Psalms 78
1 The understanding of Asaph. O my people, attend to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
A maskil of Asaph. My people, attend to my teaching: bend your ears to the words of my mouth,
2 I will open my mouth in parables. I will speak about concepts that are from the beginning.
as I open my mouth in a poem on the riddling story of the past.
3 We have heard and known such great things, as our fathers have described to us.
What we have heard and known, and what our ancestors have told us,
4 These things have not been hidden from their sons in any generation: declaring the praises of the Lord, and his virtues, and the wonders that he has done.
we will not hide from their children. We will tell to the next generation the praises and might of the Lord, and the wonders that he has done.
5 And he has received testimony with Jacob, and he has set a law within Israel. Such great things, he has commanded our fathers, so as to make these things known to their sons,
He set up a testimony in Jacob, a law he appointed in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to make known to their children,
6 so that another generation might know them, and so that the sons, who will be born and who will grow up, shall describe them to their sons.
that the next generation should know it, that the children yet to be born should arise and tell their children;
7 So then, may they put their hope in God, and may they not forget the works of God, and may they seek his commandments.
that in God they might put their confidence, and not forget God’s works; but that they might keep his commandments,
8 May they not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation: a generation that does not straighten their heart and whose spirit is not trustworthy with God.
and not be like their ancestors, a generation defiant and stubborn, a generation with heart unsteady, and spirit unfaithful towards God.
9 The sons of Ephraim, who bend and shoot the bow, have been turned back in the day of battle.
Ephraimites, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle.
10 They have not kept the covenant of God. And they were not willing to walk in his law.
They did not keep God’s covenant, they refused to walk in his law.
11 And they have been forgetful of his benefits, and of his miracle, which he revealed to them.
They forgot what he had done, and the wonders he had shown them.
12 He performed miracles in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis.
He did wonders before their ancestors in the country of Zoan in Egypt.
13 He broke the sea and he led them through. And he stationed the waters, as if in a vessel.
Through the sea which he split he brought them, making waters stand up like a heap;
14 And he led them with a cloud by day, and with illumination by fire throughout the night.
he led them by day with a cloud, all the night with a light of fire.
15 He broke through the rock in the wasteland, and he gave them to drink, as if from the great abyss.
From the rocks which he split in the wilderness, he gave them to drink as of ocean’s abundance.
16 He brought forth water from the rock, and he conducted the waters, as if they were rivers.
He brought streams out of the rock, and made water run down like rivers.
17 And yet, they continued to sin against him. In a waterless place, they provoked the Most High with resentment.
Yet they still went on sinning against him, they defied the Most High in the desert.
18 And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking for food according to their desires.
They willfully challenged God, demanding the food that they longed for.
19 And they spoke badly about God. They said, “Would God be able to prepare a table in the desert?
“Is God able,” such was their challenge, “to spread in the desert a table?
20 He struck the rock, and so waters flowed and the torrents flooded, but would even he be able to provide bread, or provide a table, for his people?”
From the rock that he struck there gushed water, and torrents that overflowed; but can he also give bread, or provide his people with meat?”
21 Therefore, the Lord heard, and he was dismayed, and a fire was kindled within Jacob, and an anger ascended into Israel.
When the Lord heard this, he was furious, and fire was kindled on Jacob, anger flared up against Israel.
22 For they neither put their trust in God, nor did they hope in his salvation.
For they put no trust in God, no confidence in his help.
23 And he commanded the clouds from above, and he opened the doors of heaven.
So he summoned the clouds above; and, opening the doors of heaven,
24 And he rained down manna upon them to eat, and he gave them the bread of heaven.
he rained manna upon them for food, and grain of heaven he gave them.
25 Man ate the bread of Angels. He sent them provisions in abundance.
Everyone ate the bread of angels; he sent them food to the full.
26 He transferred the south wind from heaven, and, in his virtue, he brought in the Southwest wind.
He launched the east wind in the heavens, and guided the south by his power.
27 And he rained down flesh upon them, as if it were dust, and feathered birds, as if they were the sand of the sea.
He rained meat upon them like dust, winged bird like the sand of the sea.
28 And they fell down in the midst of their camp, encircling their tabernacles.
In the midst of their camp he dropped it, all around their tents.
29 And they ate until they were greatly satisfied, and he brought to them according to their desires.
They ate and were more than filled; he had brought them the thing they desired.
30 They were not cheated out of what they wanted. Their food was still in their mouth,
But the thing they desired became loathsome: while their food was still in their mouths,
31 and then the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones among them, and he impeded the elect of Israel.
the wrath of God rose against them. He slew the stoutest among them, and laid low the young men of Israel.
32 In all these things, they continued to sin, and they were not trustworthy with his miracles.
Yet for all this they sinned yet more, and refused to believe in his wonders.
33 And their days faded away into vanity, and their years with haste.
So he ended their days in a breath, and their years in sudden dismay.
34 When he slew them, then they sought him. And they returned, and they drew near to him in the early morning.
When he slew them, then they sought after him, they turned and sought God with diligence.
35 And they were mindful that God is their helper and that the Most High God is their redeemer.
They remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their redeemer.
36 And they chose him with their mouth, and then they lied to him with their tongue.
But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not upright with him, nor have they been living faithfully in his covenant.
Their heart was not steady with him, they were faithless to his covenant.
38 Yet he is merciful, and he will pardon their sins. And he will not destroy them. And he has abundantly turned aside his own wrath. And he did not enflame his wrath entirely.
But he is full of pity: he pardons sin and destroys not. Often he turns his anger away, without stirring his wrath at all.
39 And he remembered that they are flesh: with a spirit that goes forth and does not return.
So he remembered that they were but flesh, breath that passes and does not return.
40 How often did they provoke him in the desert and stir him to wrath in a waterless place?
But how often they rebelled in the desert, and caused him grief in the wilderness,
41 And they turned back and tempted God, and they exasperated the Holy One of Israel.
tempting God again and again, provoking the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of the one troubling them.
They did not remember his strength, nor the day he redeemed from the foe,
43 Thus, he positioned his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Tanis.
how he set his signs in Egypt, in the country of Zoan his wonders.
44 And he turned their rivers into blood, along with their rain showers, so that they could not drink.
He turned their canals into blood, their streams undrinkable.
45 He sent among them the common fly, and it devoured them, and the frog, and it scattered them.
He sent forth flies, which devoured them; frogs, too, which destroyed them.
46 And he gave up their fruits to mold and their labors to the locust.
Their crops he gave to the caterpillar, and the fruits of their toil to the locust.
47 And he slew their vineyards with hail and their mulberry trees with severe frost.
He slew their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
48 And he delivered their cattle to the hail and their possessions to fire.
He delivered their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to bolts of fire.
49 And he sent the wrath of his indignation among them: indignation and wrath and tribulation, sent forth by evil angels.
He let loose his hot anger among them, fury and wrath and distress, a band of destroying angels.
50 He made way for the path of his anger. He did not spare their souls from death. And he enclosed their beasts of burden in death.
He cleared a path for his anger, did not spare them from death, but gave them over to pestilence.
51 And he struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt: the first-fruits of all their labor in the tabernacles of Ham.
He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 And he took away his own people like sheep, and he led them through the wilderness like a flock.
He led forth his people like sheep, he was guide to his flock in the desert.
53 And he led them out in hope, and they did not fear. And the sea covered their enemies.
Securely he led them, and free from fear, while their foes were drowned in the sea.
54 And he led them to the mountain of his sanctification: the mountain that his right hand had acquired. And he cast out the Gentiles before their face. And he divided their land by lot to them, with a line of distribution.
To his holy realm he brought them, to the mountain his right hand had purchased.
55 And he caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.
He drove out the nations before them, and allotted their land for possession, and their tents for Israel to live in.
56 Yet they tempted and aggravated God Most High, and they did not keep his testaments.
Yet they tempted and angered the Most High God, they did not observe his decrees.
57 And they turned themselves aside, and they did not serve the covenant. In the same manner as their fathers, they were turned backwards, like a crooked bow.
They drew back, false like their ancestors; they failed like a treacherous bow.
58 They impelled him to anger on their hills, and they provoked him to rivalry with their graven images.
Their shrines stirred him to anger, their idols moved him to jealousy.
59 God listened, and he spurned them, and he reduced Israel greatly, almost to nothing.
When God heard of this, he was furious, and he spurned Israel utterly.
60 And he rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, his tabernacle where he had dwelt among men.
He abandoned his home in Shiloh, the tent he had pitched among people.
61 And he delivered their virtue into captivity, and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.
He gave his strength up to captivity, his glory to the hands of the foe.
62 And he enclosed his people with the sword, and he spurned his inheritance.
He gave his people to the sword, he was furious with his own.
63 Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins were not lamented.
Fire devoured their young men, and their maidens had no marriage-song.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows did not weep.
Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could not weep.
65 And the Lord was awakened, as if out of sleep, and like a powerful man impaired by wine.
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a warrior flushed with wine;
66 And he struck his enemies on the back. He gave them over to everlasting disgrace.
and he beat back his foes, putting them to perpetual scorn.
67 And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
He disowned the tent of Joseph, he rejected the tribe of Ephraim;
68 But he chose the tribe of Judah: mount Zion, which he loved.
but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 And he built up his sanctuary, like a single-horned beast, in the land that he founded for all ages.
And he built like the heights his sanctuary, like the earth which he founded forever.
70 And he chose his servant David, and he took him from the flocks of the sheep: he received him from following the ewes with their young,
And he chose David his servant, taking him from the sheepfolds.
71 in order to pasture Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance.
From the mother-ewes he brought him, to be shepherd to Jacob his people, and to Israel his inheritance.
72 And he fed them with the innocence of his heart. And he led them with the understanding of his hands.
With upright heart did he shepherd them, and with skilful hands did he guide them.
