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;
| משכיל לאסף האזינה עמי תורתי הטו אזנכם לאמרי-פי |
2 I will open, in a parable, my mouth, I will pour forth enigmas out of antiquity; —
| אפתחה במשל פי אביעה חידות מני-קדם |
3 Which we have heard, and come to know, And, our fathers, have recounted to us;
| אשר שמענו ונדעם ואבותינו ספרו-לנו |
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;
| לא נכחד מבניהם-- לדור אחרון מספרים תהלות יהוה ועזוזו ונפלאתיו אשר עשה |
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;
| ויקם עדות ביעקב ותורה שם בישראל אשר צוה את-אבותינו-- להודיעם לבניהם |
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;
| למען ידעו דור אחרון--בנים יולדו יקמו ויספרו לבניהם |
7 That they might set, in Elohim, their confidence, —And not forget the doings of El, But, his commandments, might observe;
| וישימו באלהים כסלם ולא ישכחו מעללי-אל ומצותיו ינצרו |
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.
| ולא יהיו כאבותם-- דור סורר ומרה דור לא-הכין לבו ולא-נאמנה את-אל רוחו |
9 The sons of Ephraim—armed bowmen, Turned in the day of battle;
| בני-אפרים נושקי רומי-קשת הפכו ביום קרב |
10 They kept not the covenant of God, And, in his law, refused to walk;
| לא שמרו ברית אלהים ובתורתו מאנו ללכת |
11 And forgat His doings, And his wonders which he had showed them:
| וישכחו עלילותיו ונפלאותיו אשר הראם |
12 In presence of their fathers, wrought he, wondrously, —In the land of Egypt—the field of Zoan:
| נגד אבותם עשה פלא בארץ מצרים שדה-צען |
13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through, And reared up the waters like a mound;
| בקע ים ויעבירם ויצב-מים כמו-נד |
14 And led them, by a cloud, in the daytime, And all the night, by a light of fire;
| וינחם בענן יומם וכל-הלילה באור אש |
15 He used to cleave rocks in the desert, And let them drink as out of mighty deeps;
| יבקע צרים במדבר וישק כתהמות רבה |
16 And he brought forth streams out of the cliff, And caused waters to flow down, like rivers.
| ויוצא נוזלים מסלע ויורד כנהרות מים |
17 But again, once more sinned they against him, Resisting the Most High in a land of drought:
| ויוסיפו עוד לחטא-לו-- למרות עליון בציה |
18 They put GOD to the proof in their heart, By asking food to their mind:
| וינסו-אל בלבבם-- לשאל-אכל לנפשם |
19 Yea they spake against Elohim, —They said, Can GOD prepare a table in the desert?
| וידברו באלהים אמרו היוכל אל--לערך שלחן במדבר |
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?
| הן הכה-צור ויזובו מים-- ונחלים ישטפו הגם-לחם יוכל תת אם-יכין שאר לעמו |
21 Therefore, Yahweh hearkened, and became wroth, —And, a fire, was kindled against Jacob, Moreover also, anger, mounted against Israel;
| לכן שמע יהוה-- ויתעבר ואש נשקה ביעקב וגם-אף עלה בישראל |
22 Because, They believed not in God, Nor trusted in his salvation;
| כי לא האמינו באלהים ולא בטחו בישועתו |
23 Though he had commanded the skies above, And, the doors of the heavens, had opened;
| ויצו שחקים ממעל ודלתי שמים פתח |
24 And had rained on them manna to eat, And, the corn of the heavens, had given to them:
| וימטר עליהם מן לאכל ודגן-שמים נתן למו |
25 The food of the mighty, each one did eat, Nourishment, sent he them to the full;
| לחם אבירים אכל איש צידה שלח להם לשבע |
26 He let loose an east wind in the heavens, Then guided he, in his might, a south wind;
| יסע קדים בשמים וינהג בעזו תימן |
27 And rained upon them flesh as the dust, And, like the sand of the seas, birds of wing;
| וימטר עליהם כעפר שאר וכחול ימים עוף כנף |
28 And let them fall in the midst of their camp, —Round about their habitations.
| ויפל בקרב מחנהו סביב למשכנתיו |
29 So they did eat and were abundantly filled, When, what they longed for, he had brought them: —
| ויאכלו וישבעו מאד ותאותם יבא להם |
30 They had not turned away from what they had longed for, Yet was their food in their mouth,
| לא-זרו מתאותם עוד אכלם בפיהם |
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.
| ואף אלהים עלה בהם ויהרג במשמניהם ובחורי ישראל הכריע |
32 For all this, sinned they still, And believed not in his wonders;
| בכל-זאת חטאו-עוד ולא-האמינו בנפלאותיו |
33 So he ended, in a breath, their days, And their years, in a sudden terror!
| ויכל-בהבל ימיהם ושנותם בבהלה |
34 If he slew [of] them, then they sought him, Yea they turned, and did earnestly seek GOD;
| אם-הרגם ודרשוהו ושבו ושחרו-אל |
35 And remembered that, Elohim, was their rock, Yea, EL Most High, their Redeemer:
| ויזכרו כי-אלהים צורם ואל עליון גאלם |
36 So they spake him fair with their mouth, And, with their tongue, did promise him falsely;
| ויפתוהו בפיהם ובלשונם יכזבו-לו |
37 But, their heart, was not fixed with him, Nor were they trusty in his covenant:
| ולבם לא-נכון עמו ולא נאמנו בבריתו |
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.
| והוא רחום יכפר עון-- ולא-ישחית והרבה להשיב אפו ולא-יעיר כל-חמתו |
39 So then he remembered, That, Flesh, they were, A Wind departing, that returneth not.
| ויזכר כי-בשר המה רוח הולך ולא ישוב |
40 How often they, Resisted him in the desert, Vexed him, in the waste:
| כמה ימרוהו במדבר יעציבוהו בישימון |
41 Yea they again put GOD to the test, And, to the Holy One of Israel, caused they sorrow:
| וישובו וינסו אל וקדוש ישראל התוו |
42 They remembered not his hand—The day, When he ransomed them from the adversary;
| לא-זכרו את-ידו יום אשר-פדם מני-צר |
43 When he set, in Egypt, his signs, And his wonders, in the plain of Zoan;
| אשר-שם במצרים אתותיו ומופתיו בשדה-צען |
44 When he turned, into blood, their Nile-streams, And, their own rivers, could they not drink;
| ויהפך לדם יאריהם ונזליהם בל-ישתיון |
45 He sent among them, The gad-fly, and it devoured them, And the frog, and it despoiled them;
| ישלח בהם ערב ויאכלם וצפרדע ותשחיתם |
46 When he gave to the corn-locust their produce, And their toil, to the swarming locust;
| ויתן לחסיל יבולם ויגיעם לארבה |
47 He killed, with hail, their vine, And their sycomores, with frost:
| יהרג בברד גפנם ושקמותם בחנמל |
48 When he gave up, to hail-storms, their beasts, And their cattle, to pestilent fevers;
| ויסגר לברד בעירם ומקניהם לרשפים |
49 He sent among them the heat of his anger, Wrath and indignation and distress, —A mission of messengers of misfortune:
| ישלח-בם חרון אפו--עברה וזעם וצרה משלחת מלאכי רעים |
50 He leveled a path for his anger, Withheld not, from death, their soul, But, their life—to the pestilence, he delivered:
| יפלס נתיב לאפו לא-חשך ממות נפשם וחיתם לדבר הסגיר |
51 So he smote, Every first-born in Egypt, The beginning of their strength, in the tents of Ham;
| ויך כל-בכור במצרים ראשית אונים באהלי-חם |
52 And he set forth, like sheep, his people, And guided them, like a flock in the desert;
| ויסע כצאן עמו וינהגם כעדר במדבר |
53 Yea he led them securely, and they dreaded not, And, their enemies, the sea did cover.
| וינחם לבטח ולא פחדו ואת-אויביהם כסה הים |
54 Then brought he them within his own holy bounds, The mountain-range, which his right hand made his own:
| ויביאם אל-גבול קדשו הר-זה קנתה ימינו |
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.
| ויגרש מפניהם גוים-- ויפילם בחבל נחלה וישכן באהליהם שבטי ישראל |
56 But they tested and resisted God Most High, And, his testimonies, did not observe;
| וינסו וימרו את-אלהים עליון ועדותיו לא שמרו |
57 But drew back and dealt treacherously, like their fathers, They turned aside, like deceitful bowmen;
| ויסגו ויבגדו כאבותם נהפכו כקשת רמיה |
58 And provoked him to anger with their high places, And, with their images, used to move him to jealousy.
| ויכעיסוהו בבמותם ובפסיליהם יקניאוהו |
59 God heard and was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;
| שמע אלהים ויתעבר וימאס מאד בישראל |
60 So he gave up the habitation of Shiloh, The tent he had set up among Men;
| ויטש משכן שלו אהל שכן באדם |
61 Yea he gave up, into captivity, his strength, And his beauty into the hand of an adversary;
| ויתן לשבי עזו ותפארתו ביד-צר |
62 And delivered up, to the sword, his people, And, with his own inheritance, was he wroth;
| ויסגר לחרב עמו ובנחלתו התעבר |
63 His young men, were devoured by fire, And, his virgins, were not praised in song;
| בחוריו אכלה-אש ובתולתיו לא הוללו |
64 His priests, by the sword, did fall, And, his widows, were not able to bewail.
| כהניו בחרב נפלו ואלמנתיו לא תבכינה |
65 Then awoke, as one that had slept, Adonay, As a warrior exulting with wine!
| ויקץ כישן אדני כגבור מתרונן מיין |
66 So he smote his adversaries in the rear, Reproach age-abiding, laid he upon them.
| ויך-צריו אחור חרפת עולם נתן למו |
67 Howbeit he rejected the tent of Joseph, And, the tribe of Ephraim, did not choose:
| וימאס באהל יוסף ובשבט אפרים לא בחר |
68 But made choice of the tribe of Judah, The mountain of Zion, which he loved;
| ויבחר את-שבט יהודה את-הר ציון אשר אהב |
69 And built, like the heights, his sanctuary, Like the earth, he founded it to times age-abiding.
| ויבן כמו-רמים מקדשו כארץ יסדה לעולם |
70 And made choice of David his servant, And took him from among the folds of the sheep:
| ויבחר בדוד עבדו ויקחהו ממכלאת צאן |
71 From after the sucking ewes, he brought him in, —To be shepherd to Jacob his people, And to Israel, his inheritance.
| מאחר עלות הביאו לרעות ביעקב עמו ובישראל נחלתו |
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.
| וירעם כתם לבבו ובתבונות כפיו ינחם |
