Psalmorum 78
1 Intellectus Asaph. Attendite, popule meus, legem meam; inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris mei.
A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.
2 Aperiam in parabolis os meum; loquar propositiones ab initio.
I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,
3 Quanta audivimus, et cognovimus ea, et patres nostri narraverunt nobis.
that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
4 Non sunt occultata a filiis eorum in generatione altera, narrantes laudes Domini et virtutes ejus, et mirabilia ejus quæ fecit.
We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed.
5 Et suscitavit testimonium in Jacob, et legem posuit in Israël, quanta mandavit patribus nostris nota facere ea filiis suis:
For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
6 ut cognoscat generatio altera: filii qui nascentur et exsurgent, et narrabunt filiis suis,
that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children
7 ut ponant in Deo spem suam, et non obliviscantur operum Dei, et mandata ejus exquirant:
that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.
8 ne fiant, sicut patres eorum, generatio prava et exasperans; generatio quæ non direxit cor suum, et non est creditus cum Deo spiritus ejus.
Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 Filii Ephrem, intendentes et mittentes arcum, conversi sunt in die belli.
The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle.
10 Non custodierunt testamentum Dei, et in lege ejus noluerunt ambulare.
They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.
11 Et obliti sunt benefactorum ejus, et mirabilium ejus quæ ostendit eis.
They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.
12 Coram patribus eorum fecit mirabilia in terra Ægypti, in campo Taneos.
He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 Interrupit mare, et perduxit eos, et statuit aquas quasi in utre:
He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
14 et deduxit eos in nube diei, et tota nocte in illuminatione ignis.
He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.
15 Interrupit petram in eremo, et adaquavit eos velut in abysso multa.
He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
16 Et eduxit aquam de petra, et deduxit tamquam flumina aquas.
He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.
17 Et apposuerunt adhuc peccare ei; in iram excitaverunt Excelsum in inaquoso.
But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
18 Et tentaverunt Deum in cordibus suis, ut peterent escas animabus suis.
They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.
19 Et male locuti sunt de Deo; dixerunt: Numquid poterit Deus parare mensam in deserto?
They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 quoniam percussit petram, et fluxerunt aquæ, et torrentes inundaverunt. Numquid et panem poterit dare, aut parare mensam populo suo?
When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?”
21 Ideo audivit Dominus et distulit; et ignis accensus est in Jacob, et ira ascendit in Israël:
Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,
22 quia non crediderunt in Deo, nec speraverunt in salutari ejus.
because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.
23 Et mandavit nubibus desuper, et januas cæli aperuit.
Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
24 Et pluit illis manna ad manducandum, et panem cæli dedit eis.
He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.
25 Panem angelorum manducavit homo; cibaria misit eis in abundantia.
Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.
26 Transtulit austrum de cælo, et induxit in virtute sua africum.
He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.
27 Et pluit super eos sicut pulverem carnes, et sicut arenam maris volatilia pennata.
He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
28 Et ceciderunt in medio castrorum eorum, circa tabernacula eorum.
He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.
29 Et manducaverunt, et saturati sunt nimis, et desiderium eorum attulit eis:
So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.
30 non sunt fraudati a desiderio suo. Adhuc escæ eorum erant in ore ipsorum,
Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,
31 et ira Dei ascendit super eos: et occidit pingues eorum, et electos Israël impedivit.
God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.
32 In omnibus his peccaverunt adhuc, et non crediderunt in mirabilibus ejus.
In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
33 Et defecerunt in vanitate dies eorum, et anni eorum cum festinatione.
So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.
34 Cum occideret eos, quærebant eum et revertebantur, et diluculo veniebant ad eum.
When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.
35 Et rememorati sunt quia Deus adjutor est eorum, et Deus excelsus redemptor eorum est.
And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36 Et dilexerunt eum in ore suo, et lingua sua mentiti sunt ei;
But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.
37 cor autem eorum non erat rectum cum eo, nec fideles habiti sunt in testamento ejus.
Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
38 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.
And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.
39 Et recordatus est quia caro sunt, spiritus vadens et non rediens.
He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
40 Quoties exacerbaverunt eum in deserto; in iram concitaverunt eum in inaquoso?
How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
41 Et conversi sunt, et tentaverunt Deum, et sanctum Israël exacerbaverunt.
Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 Non sunt recordati manus ejus, die qua redemit eos de manu tribulantis:
They did not remember His power — the day He redeemed them from the adversary,
43 sicut posuit in Ægypto signa sua, et prodigia sua in campo Taneos;
when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
44 et convertit in sanguinem flumina eorum, et imbres eorum, ne biberent.
He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink.
45 Misit in eos cœnomyiam, et comedit eos, et ranam, et disperdidit eos;
He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
46 et dedit ærugini fructus eorum, et labores eorum locustæ;
He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 et occidit in grandine vineas eorum, et moros eorum in pruina;
He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 et tradidit grandini jumenta eorum, et possessionem eorum igni;
He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 misit in eos iram indignationis suæ, indignationem, et iram, et tribulationem, immissiones per angelos malos.
He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity— a band of destroying angels.
50 Viam fecit semitæ iræ suæ: non pepercit a morte animabus eorum, et jumenta eorum in morte conclusit:
He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.
51 et percussit omne primogenitum in terra Ægypti; primitias omnis laboris eorum in tabernaculis Cham:
He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.
52 et abstulit sicut oves populum suum, et perduxit eos tamquam gregem in deserto:
He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
53 et deduxit eos in spe, et non timuerunt, et inimicos eorum operuit mare.
He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.
54 Et induxit eos in montem sanctificationis suæ, montem quem acquisivit dextera ejus; et ejecit a facie eorum gentes, et sorte divisit eis terram in funiculo distributionis;
He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired.
55 et habitare fecit in tabernaculis eorum tribus Israël.
He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 Et tentaverunt, et exacerbaverunt Deum excelsum, et testimonia ejus non custodierunt.
But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.
57 Et averterunt se, et non servaverunt pactum: quemadmodum patres eorum, conversi sunt in arcum pravum.
They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.
58 In iram concitaverunt eum in collibus suis, et in sculptilibus suis ad æmulationem eum provocaverunt.
They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
59 Audivit Deus, et sprevit, et ad nihilum redegit valde Israël.
On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
60 Et repulit tabernaculum Silo, tabernaculum suum, ubi habitavit in hominibus.
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
61 Et tradidit in captivitatem virtutem eorum, et pulchritudinem eorum in manus inimici.
He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.
62 Et conclusit in gladio populum suum, et hæreditatem suam sprevit.
He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.
63 Juvenes eorum comedit ignis, et virgines eorum non sunt lamentatæ.
Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.
64 Sacerdotes eorum in gladio ceciderunt, et viduæ eorum non plorabantur.
His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
65 Et excitatus est tamquam dormiens Dominus, tamquam potens crapulatus a vino.
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.
66 Et percussit inimicos suos in posteriora; opprobrium sempiternum dedit illis.
He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame.
67 Et repulit tabernaculum Joseph, et tribum Ephraim non elegit:
He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.
68 sed elegit tribum Juda, montem Sion, quem dilexit.
But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
69 Et ædificavit sicut unicornium sanctificium suum, in terra quam fundavit in sæcula.
He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever.
70 Et elegit David, servum suum, et sustulit eum de gregibus ovium; de post fœtantes accepit eum:
He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 pascere Jacob servum suum, et Israël hæreditatem suam.
from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.
72 Et pavit eos in innocentia cordis sui, et in intellectibus manuum suarum deduxit eos.
So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands.
