Psalms 78

1 AN INSTRUCTION OF ASAPH. Give ear, O my people, to my law, Incline your ear to sayings of my mouth.

A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.

2 I open my mouth with an allegory, I bring forth hidden things of old,

I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

3 That we have heard and know, And our fathers have recounted to us.

that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.

4 We do not hide from their sons, Recounting praises of YHWH to a later generation, And His strength, and His wonders that He has done.

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.

5 And He raises up a testimony in Jacob, And has placed a law in Israel, That He commanded our fathers, To make them known to their sons.

For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,

6 So that a later generation knows, Sons who are born, rise and recount to their sons,

that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children

7 And place their confidence in God, And do not forget the doings of God, But keep His commands.

that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.

8 And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostatizing and being rebellious, A generation—it has not prepared its heart, Nor [is] its spirit steadfast with God.

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.

9 Sons of Ephraim—armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict.

The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle.

10 They have not kept the covenant of God, And they have refused to walk in His law,

They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.

11 And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He showed them.

They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.

12 He has done wonders before their fathers, In the land of Egypt—the field of Zoan.

He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

13 He cleft a sea, and causes them to pass over, Indeed, He causes waters to stand as a heap.

He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.

14 And leads them with a cloud by day, And with a light of fire all the night.

He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.

15 He cleaves rocks in a wilderness, And gives drink—as the great deep.

He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.

16 And brings out streams from a rock, And causes waters to come down as rivers.

He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.

17 And they still add to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place.

But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

18 And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust.

They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.

19 And they speak against God—they said: “Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?”

They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, He has struck a rock, And waters flow, indeed, streams overflow. “Also, [is] He able to give bread? Does He prepare flesh for His people?”

When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?”

21 Therefore YHWH has heard, And He shows Himself angry, And fire has been kindled against Jacob, And anger has also gone up against Israel,

Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,

22 For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation.

because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.

23 And He commands clouds from above, Indeed, He has opened doors of the heavens.

Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.

24 And He rains manna on them to eat, Indeed, He has given grain of the heavens to them.

He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.

25 Each has eaten food of the mighty, He sent provision to them to satiety.

Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.

26 He causes an east wind to journey in the heavens, And leads a south wind by His strength,

He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.

27 And He rains on them flesh as dust, And as sand of the seas—winged bird,

He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

28 And causes [it] to fall in the midst of His camp, Around His dwelling places.

He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.

29 And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And He brings their desire to them.

So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.

30 They have not been estranged from their desire, Their food [is] yet in their mouth,

Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,

31 And the anger of God has gone up against them, And He slays among their fat ones, And He caused youths of Israel to bend.

God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.

32 With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.

In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.

33 And He consumes their days in vanity, And their years in trouble.

So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.

34 If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and earnestly sought God,

When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.

35 And they remember that God [is] their rock, And God Most High their redeemer.

And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36 And they deceive Him with their mouth, And lie to Him with their tongue,

But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.

37 And their heart has not been right with Him, And they have not been steadfast in His covenant.

Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

38 And He, the Merciful One, pardons iniquity, and does not destroy, And has often turned back His anger, And does not awaken all His fury.

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.

39 And He remembers that they [are] flesh, A wind going on—and it does not return.

He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

40 How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?

How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!

41 Indeed, they turn back, and try God, And have limited the Holy One of Israel.

Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42 They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary.

They did not remember His power — the day He redeemed them from the adversary,

43 When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan,

when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.

44 And He turns their streams to blood, And they do not drink their floods.

He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink.

45 He sends among them the beetle, and it consumes them, And the frog, and it destroys them,

He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.

46 And gives their increase to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.

47 He destroys their vine with hail, And their sycamores with frost,

He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

48 And delivers their beasts up to the hail, And their livestock to the burning flames.

He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.

49 He sends on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress—A discharge of evil messengers.

He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity— a band of destroying angels.

50 He ponders a path for His anger, He did not keep back their soul from death, Indeed, He delivered up their life to the pestilence.

He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.

51 And He strikes every firstborn in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham.

He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.

52 And causes His people to journey as a flock, And guides them as a drove in a wilderness,

He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

53 And He leads them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And the sea has covered their enemies.

He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.

54 And He brings them to the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had acquired,

He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired.

55 And casts out nations from before them, And causes them to fall in the line of inheritance, And causes the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents,

He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56 And they tempt and provoke God Most High, And have not kept His testimonies.

But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.

57 And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,

They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.

58 And make Him angry with their high places, And make Him zealous with their carved images,

They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.

59 God has heard, and shows Himself angry. And kicks exceedingly against Israel.

On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.

60 And He leaves the Dwelling Place of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,

He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.

61 And He gives His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of an adversary,

He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

62 And delivers His people up to the sword, And showed Himself angry with His inheritance.

He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.

63 Fire has consumed His young men, And His virgins have not been praised.

Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.

64 His priests have fallen by the sword, And their widows do not weep.

His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.

65 And the Lord wakes as a sleeper, As a mighty one crying aloud from wine.

Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.

66 And He strikes His adversaries backward, He has put a continuous reproach on them,

He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame.

67 And He kicks against the tent of Joseph, And has not fixed on the tribe of Ephraim.

He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.

68 And He chooses the tribe of Judah, With Mount Zion that He loved,

But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.

69 And builds His sanctuary as a high place, Like the earth, He founded it for all time.

He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever.

70 And He fixes on His servant David, And takes him from the folds of a flock,

He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

71 He has brought him in from behind suckling ones, To rule over Jacob His people, And over Israel His inheritance.

from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.

72 And he rules them according to the integrity of his heart, And leads them by the skillfulness of his hands!

So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands.