78:1 Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. |
78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, |
78:3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. |
78:4 We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. |
78:5 For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, |
78:6 That the generation to come might know, {even} the children {yet} to be born, {That} they may arise and tell {them} to their children, |
78:7 That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, |
78:8 And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God. |
78:9 The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, {Yet} they turned back in the day of battle. |
78:10 They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk in His law; |
78:11 They forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them. |
78:12 He wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. |
78:13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand up like a heap. |
78:14 Then He led them with the cloud by day And all the night with a light of fire. |
78:15 He split the rocks in the wilderness And gave {them} abundant drink like the ocean depths. |
78:16 He brought forth streams also from the rock And caused waters to run down like rivers. |
78:17 Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. |
78:18 And in their heart they put God to the test By asking food according to their desire. |
78:19 Then they spoke against God; They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? |
78:20 "Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?" |
78:21 Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob And anger also mounted against Israel, |
78:22 Because they did not believe in God And did not trust in His salvation. |
78:23 Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of heaven; |
78:24 He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them food from heaven. |
78:25 Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. |
78:26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His power He directed the south wind. |
78:27 When He rained meat upon them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, |
78:28 Then He let {them} fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings. |
78:29 So they ate and were well filled, And their desire He gave to them. |
78:30 Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, |
78:31 The anger of God rose against them And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel. |
78:32 In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works. |
78:33 So He brought their days to an end in futility And their years in sudden terror. |
78:34 When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; |
78:35 And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. |
78:36 But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. |
78:37 For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. |
78:38 But He, being compassionate, forgave {their} iniquity and did not destroy {them;} And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath. |
78:39 Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return. |
78:40 How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert! |
78:41 Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel. |
78:42 They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary, |
78:43 When He performed His signs in Egypt And His marvels in the field of Zoan, |
78:44 And turned their rivers to blood, And their streams, they could not drink. |
78:45 He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them. |
78:46 He gave also their crops to the grasshopper And the product of their labor to the locust. |
78:47 He destroyed their vines with hailstones And their sycamore trees with frost. |
78:48 He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones And their herds to bolts of lightning. |
78:49 He sent upon them His burning anger, Fury and indignation and trouble, A band of destroying angels. |
78:50 He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave over their life to the plague, |
78:51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt, The first {issue} of their virility in the tents of Ham. |
78:52 But He led forth His own people like sheep And guided them in the wilderness like a flock; |
78:53 He led them safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea engulfed their enemies. |
78:54 So He brought them to His holy land, To this hill country which His right hand had gained. |
78:55 He also drove out the nations before them And apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. |
78:56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies, |
78:57 But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow. |
78:58 For they provoked Him with their high places And aroused His jealousy with their graven images. |
78:59 When God heard, He was filled with wrath And greatly abhorred Israel; |
78:60 So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men, |
78:61 And gave up His strength to captivity And His glory into the hand of the adversary. |
78:62 He also delivered His people to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. |
78:63 Fire devoured His young men, And His virgins had no wedding songs. |
78:64 His priests fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep. |
78:65 Then the Lord awoke as {if from} sleep, Like a warrior overcome by wine. |
78:66 He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach. |
78:67 He also rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, |
78:68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. |
78:69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever. |
78:70 He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds; |
78:71 From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. |
78:72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands. |