Psalms 78

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

An instruction. Of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, 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 a parable; I will utter riddles from of old,

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

Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told 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 sons, shewing forth to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and his strength, and his marvellous works which he hath 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.

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;

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

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,

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

And that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but observe 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.

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.

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

The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, 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 kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

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

And forgot his doings, and his marvellous works which he had shewn them.

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

In the sight of their fathers had he done wonders, in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan.

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

He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; and made the waters to stand as a heap;

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 in the daytime, and all the night with the light of fire.

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

He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave [them] drink as out of the depths, abundantly;

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

And he brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

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

Yet they still went on sinning against him, provoking the Most High in the desert;

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

And they tempted God in their heart, by asking meat for their lust;

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

And they spoke against God: they said, Is God able to 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?”

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?

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 Jehovah heard, and was wroth; and fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel:

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

Because they believed not in God, and confided not in his salvation;

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

Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and had 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.

And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the corn of the heavens.

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

Man did eat the bread of the mighty; he sent them provision to the full.

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

He caused the east wind to rise in the heavens, and by his strength he brought the south wind;

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

And he rained flesh upon them as dust, and feathered fowl as the sand of the seas,

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

And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations:

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

And they did eat, and were well filled; for that they lusted after, he brought to them.

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

They were not alienated from their lust, their meat was yet 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.

When the anger of God went up against them; and he slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

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

For all this, they sinned still, and believed not in his marvellous works;

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

And he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror.

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 returned and sought early after God;

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

And they remembered that God was their rock, and God, the Most High, their redeemer.

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

But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied unto 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 firm toward him, neither were they stedfast 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.

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:

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

And he remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.

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

How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

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

And they turned again and tempted God, and grieved the Holy One of Israel.

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

They remembered not his hand, the day when he delivered them from the oppressor,

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

How he set his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the field of Zoan;

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

And turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, 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 dog-flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them;

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

And he gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust;

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

He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with hail-stones;

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

And he delivered up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to thunderbolts.

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

He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and distress, — a mission of angels of woes.

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 a way for his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

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

And he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the first-fruits of their vigour in the tents of Ham.

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

And he made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in 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 safely, so that they were without 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 brought them to his holy border, this mountain, which his right hand purchased;

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 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.

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

But they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, and kept not his testimonies,

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

And they drew back and dealt treacherously like their fathers: they turned like a deceitful bow.

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

And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

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

God heard, and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

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

And he forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent where he had dwelt among men,

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

And gave his strength into captivity, and his glory into the hand of the oppressor;

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

And delivered up his people unto the sword, and was very wroth with his inheritance:

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

The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not praised in [nuptial] song;

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

Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

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

Then the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, like a mighty man that shouteth aloud by reason of wine;

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

And he smote his adversaries in the hinder part, and put them to everlasting reproach.

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

And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,

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

But chose the tribe of Judah, the 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 his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever.

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

And 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 following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, 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 according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.