Tehillim (Psa) 78
78
1A maskil of Asaf:
Listen, my people, to my teaching;
turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
2I will speak to you in parables
and explain mysteries from days of old.
3The things which we have heard and known,
and which our fathers told us
4we will not hide from their descendants;
we will tell the generation to come
the praises of Adonai and his strength,
the wonders that he has performed.
5He raised up a testimony in Ya‘akov
and established a Torah in Isra’el.
He commanded our ancestors
to make this known to their children,
6so that the next generation would know it,
the children not yet born,
who would themselves arise
and tell their own children,
7who could then put their confidence in God,
not forgetting God’s deeds,
but obeying his mitzvot.
8Then they would not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn, rebellious generation,
a generation with unprepared hearts,
with spirits unfaithful to God.
9The people of Efrayim, though armed with bows and arrows,
turned their backs on the day of battle.
10They did not keep the covenant of God
and refused to live by his Torah.
11They forgot what he had done,
his wonders which he had shown them.
12He had done wonderful things
in the presence of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt,
in the region of Tzo‘an.
13He split the sea and made them pass through,
he made the waters stand up like a wall.
14He also led them by day with a cloud
and all night long with light from a fire.
15He broke apart the rocks in the desert
and let them drink as if from boundless depths;
16yes, he brought streams out of the rock,
making the water flow down like rivers.
17Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High;
18in their hearts they tested God
by demanding food that would satisfy their cravings.
19Yes, they spoke against God by asking,
“Can God spread a table in the desert?
20True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out,
until the vadis overflowed;
but what about bread? Can he give that?
Can he provide meat for his people?”
21Therefore, when Adonai heard, he was angry;
fire blazed up against Ya‘akov;
his anger mounted against Isra’el;
22because they had no faith in God,
no trust in his power to save.
23So he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven.
24He rained down man on them as food;
he gave them grain from heaven —
25mortals ate the bread of angels;
he provided for them to the full.
26He stirred up the east wind in heaven,
brought on the south wind by his power,
27and rained down meat on them like dust,
birds flying thick as the sand on the seashore.
28He let them fall in the middle of their camp,
all around their tents.
29So they ate till they were satisfied;
he gave them what they craved.
30They were still fulfilling their craving,
the food was still in their mouths,
31when the anger of God rose up against them
and slaughtered their strongest men,
laying low the young men of Isra’el.
32Still, they kept on sinning
and put no faith in his wonders.
33Therefore, he ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
34When he brought death among them, they would seek him;
they would repent and seek God eagerly,
35remembering that God was their Rock,
El ‘Elyon their Redeemer.
36But they tried to deceive him with their words,
they lied to him with their tongues;
37for their hearts were not right with him,
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
38Yet he, because he is full of compassion,
forgave their sin and did not destroy;
many times he turned away his anger
and didn’t rouse all his wrath.
39So he remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that blows past and does not return.
40How often they rebelled against him in the desert
and grieved him in the wastelands!
41Repeatedly they challenged God
and pained the Holy One of Isra’el.
42They didn’t remember how he used his hand
on the day he redeemed them from their enemy,
43how he displayed his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the region of Tzo‘an.
44He turned their rivers into blood,
so they couldn’t drink from their streams.
45He sent swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46He gave their harvest to shearer-worms,
the fruit of their labor to locusts.
47He destroyed their vineyards with hail
and their sycamore-figs with frost.
48Their cattle too he gave over to the hail
and their flocks to lightning bolts.
49He sent over them his fierce anger,
fury, indignation and trouble,
with a company of destroying angels
50to clear a path for his wrath.
He did not spare them from death,
but gave them over to the plague,
51striking all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52But his own people he led out like sheep,
guiding them like a flock in the desert.
53He led them safely, and they weren’t afraid,
even when the sea overwhelmed their foes.
54He brought them to his holy land,
to the hill-country won by his right hand.
55He expelled nations before them,
apportioned them property to inherit
and made Isra’el’s tribes live in their tents.
56Yet they tested El ‘Elyon
and rebelled against him,
refusing to obey his instructions.
57They turned away and were faithless, like their fathers;
they were unreliable, like a bow without tension.
58They provoked him with their high places
and made him jealous with their idols.
59God heard, and he was angry;
he came to detest Isra’el completely.
60He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
the tent he had made where he could live among people.
61He gave his strength into exile,
his pride to the power of the foe.
62He gave his people over to the sword
and grew angry with his own heritage.
63Fire consumed their young men,
their virgins had no wedding-song,
64their cohanim fell by the sword,
and their widows could not weep.
65Then Adonai awoke, as if from sleep,
like a warrior shouting for joy from wine.
66He struck his foes, driving them back
and putting them to perpetual shame.
67Rejecting the tents of Yosef
and passing over the tribe of Efrayim,
68he chose the tribe of Y’hudah,
Mount Tziyon, which he loved.
69He built his sanctuary like the heights;
like the earth, he made it to last forever.
70He chose David to be his servant,
taking him from the sheep-yards;
71from tending nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Ya‘akov his people,
Isra’el his heritage.
72With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with skillful hands.
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Tehillim (Psa) 78: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish BiblePsalm 78
78
Tell the Coming Generation
A Maskil#78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of #Ps. 50, title Asaph.
1 # [Isa. 51:4]; See Ps. 49:1; 50:7 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 # Cited Matt. 13:35; See Ps. 49:4 I will open my mouth #[Num. 21:27]in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3things that we have heard and known,
that our #See Ps. 44:1fathers have told us.
4We will not #Job 15:18 hide them from their children,
but #[Ex. 12:26, 27; 13:8, 14; Deut. 11:19; Josh. 4:6, 7; Joel 1:3] tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and #ver. 11, 32the wonders that he has done.
5He established #Ps. 19:7; [Ps. 81:5] a testimony in #Ps. 147:19Jacob
and appointed a law in #Ps. 147:19Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6that #ver. 4; Ps. 102:18the 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 #Ps. 77:12 the works of God,
but #Ps. 105:45keep his commandments;
8and that they should not be #2 Kgs. 17:14; 2 Chr. 30:7; Ezek. 20:18 like their fathers,
#
Ex. 32:9; 33:3; Deut. 9:7, 24; 31:27; Jer. 5:23 a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation #ver. 37; Job 11:13whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9The Ephraimites, armed with#78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting the bow,
# ver. 57 turned back on the day of battle.
10They #[2 Kgs. 17:15]did not keep God’s covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11They #See Ps. 106:13 forgot his works
and #ver. 4the wonders that he had shown them.
12In the sight of their fathers #ver. 43; See Ex. 7-12; Ps. 72:18 he performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in #ver. 43; Num. 13:22; Isa. 19:11, 13; Ezek. 30:14the fields of Zoan.
13He #Ps. 136:13; Ex. 14:21 divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters #Ex. 15:8stand like a heap.
14 # See Ps. 105:39 In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15He #ver. 20; Ps. 105:41; 114:8; Ex. 17:6; Isa. 48:21split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16He made streams come out of #Num. 20:8, 10, 11the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17Yet they sinned still more against him,
# ver. 40, 56; Deut. 9:22; Isa. 63:10 rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18They #ver. 41, 56; Ps. 95:9; 106:14; Deut. 6:16; 1 Cor. 10:9tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19They spoke against God, saying,
# [Ex. 16:3; Num. 11:4; 20:3; 21:5] “Can God #See Ps. 23:5spread a table in the wilderness?
20 # ver. 15, 16 He 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;
#
Num. 11:1
a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22because they #ver. 8, 32, 37did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23Yet he commanded the skies above
and #Gen. 7:11; [Mal. 3:10]opened the doors of heaven,
24and he #Ex. 16:4 rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them #Ps. 105:40; [John 6:31]the grain of heaven.
25Man ate of the bread of #Ps. 103:20 the angels;
he sent them food #[ver. 29]in abundance.
26He #Num. 11:31caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27he rained meat on them like #[Gen. 13:16] dust,
winged birds like #[Gen. 22:17]the sand of the seas;
28he #Ex. 16:13; Num. 11:31let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29And they #Num. 11:19, 20 ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they #Num. 11:4, 34craved.
30But before they had satisfied their craving,
#
Num. 11:33; [Job 20:23] while the food was still in their mouths,
31the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed #Isa. 10:16 the strongest of them
and laid low #ver. 63the young men of Israel.
32In spite of all this, they #See Num. 14; 16; 17 still sinned;
# ver. 22; Num. 14:11 despite his wonders, they did not believe.
33So he made #Num. 14:29, 35; 26:64, 65 their days #Ps. 39:5vanish like#78:33 Hebrew in a breath,#78:33 Or vapor
and their years in terror.
34When he killed them, they #Hos. 5:15sought him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35They remembered that God was their #Deut. 32:4, 15, 31 rock,
the Most High God their #Ex. 15:13; See Ps. 74:2redeemer.
36But they #Isa. 29:13; Ezek. 33:31 flattered him with their mouths;
they #Isa. 57:11lied to him with their tongues.
37Their #ver. 8 heart was not #Ps. 51:10steadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38Yet he, being #Ex. 34:6 compassionate,
#
Num. 14:20
atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39He #[Ps. 103:14; Job 10:9] remembered that they were but #Gen. 6:3 flesh,
#
Job 7:7
a wind that passes and comes not again.
40How often they #ver. 17, 56; Ps. 107:11 rebelled against him in the wilderness
and #[Eph. 4:30] grieved him in #Ps. 106:14the desert!
41They #See ver. 18 tested God again and again
and provoked #See Ps. 71:22the Holy One of Israel.
42They #Judg. 8:34did not remember his power#78:42 Hebrew hand
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43 # For ver. 43-51, see Ps. 105:27-36 when he performed his #Ex. 7:3; [Ps. 106:22]; Acts 7:36 signs in Egypt
and his #Ex. 4:21; 11:9, 10 marvels in #See ver. 12the fields of Zoan.
44He #See Ex. 7:17-24turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45He sent among them swarms of #See Ex. 8:21-24 flies, which devoured them,
and #See Ex. 8:2-14frogs, which destroyed them.
46He gave their crops to #See Ex. 10:12-15the destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47He destroyed their vines with #See Ex. 9:23-25hail
and their sycamores with frost.
48He gave over their #See Ex. 9:19-21cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of #Ex. 12:13, 23; [2 Sam. 24:16]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 #Ex. 12:29; [Ps. 105:36; 135:8; 136:10] firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of #Ps. 105:23, 27; 106:22Ham.
52Then he led out his people #See Ps. 77:20like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 # [Ex. 14:19, 20] He led them in safety, so that they #[Ex. 14:13] were not afraid,
but #Ex. 14:27, 28; 15:10the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54And he brought them to his #Ex. 15:17 holy land,
#
Isa. 11:9; 57:13; [Ps. 68:16] to the mountain which his right hand had #Ps. 74:2won.
55He #See Ps. 44:2 drove out nations before them;
he #Josh. 23:4; [Ps. 135:12; 136:21, 22; Acts 13:19]apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56Yet they #ver. 18; Judg. 2:11, 12 tested and #ver. 40rebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
57but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like #Hos. 7:16; [ver. 9]a deceitful bow.
58For they #Deut. 31:29 provoked him to anger with their #Lev. 26:30; Deut. 12:2; 1 Kgs. 11:7; 12:31; Ezek. 20:28 high places;
they #Num. 25:11; Deut. 32:16, 21; Judg. 2:12 moved him to jealousy with their #Deut. 7:5, 25; 12:3idols.
59When God heard, he was full of #ver. 62; Ps. 106:40; Deut. 3:26wrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60He #1 Sam. 4:11; Jer. 7:12, 14; 26:6 forsook his dwelling at #Josh. 18:1Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61and delivered his #Ps. 132:8; [Ps. 63:2; 96:6] power to captivity,
his #[1 Sam. 4:21]glory to the hand of the foe.
62He #[1 Sam. 4:10] gave his people over to the sword
and #ver. 59vented his wrath on his heritage.
63 # [Ps. 79:5; 89:46] Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no #[Jer. 7:34]marriage song.
64Their #1 Sam. 4:11 priests fell by the sword,
and their #Job 27:15widows made no lamentation.
65Then the Lord #Ps. 73:20; See Ps. 35:23awoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66And he #[Ps. 40:14]put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67He rejected the tent of #Ps. 80:1; 81:5Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he #Ps. 87:2loves.
69He #See 1 Kgs. 6built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70He #1 Sam. 16:12, 13chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71from #2 Sam. 7:8 following the nursing ewes he brought him
to #2 Sam. 5:2; [Ps. 28:9] shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his #1 Sam. 10:1inheritance.
72With #Ps. 101:2; 1 Kgs. 9:4 upright heart he shepherded them
and #[Ps. 77:20]guided them with his skillful hand.
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