Psalms 78
78
Psalm 78
A maskil#78.0 Perhaps instruction of Asaph.
1Listen, my people, to my teaching;
tilt your ears toward the words of my mouth.
2I will open my mouth with a proverb.
I’ll declare riddles from days long gone—
3ones that we’ve heard and learned about,
ones that our ancestors told us.
4We won’t hide them from their descendants;
we’ll tell the next generation
all about the praise due the LORD and his strength—
the wondrous works God has done.
5He established a law for Jacob
and set up Instruction for Israel,
ordering our ancestors
to teach them to their children.
6This is so that the next generation
and children not yet born will know these things,
and so they can rise up and tell their children
7to put their hope in God—
never forgetting God’s deeds,
but keeping God’s commandments—
8and so that they won’t become like their ancestors:
a rebellious, stubborn generation,
a generation whose heart wasn’t set firm
and whose spirit wasn’t faithful to God.
9The children of Ephraim, armed with bows,
retreated on the day of battle.
10They didn’t keep God’s covenant;
they refused to walk in his Instruction.
11They forgot God’s deeds
as well as the wondrous works he showed them.
12But God performed wonders in their ancestors’ presence—
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13God split the sea and led them through,
making the waters stand up like a wall.
14God led them with the cloud by day;
by the lightning all through the night.
15God split rocks open in the wilderness,
gave them plenty to drink—
as if from the deep itself!
16God made streams flow from the rock,
made water run like rivers.
17But they continued to sin against God,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18They tested God in their hearts,
demanded food for their stomachs.
19They spoke against God!
“Can God set a dinner table in the wilderness?” they asked.
20“True, God struck the rock
and water gushed and streams flowed,
but can he give bread too?
Can he provide meat for his people?”
21When the LORD heard this, he became furious.
A fire was ignited against Jacob;
wrath also burned against Israel
22because they had no faith in God,
because they didn’t trust his saving power.
23God gave orders to the skies above,
opened heaven’s doors,
24and rained manna on them so they could eat.
He gave them the very grain of heaven!
25Each person ate the bread of the powerful ones;#78.25 Or everyone ate the bread from heaven; Heb uncertain
God sent provisions to satisfy them.
26God set the east wind moving across the skies
and drove the south wind by his strength.
27He rained meat on them as if it were dust in the air;
he rained as many birds as the sand on the seashore!
28God brought the birds down in the center of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29So they ate and were completely satisfied;
God gave them exactly what they had craved.
30But they didn’t stop craving—
even with the food still in their mouths!
31So God’s anger came up against them:
he killed the most hearty of them;
he cut down Israel’s youth in their prime.
32But in spite of all that, they kept sinning
and had no faith in God’s wondrous works.
33So God brought their days to an end,
like a puff of air,
and their years in total ruin.
34But whenever God killed them, they went after him!
They would turn and earnestly search for God.
35They would remember that God was their rock,
that the Most High was their redeemer.
36But they were just flattering him with lip service.
They were lying to him with their tongues.
37Their hearts weren’t firmly set on him;
they weren’t faithful to his covenant.
38But God, being compassionate,
kept forgiving their sins,
kept avoiding destruction;
he took back his anger so many times,
wouldn’t stir up all his wrath!
39God kept remembering that they were just flesh,
just breath that passes and doesn’t come back.
40How often they rebelled against God in the wilderness
and distressed him in the desert!
41Time and time again they tested God,
provoking the holy one of Israel.
42They didn’t remember God’s power—
the day when he saved them from the enemy;
43how God performed his signs in Egypt,
his marvelous works in the field of Zoan.
44God turned their rivers into blood;
they couldn’t drink from their own streams.
45God sent swarms against them to eat them up,
frogs to destroy them.
46God handed over their crops to caterpillars,
their land’s produce to locusts.
47God killed their vines with hail,
their sycamore trees with frost.
48God delivered their cattle over to disease,#78.48 Correction; MT to hailstones
their herds to plagues.
49God unleashed his burning anger against them—
fury, indignation, distress,
a troop of evil messengers.
50God blazed a path for his wrath.
He didn’t save them from death,
but delivered their lives over to disease.
51God struck down all of Egypt’s oldest males;
in Ham’s tents, he struck their pride and joy.
52God led his own people out like sheep,
guiding them like a flock in the wilderness.
53God led them in safety—they were not afraid!
But the sea engulfed their enemies!
54God brought them to his holy territory,
to the mountain that his own strong hand had acquired.
55God drove out the nations before them
and apportioned property for them;
he settled Israel’s tribes in their tents.
56But they tested and defied the Most High God;
they didn’t pay attention to his warnings.
57They turned away, became faithless just like their ancestors;
they twisted away like a defective bow.
58They angered God with their many shrines;
they angered him with their idols.
59God heard and became enraged;
he rejected Israel utterly.
60God abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he had lived with humans.
61God let his power be held captive,
let his glory go to the enemy’s hand.
62God delivered his people up to the sword;
he was enraged at his own possession.
63Fire devoured his young men,
and his young women had no wedding songs.
64God’s priests were killed by the sword,
and his widows couldn’t even cry.
65But then my Lord woke up—
as if he’d been sleeping!
Like a warrior shaking off wine,
66God beat back his foes;
he made them an everlasting disgrace.
67God rejected the tent of Joseph
and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah,
the mountain of Zion, which he loves.
69God built his sanctuary like the highest heaven
and like the earth, which he established forever.
70And God chose David, his servant,
taking him from the sheepfolds.
71God brought him from shepherding nursing ewes
to shepherd his people Jacob,
to shepherd his inheritance, Israel.
72David shepherded them with a heart of integrity;
he led them with the skill of his hands.
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Psalms 78: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Psalms 78
78
Psalm 78
A maskil by Asaph.
1Open your ears to my teachings, my people.
Turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
2I will open my mouth to illustrate points.
I will explain what has been hidden long ago,
3things that we have heard and known about,
things that our parents have told us.
4We will not hide them from our children.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s power and great deeds
and the miraculous things he has done.
5He established written instructions for Jacob’s people.
He gave his teachings to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to make them known to their children
6so that the next generation would know them.
Children yet to be born ⌞would learn them⌟.
They will grow up and tell their children
7to trust God, to remember what he has done,
and to obey his commands.
8Then they will not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation.
Their hearts were not loyal.
Their spirits were not faithful to God.
9The men of Ephraim, well-equipped with bows ⌞and arrows⌟,
turned ⌞and ran⌟ on the day of battle.
10They had not been faithful to God’s promise.#78:10 Or “covenant.”
They refused to follow his teachings.
11They forgot what he had done—
the miracles that he had shown them.
12In front of their ancestors he performed miracles
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13He divided the sea and led them through it.
He made the waters stand up like a wall.
14He guided them by a cloud during the day
and by a fiery light throughout the night.
15He split rocks in the desert.
He gave them plenty to drink, an ocean of water.
16He made streams come out of a rock.
He made the water flow like rivers.
17They continued to sin against him,
to rebel in the desert against the Most High.
18They deliberately tested God by demanding the food they craved.
19They spoke against God by saying,
“Can God prepare a banquet in the desert?
20True, he did strike a rock,
and water did gush out,
and the streams did overflow.
But can he also give us bread or provide us, his people, with meat?”
21When the Lord heard this, he became furious.
His fire burned against Jacob
and his anger flared up at Israel
22because they did not believe God
or trust him to save them.
23In spite of that, he commanded the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.
24He rained manna down on them to eat
and gave them grain from heaven.
25Humans ate the bread of the mighty ones,
and God sent them plenty of food.
26He made the east wind blow in the heavens
and guided the south wind with his might.
27He rained meat down on them like dust,
birds like the sand on the seashore.
28He made the birds fall in the middle of his camp,
all around his dwelling place.
29They ate more than enough.
He gave them what they wanted,
30but they still wanted more.
While the food was still in their mouths,
31the anger of God flared up against them.
He killed their strongest men and slaughtered the best young men in Israel.
32In spite of all this, they continued to sin,
and they no longer believed in his miracles.
33He brought their days to an end like a whisper in the wind.
He brought their years to an end in terror.
34When he killed ⌞some of⌟ them, ⌞the rest⌟ searched for him.
They turned from their sins and eagerly looked for God.
35They remembered that God was their rock,
that the Most High was their defender.
36They flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues.
37Their hearts were not loyal to him.
They were not faithful to his promise.
38But he is compassionate.
He forgave their sin.
He did not destroy them.
He restrained his anger many times.
He did not display all of his fury.
39He remembered that they were only flesh and blood,
a breeze that blows and does not return.
40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness!
How often they caused him grief in the desert!
41Again and again they tested God,
and they pushed the Holy One of Israel to the limit.
42They did not remember his power—
the day he freed them from their oppressor,
43when he performed his miraculous signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the fields of Zoan.
44He turned their rivers into blood
so that they could not drink from their streams.
45He sent a swarm of flies that bit them
and frogs that ruined them.
46He gave their crops to grasshoppers
and their produce to locusts.
47He killed their vines with hail
and their fig trees with frost.
48He let the hail strike their cattle
and bolts of lightning strike their livestock.
49He sent his burning anger, rage, fury, and hostility against them.
He sent an army of destroying angels.
50He cleared a path for his anger.
He did not spare them.
He let the plague take their lives.
51He slaughtered every firstborn in Egypt,
the ones born in the tents of Ham when their fathers were young.
52But he led his own people out like sheep
and guided them like a flock through the wilderness.
53He led them safely.
They had no fear while the sea covered their enemies.
54He brought them into his holy land,
to this mountain that his power had won.
55He forced nations out of their way
and gave them the land of the nations as their inheritance.
He settled the tribes of Israel in their own tents.
56They tested God Most High and rebelled against him.
They did not obey his written instructions.
57They were disloyal and treacherous like their ancestors.
They were like arrows shot from a defective bow.
58They made him angry because of their illegal worship sites.
They made him furious because they worshiped idols.
59When God heard, he became furious.
He completely rejected Israel.
60He abandoned his dwelling place in Shiloh,
the tent where he had lived among humans.
61He allowed his power to be taken captive
and handed his glory over to an oppressor.
62He let swords kill his people.
He was furious with those who belonged to him.
63Fire consumed his best young men,
so his virgins heard no wedding songs.
64His priests were cut down with swords.
The widows ⌞of his priests⌟ could not even weep ⌞for them⌟.
65Then the Lord woke up like one who had been sleeping,
like a warrior sobering up from ⌞too much⌟ wine.
66He struck his enemies from behind
and disgraced them forever.
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 loved.
69He built his holy place to be like the high heavens,
like the earth which he made to last for a long time.
70He chose his servant David.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71He brought him from tending the ewes that had lambs
so that David could be the shepherd of the people of Jacob,
of Israel, the people who belonged to the Lord.
72With unselfish devotion David became their shepherd.
With skill he guided them.
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