Psalms 78

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

The understanding of Asaph. O my people, attend to my law. Incline your ears 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 speak about concepts that are from the beginning.

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

We have heard and known such great things, as our fathers have described 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.

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.

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.

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,

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

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.

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

So then, may they put their hope in God, and may they not forget the works of God, and may they seek 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.

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.

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

The sons of Ephraim, who bend and shoot the bow, have been turned back in the day of battle.

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

They have not kept the covenant of God. And they were not willing to walk in his law.

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

And they have been forgetful of his benefits, and of his miracle, which he revealed to them.

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

He performed miracles in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis.

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

He broke the sea and he led them through. And he stationed the waters, as if in a vessel.

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

And he led them with a cloud by day, and with illumination by fire throughout the night.

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

He broke through the rock in the wasteland, and he gave them to drink, as if from the great abyss.

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

He brought forth water from the rock, and he conducted the waters, as if they were rivers.

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

And yet, they continued to sin against him. In a waterless place, they provoked the Most High with resentment.

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

And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking for food according to their desires.

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

And they spoke badly about God. They said, “Would God be able to prepare a table in the desert?

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?”

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?”

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 he was dismayed, and a fire was kindled within Jacob, and an anger ascended into Israel.

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

For they neither put their trust in God, nor did they hope in his salvation.

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

And he commanded the clouds from above, and he opened the doors of heaven.

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

And he rained down manna upon them to eat, and he gave them the bread of 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 provisions in abundance.

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

He transferred the south wind from heaven, and, in his virtue, he brought in the Southwest wind.

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

And he rained down flesh upon them, as if it were dust, and feathered birds, as if they were the sand of the sea.

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

And they fell down in the midst of their camp, encircling their tabernacles.

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

And they ate until they were greatly satisfied, and he brought to them according to their desires.

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

They were not cheated out of what they wanted. Their food was still in their mouth,

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.

and then the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones among them, and he impeded the elect of Israel.

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

In all these things, they continued to sin, and they were not trustworthy with his miracles.

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

And their days faded away into vanity, and their years with haste.

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

When he slew them, then they sought him. And they returned, and they drew near to him in the early morning.

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

And they were mindful that God is their helper and that the Most High God is their redeemer.

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

And they chose him with their mouth, and then they lied to him with their tongue.

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

For their heart was not upright with him, nor have they been living faithfully in 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.

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.

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

And he remembered that they are flesh: with a spirit that goes forth and does not return.

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

How often did they provoke him in the desert and stir him to wrath in a waterless place?

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

And they turned back and tempted God, and they exasperated 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 hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of the one troubling them.

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

Thus, he positioned his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Tanis.

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

And he turned their rivers into blood, along with their rain showers, so that they could not drink.

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

He sent among them the common fly, and it devoured them, and the frog, and it scattered them.

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

And he gave up their fruits to mold and their labors to the locust.

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

And he slew their vineyards with hail and their mulberry trees with severe frost.

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

And he delivered their cattle to the hail and their possessions to fire.

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

And he sent the wrath of his indignation among them: indignation and wrath and tribulation, sent forth by evil 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 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.

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

And he struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt: the first-fruits of all their labor in the tabernacles of Ham.

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

And he took away his own people like sheep, and he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

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

And he led them out in hope, and they did not fear. And the sea covered their enemies.

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

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.

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,

And he caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.

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

Yet they tempted and aggravated God Most High, and they did not keep his testaments.

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

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.

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

They impelled him to anger on their hills, and they provoked him to rivalry with their graven images.

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

God listened, and he spurned them, and he reduced Israel greatly, almost to nothing.

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

And he rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, his tabernacle where he had dwelt among men.

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

And he delivered their virtue into captivity, and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.

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

And he enclosed his people with the sword, and he spurned his inheritance.

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

Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins were not lamented.

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

Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows did not weep.

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

And the Lord was awakened, as if out of sleep, and like a powerful man impaired by wine.

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

And he struck his enemies on the back. He gave them over to everlasting disgrace.

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

And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and he did not choose 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.

And he built up his sanctuary, like a single-horned beast, in the land that he founded for all ages.

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

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,

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

in order to pasture Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance.

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

And he fed them with the innocence of his heart. And he led them with the understanding of his hands.