Psalms 78
1 A maskil of Asaph. My people, attend to my teaching: bend your ears to the words of my mouth,
“A psalm of Asaph.” Give ear, O my people, to my instruction! Incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 as I open my mouth in a poem on the riddling story of the past.
I will open my mouth in a psalm; I will utter sayings of ancient times.
3 What we have heard and known, and what our ancestors have told us,
What we have heard and learned, And our fathers have told us,
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.
We will not hide from their children; Showing to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, His might, and the wonders he hath wrought.
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,
For he appointed statutes in Jacob, And established a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers To make known to their children;
6 that the next generation should know it, that the children yet to be born should arise and tell their children;
So that the generation to come might know them; The children, which should be born, and rise up, Who should declare them to their children;
7 that in God they might put their confidence, and not forget God’s works; but that they might keep his commandments,
That they might put their trust in God, And not forget his deeds, But keep his commandments;
8 and not be like their ancestors, a generation defiant and stubborn, a generation with heart unsteady, and spirit unfaithful towards God.
And might not be, like their forefathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, —A generation whose heart was not fixed upon God, And whose spirit was not steadfast toward the Almighty.
9 Ephraimites, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle.
The children of Ephraim were like armed bowmen, Who turn their backs in the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant, they refused to walk in his law.
They kept not the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law;
11 They forgot what he had done, and the wonders he had shown them.
And forgot his mighty deeds, And the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did wonders before their ancestors in the country of Zoan in Egypt.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 Through the sea which he split he brought them, making waters stand up like a heap;
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; Yea, he made the waters to stand as a heap.
14 he led them by day with a cloud, all the night with a light of fire.
By day he led them by a cloud, And all the night by a light of fire.
15 From the rocks which he split in the wilderness, he gave them to drink as of ocean’s abundance.
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink, as from the great deep.
16 He brought streams out of the rock, and made water run down like rivers.
From the rock he brought flowing streams, And made water to run down like rivers.
17 Yet they still went on sinning against him, they defied the Most High in the desert.
Yet still they sinned against him, And provoked the Most High in the desert.
18 They willfully challenged God, demanding the food that they longed for.
They tempted God in their hearts, By asking food for their delight.
19 “Is God able,” such was their challenge, “to spread in the desert a table?
Yea, they spake against God, and said, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
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?”
Behold! he smote the rock, and the water flowed, And streams gushed forth: Is he also able to give bread? Can he provide flesh for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard this, he was furious, and fire was kindled on Jacob, anger flared up against Israel.
When, therefore, the LORD heard this, he was wroth: So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger arose against Israel.
22 For they put no trust in God, no confidence in his help.
Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his aid.
23 So he summoned the clouds above; and, opening the doors of heaven,
Yet he had commanded the clouds above, And had opened the doors of heaven;
24 he rained manna upon them for food, and grain of heaven he gave them.
And had rained down upon them manna for food, And had given them the corn of heaven.
25 Everyone ate the bread of angels; he sent them food to the full.
Every one ate the food of princes; He sent them bread to the full.
26 He launched the east wind in the heavens, and guided the south by his power.
Then he caused a strong wind to blow in the heavens, And by his power he brought a south wind;
27 He rained meat upon them like dust, winged bird like the sand of the sea.
He rained down flesh upon them as dust, And feathered fowls as the sand of the sea.
28 In the midst of their camp he dropped it, all around their tents.
He caused them to fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.
29 They ate and were more than filled; he had brought them the thing they desired.
So they did eat, and were filled; For he gave them their own desire.
30 But the thing they desired became loathsome: while their food was still in their mouths,
Their desire was not yet satisfied, And their meat was yet in their mouths,
31 the wrath of God rose against them. He slew the stoutest among them, and laid low the young men of Israel.
When the wrath of God came upon them, And slew their strong men, And smote down the chosen men of Israel.
32 Yet for all this they sinned yet more, and refused to believe in his wonders.
For all this they sinned still, And put no trust in his wondrous works.
33 So he ended their days in a breath, and their years in sudden dismay.
Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in sudden destruction.
34 When he slew them, then they sought after him, they turned and sought God with diligence.
When he slew them, they sought him; They returned, and sought earnestly for God;
35 They remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their redeemer.
And remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.
But they only flattered him with their mouths, And spake falsely to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steady with him, they were faithless to his covenant.
For their hearts were not true to him, Nor were they steadfast in his covenant.
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.
Yet, being full of compassion, he forgave their iniquity, And would not utterly destroy them; Often he restrained his indignation, And stirred not up all his anger.
39 So he remembered that they were but flesh, breath that passes and does not return.
He remembered that they were but flesh, —A breath, that passeth and cometh not back.
40 But how often they rebelled in the desert, and caused him grief in the wilderness,
How often did they provoke him in the wilderness! How often did they anger him in the desert!
41 tempting God again and again, provoking the Holy One of Israel.
Again and again they tempted God, And offended the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his strength, nor the day he redeemed from the foe,
They remembered not his hand, Nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy;
43 how he set his signs in Egypt, in the country of Zoan his wonders.
What signs he had wrought in Egypt, And what wonders in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned their canals into blood, their streams undrinkable.
He turned their rivers into blood, So that they could not drink of their streams.
45 He sent forth flies, which devoured them; frogs, too, which destroyed them.
He sent amongst them flies, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.
46 Their crops he gave to the caterpillar, and the fruits of their toil to the locust.
He gave also their fruits to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.
47 He slew their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore-trees with frost.
48 He delivered their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to bolts of fire.
He also gave up their cattle to hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He let loose his hot anger among them, fury and wrath and distress, a band of destroying angels.
He sent against them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and woe, —A host of angels of evil.
50 He cleared a path for his anger, did not spare them from death, but gave them over to pestilence.
He made a way for his anger, He spared them not from death, But gave up their lives to the pestilence.
51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
He smote all the firstborn in Egypt; The first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 He led forth his people like sheep, he was guide to his flock in the desert.
But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
53 Securely he led them, and free from fear, while their foes were drowned in the sea.
He led them on safely, so that they feared not, While the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 To his holy realm he brought them, to the mountain his right hand had purchased.
He brought them to his own sacred border, Even to this mountain which his right hand had gained.
55 He drove out the nations before them, and allotted their land for possession, and their tents for Israel to live in.
He cast out the nations before them, And divided their land by a measuring-line, as an inheritance, And caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they tempted and angered the Most High God, they did not observe his decrees.
Yet they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, And kept not his statutes;
57 They drew back, false like their ancestors; they failed like a treacherous bow.
Like their fathers they were faithless, and turned back; They turned aside, like a deceitful bow.
58 Their shrines stirred him to anger, their idols moved him to jealousy.
They provoked his anger by their high places, And stirred up his jealousy by their graven images.
59 When God heard of this, he was furious, and he spurned Israel utterly.
God saw this, and was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;
60 He abandoned his home in Shiloh, the tent he had pitched among people.
So that he forsook the habitation at Shiloh, The tabernacle where he dwelt among men,
61 He gave his strength up to captivity, his glory to the hands of the foe.
And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the hand of the enemy.
62 He gave his people to the sword, he was furious with his own.
His own people he gave up to the sword, And was wroth with his own inheritance.
63 Fire devoured their young men, and their maidens had no marriage-song.
Fire consumed their young men, And their maidens did not bewail them.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could not weep.
Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a warrior flushed with wine;
But at length the Lord awaked as from sleep, As a hero who had been overpowered by wine;
66 and he beat back his foes, putting them to perpetual scorn.
He smote his enemies, and drove them back, And covered them with everlasting disgrace.
67 He disowned the tent of Joseph, he rejected the tribe of Ephraim;
Yet he rejected the tents of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of Ephraim;
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.
But chose the tribe of Judah, The Mount Zion which he loved;
69 And he built like the heights his sanctuary, like the earth which he founded forever.
Where he built, like the heavens, his sanctuary; Like the earth, which he hath established for ever.
70 And he chose David his servant, taking him from the sheepfolds.
And he chose David, his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From the mother-ewes he brought him, to be shepherd to Jacob his people, and to Israel his inheritance.
From tending the suckling ewes he brought him To feed Jacob his people, And Israel his inheritance.
72 With upright heart did he shepherd them, and with skilful hands did he guide them.
He fed them with an upright heart, And guided them with skilful hands.
