Psalms 78
1 Understanding for Asaph. Attend, 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 parables: I will utter propositions from the beginning.
Nú ætla ég að rifja upp fyrir þér liðna atburði,
3 How great things have we heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
frásagnir sem varðveist hafa frá kynslóð til kynslóðar.
4 They have not been hidden from their children, in another generation. Declaring the praises of the Lord, and his powers, and his wonders 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 And he set up a testimony in Jacob: and made a law in Israel. How great things he commanded our fathers, that they should make the same known to their children:
Lögmál sitt gaf hann Ísrael og bauð forfeðrunum að kenna það börnum sínum
6 That another generation might know them. The children that should be born and should rise up, and declare them to their children.
sem síðan skyldu kenna það sínum afkomendum. Þannig skyldi lögmál hans berast frá einni kynslóðinni til annarrar.
7 That they may put their hope in God and may not forget the works of God: and may seek his commandments.
Því hefur sérhver kynslóð getað haldið lög Guðs, treyst honum og heyrt um hans dásemdarverk.
8 That they may not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation. A generation that set not their heart aright: and 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 sons of Ephraim who bend and shoot with the bow: they have 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 in his law they would not walk.
Þannig rufu þeir sáttmálann við Guð og fóru sína eigin leið.
11 And they forgot his benefits, and his wonders that he had shewn them.
Þeir gleymdu máttarverkum Drottins,
12 Wonderful things did he do in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis.
sem hann hafði fyrir þá gert og forfeður þeirra í Egyptalandi,
13 He divided the sea and brought them through: and he made the waters to stand as in a vessel.
þegar hann klauf hafið og leiddi þá yfir þurrum fótum. Vatnið stóð eins og veggur til beggja handa!
14 And he conducted them with a cloud by day: and all the night with a light of fire.
Að degi til leiddi hann þá með skýi, en eldstólpa um nætur.
15 He struck the rock in the wilderness: and gave them to drink, as out of the great deep.
Hann rauf gat á klettinn í eyðimörkinni. Vatnið streymdi fram og þeir svöluðu þorsta sínum.
16 He brought forth water out of the rock: and made streams run down as rivers.
Já, það flæddi frá klettinum, líkast rennandi á!
17 And they added yet more sin against him: they provoked the most High to wrath in the place without water.
Samt héldu þeir fast við þrjósku sína og syndguðu gegn hinum hæsta Guði.
18 And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking meat for their desires.
Þeir kvörtuðu og kveinuðu og heimtuðu annað að borða en það sem Guð gaf þeim.
19 And they spoke ill of God: they said: Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Þeir ásökuðu jafnvel sjálfan Guð og sögðu:
20 Because he struck the rock, and the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can he also give bread, or provide a table for his people?
„Hann gaf okkur vatn, en hvers vegna fáum við ekki brauð eða kjöt?!“
21 Therefore the Lord heard, and was angry: and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel.
Drottinn hlustaði og honum rann í skap, reiði hans upptendraðist gegn Ísrael.
22 Because they believed not in God: and trusted not in his salvation.
Enda treystu þeir honum ekki, né trúðu forsjá hans.
23 And he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of heaven.
Jafnvel þótt hann lyki upp himninum – eins og glugga! –
24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the bread of heaven.
og léti manna rigna niður.
25 Man ate the bread of angels: he sent them provisions in abundance.
Já, þeir átu englabrauð! – og urðu mettir.
26 He removed the south wind from heaven: and by his power brought in the southwest wind.
Þá lét hann austanvind blása og stýrði vestanvindinum með krafti sínum.
27 And he rained upon them flesh as dust: and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea.
Og viti menn, fuglum rigndi af himni, – þeir voru eins og sandur á sjávarströnd!
28 And they fell in the midst of their camp, round about their pavilions.
Af hans völdum féllu þeir til jarðar um allar tjaldbúðirnar.
29 So they did eat, and were filled exceedingly, and he gave them their desire:
Og fólkið át nægju sína. Hann mettaði hungur þeirra.
30 They were not defrauded of that which they craved. As yet their meat was in their mouth:
En varla höfðu þeir lokið matnum – fæðan var enn í munni þeirra,
31 And the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones amongst them, and brought down the chosen men of Israel.
þá reiddist Drottinn þeim og lagði að velli æskumenn Ísraels.
32 In all these things they sinned still: and they believed not for his wondrous works.
En þeir sáu sig ekki um hönd, en héldu áfram að syndga og vildu ekki trúa kraftaverkum Drottins.
33 And their days were consumed in vanity, and their years in haste.
Þess vegna stytti hann ævi þeirra og sendi þeim miklar hörmungar.
34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned, and came to him early in the morning.
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 helper: and the most high God their redeemer.
Þeir viðurkenndu að Guð er eini grundvöllur lífsins – að hinn hæsti Guð væri frelsari þeirra.
36 And they loved him with their mouth: and with their tongue they lied unto him:
En því miður fylgdu þeir honum aðeins í orði kveðnu, en ekki af heilum hug,
37 But their heart was not right with him: nor were they counted faithful in his covenant.
hjarta þeirra var langt frá honum. Þeir stóðu ekki við orð sín.
38 But he is merciful, and will forgive their sins: and will not destroy them. And many a time did he turn away his anger: and did not kindle all his wrath.
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 are flesh: a wind that goeth and returneth not.
Hann minntist þess að þeir voru dauðlegir menn, eins og andblær sem kemur og fer.
40 How often did they provoke him in the desert: and move him to wrath in the place without water?
Já, oft risu þeir gegn Guði í eyðimörkinni og ollu honum vonbrigðum.
41 And they turned back 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, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of him that afflicted them:
Þeir gleymdu krafti hans og kærleika og hvernig hann hafði frelsað þá frá óvinum þeirra.
43 How he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Tanis.
Þeir gleymdu plágunum sem hann sendi Egyptum í Sóan
44 And he turned their rivers into blood, and their showers that they might, not drink.
þegar hann breytti fljótum þeirra í blóð, svo að enginn gat drukkið.
45 He sent amongst them divers sores of flies, which devoured them: and frogs which destroyed them.
Eða þegar hann fyllti landið af flugum og froskum!
46 And he gave up their fruits to the blast, and their labours to the locust.
Lirfurnar spilltu uppskerunni og engispretturnar átu allt, hvort tveggja var frá honum komið.
47 And he destroyed their vineyards with hail, and their mulberry trees with hoarfrost.
Hann eyddi vínviði þeirra með hagléli og mórberjatrjánum með frosti.
48 And he gave up their cattle to the hail, and their stock to the fire.
Búpeningurinn hrundi niður í haganum, haglið rotaði hann og sauðirnir drápust í eldingum.
49 And he sent upon them the wrath of his indignation: indignation and wrath and trouble, which he sent by evil 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 made a way for a path to his anger: he spared not their souls from death, and their cattle he shut up in death.
Hann gaf reiðinni lausan tauminn. Og ekki hlífði hann Egyptunum. Þeir fengu vænan skerf af plágum og sjúkdómum.
51 And he killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt: the firstfruits of all their labour in the tabernacles of Cham.
Þá deyddi hann frumburði Egypta, efnilegan ungviðinn, sem vonirnar voru bundnar við.
52 And he took away his own people as sheep: and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
Sinn eigin lýð leiddi hann styrkri hendi gegnum eyðimörkina.
53 And he brought them out in hope, and they feared not: band the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
Hann var skjól þeirra og vörn. Þeir þurftu ekkert að óttast, en hafið gleypti óvini þeirra.
54 And he brought them into the mountain of his sanctuary: the mountain which his right hand had purchased. And he cast out the Gentiles before them: and by lot divided to them their land by a line of distribution.
Hann greiddi för þeirra til fyrirheitna landsins, til hæðanna sem hann hafði skapað.
55 And he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.
Íbúum landsins stökkti hann á flótta en gaf þar ættkvíslum Ísraels erfðahlut og skjól.
56 Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God: and they kept not his testimonies.
En þótt þeir nytu gæsku Guðs, risu þeir gegn hinum hæsta og fyrirlitu boðorð hans.
57 And they turned away, and kept not the covenant: even like their fathers they were turned aside as a crooked 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 provoked him to anger on their hills: and moved him to jealousy with their graven things.
Þeir tóku aðra guði, reistu þeim ölturu og egndu Drottin á móti sér.
59 God heard, and despised them, and he reduced Israel exceedingly as it were to nothing.
Guð sá verk þeirra og reiddist – fékk viðbjóð á Ísrael.
60 And he put away the tabernacle of Silo, his tabernacle where he dwelt among men.
Hann yfirgaf helgidóm sinn í Síló, bústað sinn meðal manna.
61 And he delivered their strength into captivity: and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.
Örk sína lét hann falla í hendur óvinanna og vegsemd hans var óvirt af heiðingjum.
62 And he shut up his people under the sword: and he despised his inheritance.
Hann reiddist lýð sínum og lét hann falla fyrir sverði óvinanna.
63 Fire consumed their young men: and their maidens were not lamented.
Æskumenn Ísraels fórust í eldi og ungu stúlkurnar upplifðu ekki sinn brúðkaupsdag.
64 Their priests fell by the sword: and their widows did not mourn.
Prestunum var slátrað og ekkjur þeirra dóu áður en þær gátu harmað þá.
65 And the Lord was awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine.
Þá var sem Drottinn vaknaði af svefni, eins og hetja sem rís upp úr vímu,
66 And he smote his enemies on the hinder parts: he put them to an 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 tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
Hann hafnaði fjölskyldu Jósefs, ætt Efraíms,
68 But he chose the tribe of Juda, mount Sion which he loved.
en kaus Júdaættkvísl og Síonfjall, sem hann elskar.
69 And he built his sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which he founded for ever.
Þar reisti hann musteri sitt – voldugt og traust rétt eins og himin og jörð.
70 And he chose his servant David, and took him from the hocks of sheep: he brought him from following the ewes great with young,
Hann kaus Davíð sem þjón sinn, tók hann frá sauðunum,
71 To feed Jacob his servant, and Israel his inheritance.
úr smalamennskunni, til að verða leiðtogi og hirðir þjóðar sinnar.
72 And he fed them in the innocence of his heart: and conducted them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Og hann gætti hennar af öryggi og með hreinu hjarta.
