Psalms 78

1 An Instructive Psalm. Asaph’s. Give ear, O my people, to mine instruction, Bend your ear to the 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 will open, in a parable, my mouth, I will pour forth enigmas out of antiquity; —

I will open my mouth in parables. I will speak about concepts that are from the beginning.

3 Which we have heard, and come to 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 will not withhold [them] from their children, To a later generation, recounting the praises of Yahweh, Even his might and his wonders which he wrought;

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 When he set up a testimony in Jacob, And, a law, appointed in Israel, —Which he commanded our fathers, That they might make them known to their children;

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 To the end, A later generation, might come to know, Children who should be born, Who should arise, and recount [them] to their children;

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 That they might set, in Elohim, their confidence, —And not forget the doings of El, But, his commandments, might observe;

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 not become, like their fathers, a generation stubborn and rebellious, —A generation that fixed not their heart, Neither was their spirit, faithful 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 The sons of Ephraim—armed bowmen, Turned in the day of battle;

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

10 They kept not the covenant of God, And, in his law, refused to walk;

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

11 And forgat His doings, And his wonders which he had showed them:

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

12 In presence of their fathers, wrought he, wondrously, —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 clave the sea, and caused them to pass through, And reared up the waters like a mound;

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

14 And led them, by a cloud, in the daytime, And all the night, by a light of fire;

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

15 He used to cleave rocks in the desert, And let them drink as out of mighty deeps;

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

16 And he brought forth streams out of the cliff, And caused waters to flow down, like rivers.

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

17 But again, once more sinned they against him, Resisting the Most High in a land of drought:

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

18 They put GOD to the proof in their heart, By asking food to their mind:

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

19 Yea they spake against Elohim, —They said, Can GOD prepare a table in the desert?

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

20 Lo! he hath smitten a rock, And waters, have gushed out, Yea, torrents, have rushed along, —Food also, can he give? Or provide 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, Yahweh hearkened, and became wroth, —And, a fire, was kindled against Jacob, Moreover also, anger, mounted against Israel;

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

22 Because, They believed not in God, Nor trusted in his salvation;

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

23 Though he had commanded the skies above, And, the doors of the heavens, had opened;

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

24 And had rained on them manna to eat, And, the corn of the heavens, had given to them:

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

25 The food of the mighty, each one did eat, Nourishment, sent he them to the full;

Man ate the bread of Angels. He sent them provisions in abundance.

26 He let loose an east wind in the heavens, Then guided he, in his might, a south wind;

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

27 And rained upon them flesh as the dust, And, like the sand of the seas, birds of wing;

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 let them fall in the midst of their camp, —Round about their habitations.

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

29 So they did eat and were abundantly filled, When, what they longed for, he had brought them: —

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

30 They had not turned away from what they had longed for, Yet was their food in their mouth,

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

31 When, the anger of God, mounted against them, And he slew of their vigorous youths, And, the choice young men of Israel, caused he to bow down in death.

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 For all this, sinned they still, And believed not in his wonders;

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

33 So he ended, in a breath, their days, And their years, in a sudden terror!

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

34 If he slew [of] them, then they sought him, Yea they turned, and did earnestly seek GOD;

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

35 And remembered that, Elohim, was their rock, Yea, EL Most High, their Redeemer:

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

36 So they spake him fair with their mouth, And, with their tongue, did promise him falsely;

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

37 But, their heart, was not fixed with him, Nor were they trusty in his covenant:

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

38 Yet, he, full of compassion, would put a propitiatory-covering over iniquity, and not destroy, —Yea, many a time, turned he back his anger, And would not stir up all his wrath.

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 So then he remembered, That, Flesh, they were, A Wind departing, that returneth not.

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

40 How often they, Resisted him in the desert, Vexed him, in the waste:

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

41 Yea they again put GOD to the test, And, to the Holy One of Israel, caused they sorrow:

And they turned back and tempted God, and they exasperated the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remembered not his hand—The day, When 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, in Egypt, his signs, And his wonders, in the plain of Zoan;

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

44 When he turned, into blood, their Nile-streams, And, their own rivers, could they not drink;

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

45 He sent among them, The gad-fly, and it devoured them, And the frog, and it despoiled them;

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

46 When he gave to the corn-locust their produce, And their toil, to the swarming locust;

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

47 He killed, with hail, their vine, And their sycomores, with frost:

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

48 When he gave up, to hail-storms, their beasts, And their cattle, to pestilent fevers;

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

49 He sent among them the heat of his anger, Wrath and indignation and distress, —A mission of messengers of misfortune:

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

50 He leveled a path for his anger, Withheld not, from death, their soul, But, their life—to the pestilence, he delivered:

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 So he smote, Every first-born in Egypt, The beginning of their strength, in the 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 he set forth, like sheep, his people, And guided them, like a flock in the desert;

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

53 Yea he led them securely, and they dreaded not, And, their enemies, the sea did cover.

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

54 Then brought he them within his own holy bounds, The mountain-range, which his right hand made his own:

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 So he drave out, before them, [whole] nations, And allotted them, by line, an inheritance, And caused to dwell, in their own homes, the tribes of Israel.

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

56 But they tested and resisted God Most High, And, his testimonies, did not observe;

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

57 But drew back and dealt treacherously, like their fathers, They turned aside, like deceitful bowmen;

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 provoked him to anger with their high places, And, with their images, used to move him to jealousy.

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

59 God heard and was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;

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

60 So he gave up the habitation of Shiloh, The tent he had set up among Men;

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

61 Yea he gave up, into captivity, his strength, 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 delivered up, to the sword, his people, And, with his own inheritance, was he wroth;

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

63 His young men, were devoured by fire, And, his virgins, were not praised in song;

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

64 His priests, by the sword, did fall, And, his widows, were not able to bewail.

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

65 Then awoke, as one that had slept, Adonay, As a warrior exulting with wine!

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

66 So he smote his adversaries in the rear, Reproach age-abiding, laid he upon them.

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

67 Howbeit he rejected the tent of Joseph, And, the tribe of Ephraim, did not choose:

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

68 But made choice of the tribe of Judah, The mountain of Zion, which he loved;

But he chose the tribe of Judah: mount Zion, which he loved.

69 And built, like the heights, his sanctuary, Like the earth, he founded it to times age-abiding.

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

70 And made choice of David his servant, And took him from among the folds of the sheep:

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 From after the sucking ewes, he brought him in, —To be shepherd to Jacob his people, And to Israel, his inheritance.

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

72 So he did shepherd them, according to the singleness of his heart, And, with the discernment of his hands, used he to guide them.

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