Psalms 78
1 An instruction. Of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears 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 a parable; I will utter riddles from of old,
Nú ætla ég að rifja upp fyrir þér liðna atburði,
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us:
frásagnir sem varðveist hafa frá kynslóð til kynslóðar.
4 We will not hide [them] from their sons, shewing forth to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and his strength, and his marvellous works which he hath done.
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, that they should make them known to their children;
Lögmál sitt gaf hann Ísrael og bauð forfeðrunum að kenna það börnum sínum
6 That the generation to come might know [them], the children that should be born; that they might rise up and tell [them] to their children,
sem síðan skyldu kenna það sínum afkomendum. Þannig skyldi lögmál hans berast frá einni kynslóðinni til annarrar.
7 And that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but observe his commandments;
Því hefur sérhver kynslóð getað haldið lög Guðs, treyst honum og heyrt um hans dásemdarverk.
8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that prepared not their heart, and whose spirit was not stedfast with 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 sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle.
Þótt íbúar Efraím væru alvopnaðir, þá flúðu þeir þegar að orustunni kom.
10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
Þannig rufu þeir sáttmálann við Guð og fóru sína eigin leið.
11 And forgot his doings, and his marvellous works which he had shewn them.
Þeir gleymdu máttarverkum Drottins,
12 In the sight of their fathers had he done wonders, in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan.
sem hann hafði fyrir þá gert og forfeður þeirra í Egyptalandi,
13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; and made the waters to stand as a heap;
þegar hann klauf hafið og leiddi þá yfir þurrum fótum. Vatnið stóð eins og veggur til beggja handa!
14 And he led them with a cloud in the daytime, and all the night with the light of fire.
Að degi til leiddi hann þá með skýi, en eldstólpa um nætur.
15 He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave [them] drink as out of the depths, abundantly;
Hann rauf gat á klettinn í eyðimörkinni. Vatnið streymdi fram og þeir svöluðu þorsta sínum.
16 And he brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Já, það flæddi frá klettinum, líkast rennandi á!
17 Yet they still went on sinning against him, provoking the Most High in the desert;
Samt héldu þeir fast við þrjósku sína og syndguðu gegn hinum hæsta Guði.
18 And they tempted God in their heart, by asking meat for their lust;
Þeir kvörtuðu og kveinuðu og heimtuðu annað að borða en það sem Guð gaf þeim.
19 And they spoke against God: they said, Is God able to prepare a table in the wilderness?
Þeir ásökuðu jafnvel sjálfan Guð og sögðu:
20 Behold, he smote the rock, and waters gushed out, and streams overflowed; is he able to give bread also, or provide flesh for his people?
„Hann gaf okkur vatn, en hvers vegna fáum við ekki brauð eða kjöt?!“
21 Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; and fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel:
Drottinn hlustaði og honum rann í skap, reiði hans upptendraðist gegn Ísrael.
22 Because they believed not in God, and confided not in his salvation;
Enda treystu þeir honum ekki, né trúðu forsjá hans.
23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of the heavens,
Jafnvel þótt hann lyki upp himninum – eins og glugga! –
24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the corn of the heavens.
og léti manna rigna niður.
25 Man did eat the bread of the mighty; he sent them provision to the full.
Já, þeir átu englabrauð! – og urðu mettir.
26 He caused the east wind to rise in the heavens, and by his strength he brought the south wind;
Þá lét hann austanvind blása og stýrði vestanvindinum með krafti sínum.
27 And he rained flesh upon them as dust, and feathered fowl as the sand of the seas,
Og viti menn, fuglum rigndi af himni, – þeir voru eins og sandur á sjávarströnd!
28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations:
Af hans völdum féllu þeir til jarðar um allar tjaldbúðirnar.
29 And they did eat, and were well filled; for that they lusted after, he brought to them.
Og fólkið át nægju sína. Hann mettaði hungur þeirra.
30 They were not alienated from their lust, their meat was yet in their mouths,
En varla höfðu þeir lokið matnum – fæðan var enn í munni þeirra,
31 When the anger of God went up against them; and he slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
þá reiddist Drottinn þeim og lagði að velli æskumenn Ísraels.
32 For all this, they sinned still, and believed not in his marvellous works;
En þeir sáu sig ekki um hönd, en héldu áfram að syndga og vildu ekki trúa kraftaverkum Drottins.
33 And he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror.
Þess vegna stytti hann ævi þeirra og sendi þeim miklar hörmungar.
34 When he slew them, then they sought him, and returned and sought early after 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, and God, the Most High, their redeemer.
Þeir viðurkenndu að Guð er eini grundvöllur lífsins – að hinn hæsti Guð væri frelsari þeirra.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their tongue;
En því miður fylgdu þeir honum aðeins í orði kveðnu, en ekki af heilum hug,
37 For their heart was not firm toward him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.
hjarta þeirra var langt frá honum. Þeir stóðu ekki við orð sín.
38 But he was merciful: he forgave the iniquity, and destroyed [them] not; but many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his fury:
Samt var hann þeim miskunnsamur, fyrirgaf syndir þeirra og tortímdi þeim ekki. Margoft hélt hann aftur af reiði sinni.
39 And he remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.
Hann minntist þess að þeir voru dauðlegir menn, eins og andblær sem kemur og fer.
40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Já, oft risu þeir gegn Guði í eyðimörkinni og ollu honum vonbrigðum.
41 And they turned again and tempted God, and grieved the Holy One of Israel.
Aftur og aftur sneru þeir við honum baki og freistuðu hans.
42 They remembered not his hand, the day when he delivered them from the oppressor,
Þeir gleymdu krafti hans og kærleika og hvernig hann hafði frelsað þá frá óvinum þeirra.
43 How he set his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the field of Zoan;
Þeir gleymdu plágunum sem hann sendi Egyptum í Sóan
44 And turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink;
þegar hann breytti fljótum þeirra í blóð, svo að enginn gat drukkið.
45 He sent dog-flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them;
Eða þegar hann fyllti landið af flugum og froskum!
46 And he gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust;
Lirfurnar spilltu uppskerunni og engispretturnar átu allt, hvort tveggja var frá honum komið.
47 He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with hail-stones;
Hann eyddi vínviði þeirra með hagléli og mórberjatrjánum með frosti.
48 And he delivered up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to thunderbolts.
Búpeningurinn hrundi niður í haganum, haglið rotaði hann og sauðirnir drápust í eldingum.
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and distress, — a mission of angels of woes.
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 made a way for his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
Hann gaf reiðinni lausan tauminn. Og ekki hlífði hann Egyptunum. Þeir fengu vænan skerf af plágum og sjúkdómum.
51 And he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the first-fruits of their vigour in the tents of Ham.
Þá deyddi hann frumburði Egypta, efnilegan ungviðinn, sem vonirnar voru bundnar við.
52 And he made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
Sinn eigin lýð leiddi hann styrkri hendi gegnum eyðimörkina.
53 And he led them safely, so that they were without fear; and the sea covered their enemies.
Hann var skjól þeirra og vörn. Þeir þurftu ekkert að óttast, en hafið gleypti óvini þeirra.
54 And he brought them to his holy border, this mountain, which his right hand purchased;
Hann greiddi för þeirra til fyrirheitna landsins, til hæðanna sem hann hafði skapað.
55 And he drove out the nations before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Íbúum landsins stökkti hann á flótta en gaf þar ættkvíslum Ísraels erfðahlut og skjól.
56 But they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, and kept not his testimonies,
En þótt þeir nytu gæsku Guðs, risu þeir gegn hinum hæsta og fyrirlitu boðorð hans.
57 And they drew back and dealt treacherously like their fathers: they turned like a deceitful 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 And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
Þeir tóku aðra guði, reistu þeim ölturu og egndu Drottin á móti sér.
59 God heard, and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
Guð sá verk þeirra og reiddist – fékk viðbjóð á Ísrael.
60 And he forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent where he had dwelt among men,
Hann yfirgaf helgidóm sinn í Síló, bústað sinn meðal manna.
61 And gave his strength into captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor;
Örk sína lét hann falla í hendur óvinanna og vegsemd hans var óvirt af heiðingjum.
62 And delivered up his people unto the sword, and was very wroth with his inheritance:
Hann reiddist lýð sínum og lét hann falla fyrir sverði óvinanna.
63 The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not praised in [nuptial] song;
Æskumenn Ísraels fórust í eldi og ungu stúlkurnar upplifðu ekki sinn brúðkaupsdag.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.
Prestunum var slátrað og ekkjur þeirra dóu áður en þær gátu harmað þá.
65 Then the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, like a mighty man that shouteth aloud by reason of wine;
Þá var sem Drottinn vaknaði af svefni, eins og hetja sem rís upp úr vímu,
66 And he smote his adversaries in the hinder part, and put them to everlasting reproach.
og hann gaf þeim vænt spark í bakhlutann og sendi þá burt með skömm, sömu leið og þeir komu.
67 And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
Hann hafnaði fjölskyldu Jósefs, ætt Efraíms,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved;
en kaus Júdaættkvísl og Síonfjall, sem hann elskar.
69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever.
Þar reisti hann musteri sitt – voldugt og traust rétt eins og himin og jörð.
70 And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
Hann kaus Davíð sem þjón sinn, tók hann frá sauðunum,
71 From following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
úr smalamennskunni, til að verða leiðtogi og hirðir þjóðar sinnar.
72 And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.
Og hann gætti hennar af öryggi og með hreinu hjarta.
