Psalm 78

₁Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

₂I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

₃things that we have heard and known,

that our fathers have told us.

₄We will not hide them from their children,

but tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and the wonders that he has done.

₅He established a testimony in Jacob

and appointed a law in Israel,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

₆that the next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children,

₇so that they should set their hope in God

and not forget the works of God,

but keep his commandments;

₈and that they should not be like their fathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not steadfast,

whose spirit was not faithful to God.

₉The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,

turned back on the day of battle.

₁₀They did not keep God’s covenant,

but refused to walk according to his law.

₁₁They forgot his works

and the wonders that he had shown them.

₁₂In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders

in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

₁₃He divided the sea and let them pass through it,

and made the waters stand like a heap.

₁₄In the daytime he led them with a cloud,

and all the night with a fiery light.

₁₅He split rocks in the wilderness

and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

₁₆He made streams come out of the rock

and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

₁₇Yet they sinned still more against him,

rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

₁₈They tested God in their heart

by demanding the food they craved.

₁₉They spoke against God, saying,

“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

₂₀He struck the rock so that water gushed out

and streams overflowed.

Can he also give bread

or provide meat for his people?”

₂₁Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;

a fire was kindled against Jacob;

his anger rose against Israel,

₂₂because they did not believe in God

and did not trust his saving power.

₂₃Yet he commanded the skies above

and opened the doors of heaven,

₂₄and he rained down on them manna to eat

and gave them the grain of heaven.

₂₅Man ate of the bread of the angels;

he sent them food in abundance.

₂₆He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,

and by his power he led out the south wind;

₂₇he rained meat on them like dust,

winged birds like the sand of the seas;

₂₈he let them fall in the midst of their camp,

all around their dwellings.

₂₉And they ate and were well filled,

for he gave them what they craved.

₃₀But before they had satisfied their craving,

while the food was still in their mouths,

₃₁the anger of God rose against them,

and he killed the strongest of them

and laid low the young men of Israel.

₃₂In spite of all this, they still sinned;

despite his wonders, they did not believe.

₃₃So he made their days vanish like a breath,

and their years in terror.

₃₄When he killed them, they sought him;

they repented and sought God earnestly.

₃₅They remembered that God was their rock,

the Most High God their redeemer.

₃₆But they flattered him with their mouths;

they lied to him with their tongues.

₃₇Their heart was not steadfast toward him;

they were not faithful to his covenant.

₃₈Yet he, being compassionate,

atoned for their iniquity

and did not destroy them;

he restrained his anger often

and did not stir up all his wrath.

₃₉He remembered that they were but flesh,

a wind that passes and comes not again.

₄₀How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness

and grieved him in the desert!

₄₁They tested God again and again

and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

₄₂They did not remember his power

or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,

₄₃when he performed his signs in Egypt

and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.

₄₄He turned their rivers to blood,

so that they could not drink of their streams.

₄₅He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,

and frogs, which destroyed them.

₄₆He gave their crops to the destroying locust

and the fruit of their labor to the locust.

₄₇He destroyed their vines with hail

and their sycamores with frost.

₄₈He gave over their cattle to the hail

and their flocks to thunderbolts.

₄₉He let loose on them his burning anger,

wrath, indignation, and distress,

a company of destroying angels.

₅₀He made a path for his anger;

he did not spare them from death,

but gave their lives over to the plague.

₅₁He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,

the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.

₅₂Then he led out his people like sheep

and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

₅₃He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,

but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

₅₄And he brought them to his holy land,

to the mountain which his right hand had won.

₅₅He drove out nations before them;

he apportioned them for a possession

and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

₅₆Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God

and did not keep his testimonies,

₅₇but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;

they twisted like a deceitful bow.

₅₈For they provoked him to anger with their high places;

they moved him to jealousy with their idols.

₅₉When God heard, he was full of wrath,

and he utterly rejected Israel.

₆₀He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,

the tent where he dwelt among mankind,

₆₁and delivered his power to captivity,

his glory to the hand of the foe.

₆₂He gave his people over to the sword

and vented his wrath on his heritage.

₆₃Fire devoured their young men,

and their young women had no marriage song.

₆₄Their priests fell by the sword,

and their widows made no lamentation.

₆₅Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,

like a strong man shouting because of wine.

₆₆And he put his adversaries to rout;

he put them to everlasting shame.

₆₇He rejected the tent of Joseph;

he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

₆₈but he chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion, which he loves.

₆₉He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,

like the earth, which he has founded forever.

₇₀He chose David his servant

and took him from the sheepfolds;

₇₁from following the nursing ewes he brought him

to shepherd Jacob his people,

Israel his inheritance.

₇₂With upright heart he shepherded them

and guided them with his skillful hand.