Psalms 78
1 A maskil of Asaph. My people, attend to my teaching: bend your ears to the words of my mouth,
Intellectus Asaph. Attendite popule meus legem meam: inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris mei.
2 as I open my mouth in a poem on the riddling story of the past.
Aperiam in parabolis os meum: loquar propositiones ab initio.
3 What we have heard and known, and what our ancestors have told us,
Quanta audivimus et cognovimus ea: et patres nostri narraverunt nobis.
4 we will not hide from their children. We will tell to the next generation the praises and might of the Lord, and the wonders that he has done.
Non sunt occultata a filiis eorum, in generatione altera. Narrantes laudes Domini, et virtutes eius, et mirabilia eius quæ fecit.
5 He set up a testimony in Jacob, a law he appointed in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to make known to their children,
Et suscitavit testimonium in Iacob: et legem posuit in Israel. Quanta mandavit patribus nostris nota facere ea filiis suis:
6 that the next generation should know it, that the children yet to be born should arise and tell their children;
ut cognoscat generatio altera. Filii qui nascentur, et exurgent, et narrabunt filiis suis,
7 that in God they might put their confidence, and not forget God’s works; but that they might keep his commandments,
Ut ponant in Deo spem suam, et non obliviscantur operum Dei: et mandata eius exquirant.
8 and not be like their ancestors, a generation defiant and stubborn, a generation with heart unsteady, and spirit unfaithful towards God.
Ne fiant sicut patres eorum: generatio prava et exasperans. Generatio, quæ non direxit cor suum: et non est creditus cum Deo spiritus eius.
9 Ephraimites, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle.
Filii Ephrem intendentes et mittentes arcum: conversi sunt in die belli.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant, they refused to walk in his law.
Non custodierunt testamentum Dei, et in lege eius noluerunt ambulare.
11 They forgot what he had done, and the wonders he had shown them.
Et obliti sunt benefactorum eius, et mirabilium eius quæ ostendit eis.
12 He did wonders before their ancestors in the country of Zoan in Egypt.
Coram patribus eorum fecit mirabilia in terra Ægypti, in campo Taneos.
13 Through the sea which he split he brought them, making waters stand up like a heap;
Interrupit mare, et perduxit eos: et statuit aquas quasi in utre.
14 he led them by day with a cloud, all the night with a light of fire.
Et deduxit eos in nube diei: et tota nocte in illuminatione ignis.
15 From the rocks which he split in the wilderness, he gave them to drink as of ocean’s abundance.
Interrupit petram in eremo: et adaquavit eos velut in abysso multa.
16 He brought streams out of the rock, and made water run down like rivers.
Et eduxit aquam de petra: et deduxit tamquam flumina aquas.
17 Yet they still went on sinning against him, they defied the Most High in the desert.
Et apposuerunt adhuc peccare ei: in iram excitaverunt Excelsum in inaquoso.
18 They wilfully challenged God, demanding the food that they longed for.
Et tentaverunt Deum in cordibus suis: ut peterent escas animabus suis.
19 ‘Is God able,’ such was their challenge, ‘to spread in the desert a table?
Et male locuti sunt de Deo: dixerunt: Numquid poterit Deus parare mensam in deserto?
20 From the rock that he struck there gushed water, and torrents that overflowed; but can he also give bread, or provide his people with meat?’
Quoniam percussit petram, et fluxerunt aquæ, et torrentes inundaverunt. Numquid et panem poterit dare, aut parare mensam populo suo?
21 When the Lord heard this, he was furious, and fire was kindled on Jacob, anger flared up against Israel.
Ideo audivit Dominus, et distulit: et ignis accensus est in Iacob, et ira ascendit in Israel:
22 For they put no trust in God, no confidence in his help.
Quia non crediderunt in Deo, nec speraverunt in salutari eius:
23 So he summoned the clouds above; and, opening the doors of heaven,
Et mandavit nubibus desuper, et ianuas cæli aperuit.
24 he rained manna upon them for food, and grain of heaven he gave them.
Et pluit illis manna ad manducandum, et panem cæli dedit eis.
25 Everyone ate the bread of angels; he sent them food to the full.
Panem angelorum manducavit homo: cibaria misit eis in abundantia.
26 He launched the east wind in the heavens, and guided the south by his power.
Transtulit Austrum de cælo: et induxit in virtute sua Africum.
27 He rained meat upon them like dust, winged bird like the sand of the sea.
Et pluit super eos sicut pulverem carnes, et sicut arenam maris volatilia pennata.
28 In the midst of their camp he dropped it, all around their tents.
Et ceciderunt in medio castrorum eorum: circa tabernacula eorum.
29 They ate and were more than filled; he had brought them the thing they desired.
Et manducaverunt et saturati sunt nimis, et desiderium eorum attulit eis:
30 But the thing they desired became loathsome: while their food was still in their mouths,
non sunt fraudati a desiderio suo. Adhuc escæ eorum erant in ore ipsorum,
31 the wrath of God rose against them. He slew the stoutest among them, and laid low the young men of Israel.
et ira Dei ascendit super eos. Et occidit pingues eorum, et electos Israel impedivit.
32 Yet for all this they sinned yet more, and refused to believe in his wonders.
In omnibus his peccaverunt adhuc: et non crediderunt in mirabilibus eius.
33 So he ended their days in a breath, and their years in sudden dismay.
Et defecerunt in vanitate dies eorum: et anni eorum cum festinatione.
34 When he slew them, then they sought after him, they turned and sought God with diligence.
Cum occideret eos, quærebant eum: et revertebantur, et diluculo veniebant ad eum.
35 They remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their redeemer.
Et rememorati sunt quia Deus adiutor est eorum: et Deus excelsus redemptor eorum est.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.
Et dilexerunt eum in ore suo, et lingua sua mentiti sunt ei:
37 Their heart was not steady with him, they were faithless to his covenant.
Cor autem eorum non erat rectum cum eo: nec fideles habiti sunt in testamento eius.
38 But he is full of pity: he pardons sin and destroys not. Often he turns his anger away, without stirring his wrath at all.
Ipse autem est misericors, et propitius fiet peccatis eorum: et non disperdet eos. Et abundavit ut averteret iram suam: et non accendit omnem iram suam:
39 So he remembered that they were but flesh, breath that passes and does not return.
Et recordatus est quia caro sunt: spiritus vadens, et non rediens.
40 But how often they rebelled in the desert, and caused him grief in the wilderness,
Quoties exacerbaverunt eum in deserto, in iram concitaverunt eum in inaquoso?
41 tempting God again and again, provoking the Holy One of Israel.
Et conversi sunt, et tentaverunt Deum: et Sanctum Israel exacerbaverunt.
42 They did not remember his strength, nor the day he redeemed from the foe,
Non sunt recordati manus eius, die qua redemit eos de manu tribulantis,
43 how he set his signs in Egypt, in the country of Zoan his wonders.
Sicut posuit in Ægypto signa sua, et prodigia sua in campo Taneos.
44 He turned their canals into blood, their streams undrinkable.
Et convertit in sanguinem flumina eorum, et imbres eorum, ne biberent.
45 He sent forth flies, which devoured them; frogs, too, which destroyed them.
Misit in eos cœnomyiam, et comedit eos: et ranam, et disperdidit eos.
46 Their crops he gave to the caterpillar, and the fruits of their toil to the locust.
Et dedit ærugini fructus eorum: et labores eorum locustæ.
47 He slew their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
Et occidit in grandine vineas eorum: et moros eorum in pruina.
48 He delivered their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to bolts of fire.
Et tradidit grandini iumenta eorum: et possessionem eorum igni.
49 He let loose his hot anger among them, fury and wrath and distress, a band of destroying angels.
Misit in eos iram indignationis suæ: indignationem, et iram, et tribulationem: immissiones per angelos malos.
50 He cleared a path for his anger, did not spare them from death, but gave them over to pestilence.
Viam fecit semitæ iræ suæ, non pepercit a morte animabus eorum: et iumenta eorum in morte conclusit.
51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
Et percussit omne primogenitum in terra Ægypti: primitias omnis laboris eorum in tabernaculis Cham.
52 He led forth his people like sheep, he was guide to his flock in the desert.
Et abstulit sicut oves populum suum: et perduxit eos tamquam gregem in deserto.
53 Securely he led them, and free from fear, while their foes were drowned in the sea.
Et deduxit eos in spe, et non timuerunt: et inimicos eorum operuit mare.
54 To his holy realm he brought them, to the mountain his right hand had purchased.
Et induxit eos in montem sanctificationis suæ, montem, quem acquisivit dextera eius. Et eiecit a facie eorum Gentes: et sorte divisit eis terram in funiculo distributionis.
55 He drove out the nations before them, and allotted their land for possession, and their tents for Israel to live in.
Et habitare fecit in tabernaculis eorum tribus Israel.
56 Yet they tempted and angered the Most High God, they did not observe his decrees.
Et tentaverunt, et exacerbaverunt Deum excelsum: et testimonia eius non custodierunt.
57 They drew back, false like their ancestors; they failed like a treacherous bow.
Et averterunt se, et non servaverunt pactum: quemadmodum patres eorum, conversi sunt in arcum pravum.
58 Their shrines stirred him to anger, their idols moved him to jealousy.
In iram concitaverunt eum in collibus suis: et in sculptilibus suis ad æmulationem eum provocaverunt.
59 When God heard of this, he was furious, and he spurned Israel utterly.
Audivit Deus, et sprevit: et ad nihilum redegit valde Israel.
60 He abandoned his home in Shiloh, the tent he had pitched among people.
Et repulit tabernaculum Silo, tabernaculum suum, ubi habitavit in hominibus.
61 He gave his strength up to captivity, his glory to the hands of the foe.
Et tradidit in captivitatem virtutem eorum: et pulchritudinem eorum in manus inimici.
62 He gave his people to the sword, he was furious with his own.
Et conclusit in gladio populum suum: et hereditatem suam sprevit.
63 Fire devoured their young men, and their maidens had no marriage-song.
Iuvenes eorum comedit ignis: et virgines eorum non sunt lamentatæ.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could not weep.
Sacerdotes eorum in gladio ceciderunt: et viduæ eorum non plorabantur.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a warrior flushed with wine;
Et excitatus est tamquam dormiens Dominus, tamquam potens crapulatus a vino.
66 and he beat back his foes, putting them to perpetual scorn.
Et percussit inimicos suos in posteriora: opprobrium sempiternum dedit illis.
67 He disowned the tent of Joseph, he rejected the tribe of Ephraim;
Et repulit tabernaculum Ioseph: et tribum Ephraim non elegit:
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.
Sed elegit tribum Iuda, montem Sion quem dilexit.
69 And he built like the heights his sanctuary, like the earth which he founded forever.
Et ædificavit sicut unicornium sanctificium suum in terra, quam fundavit in sæcula.
70 And he chose David his servant, taking him from the sheepfolds.
Et elegit David servum suum, et sustulit eum de gregibus ovium: de post fœtantes accepit eum.
71 From the mother-ewes he brought him, to be shepherd to Jacob his people, and to Israel his inheritance.
Pascere Iacob servum suum, et Israel hereditatem suam:
72 With upright heart did he shepherd them, and with skilful hands did he guide them.
Et pavit eos in innocentia cordis sui: et in intellectibus manuum suarum deduxit eos.
