Psalms 78
1 AN INSTRUCTION OF ASAPH. Give ear, O my people, to my law, Incline your ear to sayings of my mouth.
A maschil of Asaph. Hear my teaching, my people, 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 sing about hidden things about the past.
3 That we have heard and know, And our fathers have recounted to us.
These are things that we have heard and learned, things that our ancestors 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 keep them from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the praiseworthy deeds of Yahweh, his strength, 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.
For he established covenant decrees in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors that they were to teach them to their children.
6 So that a later generation knows, Sons who are born, rise and recount to their sons,
He commanded this so that the generation to come might know his decrees, the children not yet born, who should tell them in turn to their own children.
7 And place their confidence in God, And do not forget the doings of God, But keep His commands.
Then they would place their hope in God and not forget his deeds but keep 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 would not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose hearts were not right, and whose spirits were not committed and faithful to God.
9 Sons of Ephraim—armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict.
The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they 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 did not keep the covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law.
11 And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He showed them.
They forgot his deeds, the wonderful things that he had shown them.
12 He has done wonders before their fathers, In the land of Egypt—the field of Zoan.
They forgot the marvelous things he did in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the land of Zoan.
13 He cleft a sea, and causes them to pass over, Indeed, He causes waters to stand as a heap.
He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the waters to stand like walls.
14 And leads them with a cloud by day, And with a light of fire all the night.
In the daytime he led them with a cloud and all the night with the light of fire.
15 He cleaves rocks in a wilderness, And gives drink—as the great deep.
He split the rocks in the wilderness, and he gave them water abundantly, enough to fill the depths of the sea.
16 And brings out streams from a rock, And causes waters to come down as rivers.
He made streams flow out of the rock and made the water flow like rivers.
17 And they still add to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place.
Yet they continued to sin against him, rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust.
They challenged God in their hearts by asking for food to satisfy their appetites.
19 And they speak against God—they said: “Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?”
They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really lay out a table for us 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?”
See, when he struck the rock, waters gushed out and streams overflowed. But can he give bread also? Will he provide meat 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,
When Yahweh heard this, he was angry; so his fire burned against Jacob, and his anger attacked Israel,
22 For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation.
because they did not believe in God and did not trust in his salvation.
23 And He commands clouds from above, Indeed, He has opened doors of the heavens.
Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of the sky.
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, and gave them the grain from heaven.
25 Each has eaten food of the mighty, He sent provision to them to satiety.
People 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 caused the east wind to blow in the sky, and by his power he guided the south wind.
27 And He rains on them flesh as dust, And as sand of the seas—winged bird,
He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sands of the sea.
28 And causes [it] to fall in the midst of His camp, Around His dwelling places.
They fell in the middle of their camp, all around their tents.
29 And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And He brings their desire to them.
So they ate and were full. He gave them what they craved.
30 They have not been estranged from their desire, Their food [is] yet in their mouth,
But they had not yet filled up; their food was 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.
Then God's anger attacked them and killed the strongest of them. He brought down the young men of Israel.
32 With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.
Despite this, they continued to sin and did not believe his wonderful deeds.
33 And He consumes their days in vanity, And their years in trouble.
Therefore God cut short their days; their years were filled with terror.
34 If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and earnestly sought God,
Whenever God afflicted them, they would start to seek him, and they would return and look earnestly for him.
35 And they remember that God [is] their rock, And God Most High their redeemer.
They would call to mind that God was their rock and that the Most High God was their rescuer.
36 And they deceive Him with their mouth, And lie to Him with their tongue,
But they would flatter him with their mouth and lie to him with their words.
37 And their heart has not been right with Him, And they have not been steadfast in His covenant.
For their hearts were not firmly fixed on him, and they were not faithful 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.
Yet he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Yes, many times he held back his anger and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 And He remembers that they [are] flesh, A wind going on—and it does not return.
He called to mind that they were made of flesh, a wind that passes away and does not return.
40 How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the barren regions!
41 Indeed, they turn back, and try God, And have limited the Holy One of Israel.
Again and again they challenged God and offended the Holy One of Israel.
42 They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary.
They did not think about his power, how he had rescued them from the enemy
43 When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan,
when he performed his terrifying signs in Egypt and his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44 And He turns their streams to blood, And they do not drink their floods.
He turned the Egyptians' rivers to blood so that they could not drink from their streams.
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 overran their land.
46 And gives their increase to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.
He gave their crops to the grasshopper and their labor to the locust.
47 He destroys their vine with hail, And their sycamores with frost,
He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with more hail.
48 And delivers their beasts up to the hail, And their livestock to the burning flames.
He rained hail on their cattle and hurled lightning bolts at their livestock.
49 He sends on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress—A discharge of evil messengers.
The fierceness of his anger lashed out against them. He sent wrath, fury, and trouble like agents who bring disaster.
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 leveled a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.
51 And He strikes every firstborn in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham.
He killed all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstborn of their strength 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 his own people out like sheep and guided 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.
He led them secure and unafraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And He brings them to the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had acquired,
Then he brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountain that his right hand 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 the nations from before them and assigned them 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.
Yet they challenged and defied the Most High God and did not keep his solemn commands.
57 And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,
They were unfaithful and acted treacherously like their fathers; they were as undependable as a faulty bow.
58 And make Him angry with their high places, And make Him zealous with their carved images,
For they made him angry with their high places and provoked him to jealous anger with their idols.
59 God has heard, and shows Himself angry. And kicks exceedingly against Israel.
When God heard this, he was angry and completely rejected Israel.
60 And He leaves the Dwelling Place of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,
He abandoned the sanctuary of Shiloh, the tent where he had lived among people.
61 And He gives His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of an adversary,
He allowed his strength to be captured and gave his glory into the enemy's hand.
62 And delivers His people up to the sword, And showed Himself angry with His inheritance.
He handed his people over to the sword, and he was angry with his heritage.
63 Fire has consumed His young men, And His virgins have not been praised.
Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs.
64 His priests have fallen by the sword, And their widows do not weep.
Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could not weep.
65 And the Lord wakes as a sleeper, As a mighty one crying aloud from wine.
Then the Lord awakened as one from sleep, like a warrior who shouts because of wine.
66 And He strikes His adversaries backward, He has put a continuous reproach on them,
He drove his adversaries back; 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 he did not chose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 And He chooses the tribe of Judah, With Mount Zion that He loved,
He chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion that 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 heavens, like the earth that 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.
He took him from following the ewes with their young, and he brought him to be shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his heritage.
72 And he rules them according to the integrity of his heart, And leads them by the skillfulness of his hands!
David shepherded them with the integrity of his heart, and he guided them with the skill of his hands.
