1 Psalm 78 That the Generation to Come Might Know A 78:0Possibly Contemplative, Didactic, Skillful Psalm Maskil of Asaph.Give ear, O my people, to my 78:1Or law instruction;Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;I will pour forth dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have recounted to us.
4 We will not conceal them from their children,But recount to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh,And His strength and His wondrous deeds that He has done.
5 ¶For He established a testimony in JacobAnd set a law in Israel,Which He commanded our fathersThat they should 78:5Lit make them known teach them to their children,
6 That the generation to come might know,eventhe childrenyetto be born,Thatthey may arise and recountthemto their children,
7 That they should set their confidence in GodAnd not forget the deeds of God,But observe His commandments,
8 And not be like their fathers,A stubborn and rebellious generation,A generation that did not 78:8Or put right prepare its heartAnd whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 ¶The sons of Ephraim 78:9Or being were archers equipped with bows,Yetthey turned back in the day of battle.
10 They did not keep the covenant of GodAnd refused to walk in His law;
11 So they forgot His actsAnd His 78:11Or miracles wondrous deeds that He had shown them.
12 He did wonders before their fathersIn the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He split the sea and caused them to pass through,And He made the waters stand up like a heap.
14 Then He led them with the cloud by dayAnd all the night with a light of fire.
15 He was splitting the rocks in the wildernessAnd so gavethemabundant drink like the ocean depths.
16 He brought forth streams also from the cliff faceAnd caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 ¶Yet they still continued to sin against Him,To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 And in their heart they put God to the testBy asking for food according to their desire.
19 Then they spoke against God;They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 “Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out,And streams were overflowing;Can He give bread also?Will He prepare 78:20Lit flesh meat for His people?”
21 ¶Therefore Yahweh heard and 78:21Or became infuriated was full of wrath;And a fire was kindled against JacobAnd anger also mounted against Israel,
22 Because they did not believe in GodAnd did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He commanded the skies aboveAnd opened the doors of heaven;
24 He rained down manna upon them to eatAnd gave them grain from heaven.
25 Man ate the bread of 78:25Lit mighty ones angels;He sent them provision to satisfy.
26 He led forth the east wind in the heavensAnd by His strength He guided the south wind.
27 Then He rained 78:27Lit flesh meat upon them like the dust,Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28 He causedthemto fall in the midst of His camp,All around His dwelling places.
29 So they ate and were very satisfied,And their desire He brought to them.
30 78:30Lit They were not estranged from Before they had satisfied their desire,While their food was in their mouths,
31 The anger of God rose against themAnd killed 78:31Lit among their fat ones some of their stoutest ones,And 78:31Lit caused to bow down subdued the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they still sinnedAnd did not believe in His wondrous deeds.
33 So He brought their days to an end in 78:33Lit vanity, a mere breath futilityAnd their years in sudden terror.
34 ¶When He killed them, then they sought Him,And returned and sought earnestly for God;
35 And they remembered that God was their rock,And the Most High God their Redeemer.
36 But they deceived Him with their mouthAnd lied to Him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not preparedto remainwith Him,Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38 But He, being compassionate, atoned fortheiriniquity and did not destroythem;And He abounded in turning back His angerAnd did not arouse all His wrath.
39 Thus He remembered that they were but flesh,A 78:39Or breath wind that goes and does not return.
40 ¶How often they rebelled against Him in the wildernessAnd grieved Him in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they 78:41Or put God to the test tested God,And pained the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember His 78:42 Lit hand power,The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,
43 When He performed His signs in EgyptAnd His miracles in the field of Zoan,
44 And turned their rivers to blood,And their streams, they could not drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,And frogs which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their crops to the grasshopperAnd the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He killed their vines with hailstonesAnd their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He gave over their cattle also to the hailstonesAnd their herds to bolts of lightning.
49 He sent upon them His burning anger,Fury and indignation and 78:49Or trouble distress, 78:49Lit A deputation of angels of evil A band of destroying angels.
50 He leveled a path for His anger;He did not hold back their soul from death,But gave over their life to the plague,
51 So He struck all the firstborn in Egypt,The first of their vigor in the tents of Ham.
52 But He led forth His own people like sheepAnd guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53 He led them safely, so that they did not fear;But the sea covered their enemies.
54 ¶So He brought them to His holy 78:54Lit border, territory land,To this 78:54Or mountain hill country which His right hand had acquired.
55 He also drove out the nations before themAnd apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they 78:56Or put to the test tested and rebelled against the Most High GodAnd did not keep His testimonies,
57 But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers;They turned aside like a treacherous bow.
58 For they provoked Him with their high placesAnd aroused His jealousy with their graven images.
59 God heard and 78:59Or became infuriated was filled with wrathAnd greatly rejected Israel;
60 So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh,The tent 78:60Some ancient versions where He dwelt which He caused to dwell among men,
61 And gave up His strength to captivityAnd His beauty into the hand of the adversary.
62 He also gave over His people to the sword,And 78:62Or became infuriated was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63 Fire devoured 78:63 Or their His choice men,And 78:63 Or their His virgins had no wedding songs.
64 78:64Or Their His priests fell by the sword,And 78:64Or their His widows could not weep.
65 ¶Then the Lord awoke asif fromsleep,Asif He were awarrior 78:65Or sobered up from overcome by wine.
66 He struck His adversaries backward;He put on them an everlasting reproach.
67 He also rejected the tent of Joseph,And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,Mount Zion which He loved.
69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights,Like the earth which He has founded forever.
70 He also chose David His servantAnd took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From following the 78:71Lit ewes which gave suck nursing ewes He brought himTo shepherd Jacob His people,And Israel His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,And led them with his skillful hands.