תהילים 78
| משכיל לאסף האזינה עמי תורתי הטו אזנכם לאמרי-פי | 1 |
An Instructive Psalm. Asaph’s. Give ear, O my people, to mine instruction, Bend your ear to the sayings of my mouth;
| אפתחה במשל פי אביעה חידות מני-קדם | 2 |
I will open, in a parable, my mouth, I will pour forth enigmas out of antiquity; —
| אשר שמענו ונדעם ואבותינו ספרו-לנו | 3 |
Which we have heard, and come to know, And, our fathers, have recounted to us;
| לא נכחד מבניהם-- לדור אחרון מספרים תהלות יהוה ועזוזו ונפלאתיו אשר עשה | 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;
| ויקם עדות ביעקב ותורה שם בישראל אשר צוה את-אבותינו-- להודיעם לבניהם | 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;
| למען ידעו דור אחרון--בנים יולדו יקמו ויספרו 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;
| וישימו באלהים כסלם ולא ישכחו מעללי-אל ומצותיו ינצרו | 7 |
That they might set, in Elohim, their confidence, —And not forget the doings of El, But, his commandments, might observe;
| ולא יהיו כאבותם-- דור סורר ומרה דור לא-הכין לבו ולא-נאמנה את-אל רוחו | 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.
| בני-אפרים נושקי רומי-קשת הפכו ביום קרב | 9 |
The sons of Ephraim—armed bowmen, Turned in the day of battle;
| לא שמרו ברית אלהים ובתורתו מאנו ללכת | 10 |
They kept not the covenant of God, And, in his law, refused to walk;
| וישכחו עלילותיו ונפלאותיו אשר הראם | 11 |
And forgat His doings, And his wonders which he had showed them:
| נגד אבותם עשה פלא בארץ מצרים שדה-צען | 12 |
In presence of their fathers, wrought he, wondrously, —In the land of Egypt—the field of Zoan:
| בקע ים ויעבירם ויצב-מים כמו-נד | 13 |
He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through, And reared up the waters like a mound;
| וינחם בענן יומם וכל-הלילה באור אש | 14 |
And led them, by a cloud, in the daytime, And all the night, by a light of fire;
| יבקע צרים במדבר וישק כתהמות רבה | 15 |
He used to cleave rocks in the desert, And let them drink as out of mighty deeps;
| ויוצא נוזלים מסלע ויורד כנהרות מים | 16 |
And he brought forth streams out of the cliff, And caused waters to flow down, like rivers.
| ויוסיפו עוד לחטא-לו-- למרות עליון בציה | 17 |
But again, once more sinned they against him, Resisting the Most High in a land of drought:
| וינסו-אל בלבבם-- לשאל-אכל לנפשם | 18 |
They put GOD to the proof in their heart, By asking food to their mind:
| וידברו באלהים אמרו היוכל אל--לערך שלחן במדבר | 19 |
Yea they spake against Elohim, —They said, Can GOD prepare a table in the desert?
| הן הכה-צור ויזובו מים-- ונחלים ישטפו הגם-לחם יוכל תת אם-יכין שאר לעמו | 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?
| לכן שמע יהוה-- ויתעבר ואש נשקה ביעקב וגם-אף עלה בישראל | 21 |
Therefore, Yahweh hearkened, and became wroth, —And, a fire, was kindled against Jacob, Moreover also, anger, mounted against Israel;
| כי לא האמינו באלהים ולא בטחו בישועתו | 22 |
Because, They believed not in God, Nor trusted in his salvation;
| ויצו שחקים ממעל ודלתי שמים פתח | 23 |
Though he had commanded the skies above, And, the doors of the heavens, had opened;
| וימטר עליהם מן לאכל ודגן-שמים נתן למו | 24 |
And had rained on them manna to eat, And, the corn of the heavens, had given to them:
| לחם אבירים אכל איש צידה שלח להם לשבע | 25 |
The food of the mighty, each one did eat, Nourishment, sent he them to the full;
| יסע קדים בשמים וינהג בעזו תימן | 26 |
He let loose an east wind in the heavens, Then guided he, in his might, a south wind;
| וימטר עליהם כעפר שאר וכחול ימים עוף כנף | 27 |
And rained upon them flesh as the dust, And, like the sand of the seas, birds of wing;
| ויפל בקרב מחנהו סביב למשכנתיו | 28 |
And let them fall in the midst of their camp, —Round about their habitations.
| ויאכלו וישבעו מאד ותאותם יבא להם | 29 |
So they did eat and were abundantly filled, When, what they longed for, he had brought them: —
| לא-זרו מתאותם עוד אכלם בפיהם | 30 |
They had not turned away from what they had longed for, Yet was their food in their mouth,
| ואף אלהים עלה בהם ויהרג במשמניהם ובחורי ישראל הכריע | 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.
| בכל-זאת חטאו-עוד ולא-האמינו בנפלאותיו | 32 |
For all this, sinned they still, And believed not in his wonders;
| ויכל-בהבל ימיהם ושנותם בבהלה | 33 |
So he ended, in a breath, their days, And their years, in a sudden terror!
| אם-הרגם ודרשוהו ושבו ושחרו-אל | 34 |
If he slew [of] them, then they sought him, Yea they turned, and did earnestly seek GOD;
| ויזכרו כי-אלהים צורם ואל עליון גאלם | 35 |
And remembered that, Elohim, was their rock, Yea, EL Most High, their Redeemer:
| ויפתוהו בפיהם ובלשונם יכזבו-לו | 36 |
So they spake him fair with their mouth, And, with their tongue, did promise him falsely;
| ולבם לא-נכון עמו ולא נאמנו בבריתו | 37 |
But, their heart, was not fixed with him, Nor were they trusty in his covenant:
| והוא רחום יכפר עון-- ולא-ישחית והרבה להשיב אפו ולא-יעיר כל-חמתו | 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.
| ויזכר כי-בשר המה רוח הולך ולא ישוב | 39 |
So then he remembered, That, Flesh, they were, A Wind departing, that returneth not.
| כמה ימרוהו במדבר יעציבוהו בישימון | 40 |
How often they, Resisted him in the desert, Vexed him, in the waste:
| וישובו וינסו אל וקדוש ישראל התוו | 41 |
Yea they again put GOD to the test, And, to the Holy One of Israel, caused they sorrow:
| לא-זכרו את-ידו יום אשר-פדם מני-צר | 42 |
They remembered not his hand—The day, When he ransomed them from the adversary;
| אשר-שם במצרים אתותיו ומופתיו בשדה-צען | 43 |
When he set, in Egypt, his signs, And his wonders, in the plain of Zoan;
| ויהפך לדם יאריהם ונזליהם בל-ישתיון | 44 |
When he turned, into blood, their Nile-streams, And, their own rivers, could they not drink;
| ישלח בהם ערב ויאכלם וצפרדע ותשחיתם | 45 |
He sent among them, The gad-fly, and it devoured them, And the frog, and it despoiled them;
| ויתן לחסיל יבולם ויגיעם לארבה | 46 |
When he gave to the corn-locust their produce, And their toil, to the swarming locust;
| יהרג בברד גפנם ושקמותם בחנמל | 47 |
He killed, with hail, their vine, And their sycomores, with frost:
| ויסגר לברד בעירם ומקניהם לרשפים | 48 |
When he gave up, to hail-storms, their beasts, And their cattle, to pestilent fevers;
| ישלח-בם חרון אפו--עברה וזעם וצרה משלחת מלאכי רעים | 49 |
He sent among them the heat of his anger, Wrath and indignation and distress, —A mission of messengers of misfortune:
| יפלס נתיב לאפו לא-חשך ממות נפשם וחיתם לדבר הסגיר | 50 |
He leveled a path for his anger, Withheld not, from death, their soul, But, their life—to the pestilence, he delivered:
| ויך כל-בכור במצרים ראשית אונים באהלי-חם | 51 |
So he smote, Every first-born in Egypt, The beginning of their strength, in the tents of Ham;
| ויסע כצאן עמו וינהגם כעדר במדבר | 52 |
And he set forth, like sheep, his people, And guided them, like a flock in the desert;
| וינחם לבטח ולא פחדו ואת-אויביהם כסה הים | 53 |
Yea he led them securely, and they dreaded not, And, their enemies, the sea did cover.
| ויביאם אל-גבול קדשו הר-זה קנתה ימינו | 54 |
Then brought he them within his own holy bounds, The mountain-range, which his right hand made his own:
| ויגרש מפניהם גוים-- ויפילם בחבל נחלה וישכן באהליהם שבטי ישראל | 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.
| וינסו וימרו את-אלהים עליון ועדותיו לא שמרו | 56 |
But they tested and resisted God Most High, And, his testimonies, did not observe;
| ויסגו ויבגדו כאבותם נהפכו כקשת רמיה | 57 |
But drew back and dealt treacherously, like their fathers, They turned aside, like deceitful bowmen;
| ויכעיסוהו בבמותם ובפסיליהם יקניאוהו | 58 |
And provoked him to anger with their high places, And, with their images, used to move him to jealousy.
| שמע אלהים ויתעבר וימאס מאד בישראל | 59 |
God heard and was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;
| ויטש משכן שלו אהל שכן באדם | 60 |
So he gave up the habitation of Shiloh, The tent he had set up among Men;
| ויתן לשבי עזו ותפארתו ביד-צר | 61 |
Yea he gave up, into captivity, his strength, And his beauty into the hand of an adversary;
| ויסגר לחרב עמו ובנחלתו התעבר | 62 |
And delivered up, to the sword, his people, And, with his own inheritance, was he wroth;
| בחוריו אכלה-אש ובתולתיו לא הוללו | 63 |
His young men, were devoured by fire, And, his virgins, were not praised in song;
| כהניו בחרב נפלו ואלמנתיו לא תבכינה | 64 |
His priests, by the sword, did fall, And, his widows, were not able to bewail.
| ויקץ כישן אדני כגבור מתרונן מיין | 65 |
Then awoke, as one that had slept, Adonay, As a warrior exulting with wine!
| ויך-צריו אחור חרפת עולם נתן למו | 66 |
So he smote his adversaries in the rear, Reproach age-abiding, laid he upon them.
| וימאס באהל יוסף ובשבט אפרים לא בחר | 67 |
Howbeit he rejected the tent of Joseph, And, the tribe of Ephraim, did not choose:
| ויבחר את-שבט יהודה את-הר ציון אשר אהב | 68 |
But made choice of the tribe of Judah, The mountain of Zion, which he loved;
| ויבן כמו-רמים מקדשו כארץ יסדה לעולם | 69 |
And built, like the heights, his sanctuary, Like the earth, he founded it to times age-abiding.
| ויבחר בדוד עבדו ויקחהו ממכלאת צאן | 70 |
And made choice of David his servant, And took him from among the folds of the sheep:
| מאחר עלות הביאו לרעות ביעקב עמו ובישראל נחלתו | 71 |
From after the sucking ewes, he brought him in, —To be shepherd to Jacob his people, And to Israel, his inheritance.
| וירעם כתם לבבו ובתבונות כפיו ינחם | 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.
