Psalms 78

1 A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

3 that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.

4 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 For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,

6 that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children

7 that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.

8 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 The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle.

10 They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.

11 They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.

12 He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

13 He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.

14 He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.

15 He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.

16 He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.

17 But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

18 They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.

19 They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?”

21 Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,

22 because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.

23 Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.

24 He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.

25 Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.

26 He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.

27 He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

28 He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.

29 So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.

30 Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,

31 God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.

33 So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.

34 When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.

35 And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36 But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.

37 Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

38 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 He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

40 How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!

41 Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42 They did not remember His power—the day He redeemed them from the adversary,

43 when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.

44 He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink.

45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.

46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.

47 He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

48 He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.

49 He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels.

50 He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.

51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.

52 He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

53 He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.

54 He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired.

55 He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56 But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.

57 They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.

58 They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.

59 On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.

60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.

61 He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

62 He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.

63 Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.

64 His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.

65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.

66 He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame.

67 He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.

68 But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.

69 He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever.

70 He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

71 from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.

72 So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands.

1 ¶ Maschil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, [to] my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide [them] from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

6 That the generation to come might know [them, even] the children [which] should be born; [who] should arise and declare [them] to their children:

7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation [that] set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9 ¶ The children of Ephraim, [being] armed, [and] carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

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

11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.

12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, [in] the field of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave [them] drink as [out of] the great depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore the LORD heard [this], and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,

24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

25 Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.

26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.

27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:

28 And he let [it] fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat [was] yet in their mouths,

31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen [men] of Israel.

32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.

35 And they remembered that God [was] their rock, and the high God their redeemer.

36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

38 But he, [being] full of compassion, forgave [their] iniquity, and destroyed [them] not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

39 For he remembered that they [were but] flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

40 ¶ How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, [and] grieve him in the desert!

41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remembered not his hand, [nor] the day when he delivered them from the enemy.

43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:

44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.

48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels [among them].

50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of [their] strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, [even to] this mountain, [which] his right hand had purchased.

55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God heard [this], he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent [which] he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.

62 He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.

63 The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.

64 Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, [and] like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

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

69 And he built his sanctuary like high [palaces], like the earth which he hath established for ever.

70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

1 An instruction of Assaph. Hear, my people, my law; incline your ears to the speech of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth for proverbs, and speak out ancient history,

3 Which we have heard, and know, and which our fathers have told us,

4 That we should not refrain from their children that come after, and declare the glory of the LORD, and his power, and the wonders which he hath done.

5 He established a testimony in Jacob, and gave a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach their children,

6 That their seed might learn, and the children that should be born after them, when they were grown up, might tell it also unto their children,

7 That they might put their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, and keep his commandments,

8 And became not as their fathers, an apostate and disobedient sort, whose heart was not steadfast, neither did their spirit hold fast to God;

9 As the children of Ephraim, which had the bow in their hand, fell away in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of God, neither would they walk in his law,

11 And they forgot his deeds, and his wonders which he had shewed them.

12 In the sight of their fathers he did wonders in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 And he divided the sea, and let them go through it: and he set up the waters as a wall.

14 He led them by day with a cloud, and by night with a bright fire.

15 He plucked up the rocks of the wilderness, and watered them with water abundantly;

16 And he made rivers to flow out of the rock, and they went down like rivers of water.

17 Yet they continued in sin against him, and provoked the most high to anger in the wilderness;

18 And tempted God in their heart, that they might require meat for their souls;

19 And they spake against God, saying: Yes, God should be able to prepare a table in the wilderness!

20 Behold, he hath smitten the rock, and the waters have flowed, and the rivers have flowed: but how can he give bread, and provide meat for his people?

21 And it came to pass, when the LORD heard it, that he was kindled, and fire was kindled in Jacob, and wrath came upon Israel,

22 That they believed not in God, and hoped not for his help.

23 And he commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven;

24 And he caused the man to rain upon them to eat, and gave them bread from heaven.

25 They did eat angel's bread: he sent them meat abundantly.

26 He made the east wind to blow under heaven, and by his strength he stirred up the south wind.

27 And rained flesh upon them as dust, and birds as the sand of the sea;

28 And he cast them down under their beds in every place where they dwelt.

29 And they did eat, and were filled: and he made them atone for their lust.

30 When therefore they had repented of their lust, and were yet eating thereof,

31 And the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the chief of them, and smote the best of Israel.

32 But over all this they sinned still more, and believed not his miracles.

33 Therefore he sent them away to die, and they obtained nothing; and they were afflicted all their days.

34 And when he slew them, they sought him, and turned early unto God.

35 And they remembered that GOD is their refuge, and GOD the Most High is their Redeemer,

36 And pretended unto him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their tongue.

37 But their heart was not set on him, neither did they keep his covenant faithfully.

38 But he was merciful, and forgave iniquity, and destroyed it not; and turned away his wrath often, and let not all his anger go.

39 For he remembered that they are flesh, a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

40 They provoked him often to anger in the wilderness, and provoked him to indignation in the desert.

41 They tempted GOD again and again and mastered the Holy One in Israel.

42 They remembered not his hand the day that he delivered them from their enemies,

43 As he did his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the land of Zoan,

44 For he turned their waters into blood, that they could not drink their brooks;

45 For he sent vermin among them, which devoured them, and toads, which corrupted them,

46 And gave her increase to the caterpillars, and her seed to the locusts;

47 When he smote their vines with hail, and their mulberry trees with locks;

48 When he smote their cattle with hail, and their flocks with beams;

49 When he sent evil angels among them in his fierce anger, and made them rage and rage, and did them wrong;

50 For he sent away his wrath, and spared not their souls from death, and caused their cattle to die of the pestilence;

51 When he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstborn in the tabernacles of Harn.

52 And he sent forth his people as sheep, and led them as a flock in the wilderness.

53 And he led them safely, that they feared not: but their enemies covered the sea.

54 And brought them into his holy border, unto this mountain which his right hand hath purchased:

55 And before them the nations, and divided unto them the inheritance, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in those tents.

56 But they tempted and provoked God Most High to anger, and did not keep His testimonies;

57 And they fell back, and despised all things, as their fathers did, and kept not, as a loose bow;

58 And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and provoked him with their idols.

59 And when God heard it, he was inflamed, and rejected Israel greatly,

60 That he made his tabernacle to go to Shiloh, the tabernacle where he dwelt among men;

61 And gave their power into prison, and their glory into the hand of the enemy;

62 And delivered up his people to the sword, and burned upon his inheritance.

63 their young men were eaten up by the fire, and their virgins were left unfreed.

64 Her priests fell by the sword, and were no widows to weep.

65 And he, O LORD, awoke as one that sleepeth, as one that is strong rejoiceth from wine,

66 And smote his enemies from behind, and put them to an everlasting shame.

67 And rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,

68 But mentioned the tribe of Judah, mount Zion, which he loved.

69 And built up his sanctuary on high, as a land that shall stand firm for ever.

70 And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds;

71 He took him from the lambs that were suckling, that he should feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 And he also fed them with all faithfulness, and ruled them with all diligence.