9 The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle.
Þótt íbúar Efraím væru alvopnaðir, þá flúðu þeir þegar að orustunni kom.
10 They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.
Þannig rufu þeir sáttmálann við Guð og fóru sína eigin leið.
11 They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.
Þeir gleymdu máttarverkum Drottins,
12 He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
sem hann hafði fyrir þá gert og forfeður þeirra í Egyptalandi,
13 He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
þegar hann klauf hafið og leiddi þá yfir þurrum fótum. Vatnið stóð eins og veggur til beggja handa!
14 He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.
Að degi til leiddi hann þá með skýi, en eldstólpa um nætur.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
Hann rauf gat á klettinn í eyðimörkinni. Vatnið streymdi fram og þeir svöluðu þorsta sínum.
16 He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.
Já, það flæddi frá klettinum, líkast rennandi á!
17 But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
Samt héldu þeir fast við þrjósku sína og syndguðu gegn hinum hæsta Guði.
18 They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.
Þeir kvörtuðu og kveinuðu og heimtuðu annað að borða en það sem Guð gaf þeim.
19 They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
Þeir ásökuðu jafnvel sjálfan Guð og sögðu:
20 When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?”
„Hann gaf okkur vatn, en hvers vegna fáum við ekki brauð eða kjöt?!“
21 Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,
Drottinn hlustaði og honum rann í skap, reiði hans upptendraðist gegn Ísrael.
22 because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.
Enda treystu þeir honum ekki, né trúðu forsjá hans.
23 Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
Jafnvel þótt hann lyki upp himninum – eins og glugga! –
24 He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.
og léti manna rigna niður.
25 Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.
Já, þeir átu englabrauð! – og urðu mettir.
26 He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.
Þá lét hann austanvind blása og stýrði vestanvindinum með krafti sínum.
27 He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
Og viti menn, fuglum rigndi af himni, – þeir voru eins og sandur á sjávarströnd!
28 He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.
Af hans völdum féllu þeir til jarðar um allar tjaldbúðirnar.
29 So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.
Og fólkið át nægju sína. Hann mettaði hungur þeirra.
30 Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,
En varla höfðu þeir lokið matnum – fæðan var enn í munni þeirra,
31 God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.
þá reiddist Drottinn þeim og lagði að velli æskumenn Ísraels.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
En þeir sáu sig ekki um hönd, en héldu áfram að syndga og vildu ekki trúa kraftaverkum Drottins.
33 So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.
Þess vegna stytti hann ævi þeirra og sendi þeim miklar hörmungar.
34 When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.
En þegar neyðin var stærst, tóku þeir að leita Guðs. Þeir iðruðust og snéru sér til hans.
35 And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
Þeir viðurkenndu að Guð er eini grundvöllur lífsins – að hinn hæsti Guð væri frelsari þeirra.
36 But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.
En því miður fylgdu þeir honum aðeins í orði kveðnu, en ekki af heilum hug,
37 Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
hjarta þeirra var langt frá honum. Þeir stóðu ekki við orð sín.
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.
Samt var hann þeim miskunnsamur, fyrirgaf syndir þeirra og tortímdi þeim ekki. Margoft hélt hann aftur af reiði sinni.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
Hann minntist þess að þeir voru dauðlegir menn, eins og andblær sem kemur og fer.
40 How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
Já, oft risu þeir gegn Guði í eyðimörkinni og ollu honum vonbrigðum.
41 Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Aftur og aftur sneru þeir við honum baki og freistuðu hans.
42 They did not remember His power — the day He redeemed them from the adversary,
Þeir gleymdu krafti hans og kærleika og hvernig hann hafði frelsað þá frá óvinum þeirra.
43 when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
Þeir gleymdu plágunum sem hann sendi Egyptum í Sóan
44 He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink.
þegar hann breytti fljótum þeirra í blóð, svo að enginn gat drukkið.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
Eða þegar hann fyllti landið af flugum og froskum!
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.
Lirfurnar spilltu uppskerunni og engispretturnar átu allt, hvort tveggja var frá honum komið.
47 He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
Hann eyddi vínviði þeirra með hagléli og mórberjatrjánum með frosti.
48 He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.
Búpeningurinn hrundi niður í haganum, haglið rotaði hann og sauðirnir drápust í eldingum.
49 He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity— a band of destroying angels.
Hann úthellti reiði sinni yfir þá, sendi þeim ógn og skelfingu. Hann leysti út sendiboða ógæfunnar – engla sem létu þá kenna á því!
50 He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.
Hann gaf reiðinni lausan tauminn. Og ekki hlífði hann Egyptunum. Þeir fengu vænan skerf af plágum og sjúkdómum.
51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.
Þá deyddi hann frumburði Egypta, efnilegan ungviðinn, sem vonirnar voru bundnar við.
52 He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
Sinn eigin lýð leiddi hann styrkri hendi gegnum eyðimörkina.
53 He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.
Hann var skjól þeirra og vörn. Þeir þurftu ekkert að óttast, en hafið gleypti óvini þeirra.
54 He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired.
Hann greiddi för þeirra til fyrirheitna landsins, til hæðanna sem hann hafði skapað.
55 He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
Íbúum landsins stökkti hann á flótta en gaf þar ættkvíslum Ísraels erfðahlut og skjól.
56 But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.
En þótt þeir nytu gæsku Guðs, risu þeir gegn hinum hæsta og fyrirlitu boðorð hans.
57 They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.
Þeir sneru af leið og rufu trúnað rétt eins og feður þeirra. Eins og bogin ör misstu þeir marksins sem Guð hafði sett þeim.
58 They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
Þeir tóku aðra guði, reistu þeim ölturu og egndu Drottin á móti sér.
59 On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
Guð sá verk þeirra og reiddist – fékk viðbjóð á Ísrael.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
Hann yfirgaf helgidóm sinn í Síló, bústað sinn meðal manna.
61 He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.
Örk sína lét hann falla í hendur óvinanna og vegsemd hans var óvirt af heiðingjum.
62 He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.
Hann reiddist lýð sínum og lét hann falla fyrir sverði óvinanna.
63 Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.
Æskumenn Ísraels fórust í eldi og ungu stúlkurnar upplifðu ekki sinn brúðkaupsdag.
64 His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
Prestunum var slátrað og ekkjur þeirra dóu áður en þær gátu harmað þá.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.
Þá var sem Drottinn vaknaði af svefni, eins og hetja sem rís upp úr vímu,
66 He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame.
og hann gaf þeim vænt spark í bakhlutann og sendi þá burt með skömm, sömu leið og þeir komu.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.
Hann hafnaði fjölskyldu Jósefs, ætt Efraíms,
68 But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
en kaus Júdaættkvísl og Síonfjall, sem hann elskar.
69 He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever.
Þar reisti hann musteri sitt – voldugt og traust rétt eins og himin og jörð.
70 He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
Hann kaus Davíð sem þjón sinn, tók hann frá sauðunum,
71 from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.
úr smalamennskunni, til að verða leiðtogi og hirðir þjóðar sinnar.
72 So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands.
Og hann gætti hennar af öryggi og með hreinu hjarta.
