Psalms 78
78
God and his People#Ps 78 Hebrew title: A poem by Asaph.
1Listen, my people, to my teaching,
and pay attention to what I say.
2 #
Mt 13.35
I am going to use wise sayings
and explain mysteries from the past,
3things we have heard and known,
things that our ancestors told us.
4We will not keep them from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the LORD's power and his great deeds
and the wonderful things he has done.
5He gave laws to the people of Israel
and commandments to the descendants of Jacob.
He instructed our ancestors
to teach his laws to their children,
6so that the next generation might learn them
and in turn should tell their children.
7In this way they also would put their trust in God
and not forget what he has done,
but always obey his commandments.
8They would not be like their ancestors,
a rebellious and disobedient people,
whose trust in God was never firm
and who did not remain faithful to him.
9The Ephraimites, armed with bows and arrows,
ran away on the day of battle.
10They did not keep their covenant with God;
they refused to obey his law.
11They forgot what he had done,
the miracles they had seen him perform.
12 #
Ex 7.8—12.32
While their ancestors watched, God performed miracles
in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.
13 #
Ex 14.21–22
He divided the sea and took them through it;
he made the waters stand like walls.
14 #
Ex 13.21–22
By day he led them with a cloud
and all night long with the light of a fire.
15 #
Ex 17.1–7; Num 20.2–13 He split rocks open in the desert
and gave them water from the depths.
16He caused a stream to come out of the rock
and made water flow like a river.
17But they continued to sin against God,
and in the desert they rebelled against the Most High.
18 #
Ex 16.2–15; Num 11.4–23, 31–35 They deliberately put God to the test
by demanding the food they wanted.
19They spoke against God and said,
“Can God supply food in the desert?
20It is true that he struck the rock,
and water flowed out in a torrent;
but can he also provide us with bread
and give his people meat?”
21And so the LORD was angry when he heard them;
he attacked his people with fire,
and his anger against them grew,
22because they had no faith in him
and did not believe that he would save them.
23But he spoke to the sky above
and commanded its doors to open;
24 #
Jn 6.31
he gave them grain from heaven,
by sending down manna for them to eat.
25So they ate the food of angels,
and God gave them all they wanted.
26He also caused the east wind to blow,
and by his power he stirred up the south wind;
27and to his people he sent down birds,
as many as the grains of sand on the shore;
28they fell in the middle of the camp
all round the tents.
29So the people ate and were satisfied;
God gave them what they wanted.
30But they had not yet satisfied their craving
and were still eating,
31when God became angry with them
and killed their strongest men,
the best young men of Israel.
32In spite of all this the people kept sinning;
in spite of his miracles they did not trust him.
33So he ended their days like a breath
and their lives with sudden disaster.
34Whenever he killed some of them,
the rest would turn to him;
they would repent and pray earnestly to him.
35They remembered that God was their protector,
that the Almighty came to their aid.
36But their words were all lies;
nothing they said was sincere.
37They were not loyal to him;
they were not faithful to their covenant with him.
38But God was merciful to his people.
He forgave their sin
and did not destroy them.
Many times he held back his anger
and restrained his fury.
39He remembered that they were only mortal beings,
like a wind that blows by and is gone.
40How often they rebelled against him in the desert;
how many times they made him sad!
41Again and again they put God to the test
and brought pain to the Holy God of Israel.
42They forgot his great power
and the day when he saved them from their enemies
43and performed his mighty acts and miracles
in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.
44 #
Ex 7.17–21
He turned the rivers into blood,
and the Egyptians had no water to drink.
45 #
Ex 8.1–6, 20–24 He sent flies among them, that tormented them,
and frogs that ruined their land.
46 #
Ex 10.12–15
He sent locusts to eat their crops
and to destroy their fields.
47 #
Ex 9.22–25
He killed their grapevines with hail
and their fig trees with frost.
48He killed their cattle with hail
and their flocks with lightning.#78.48 hail… lightning; or terrible disease… deadly plague.
49He caused them great distress
by pouring out his anger and fierce rage,
which came as messengers of death.
50He did not restrain his anger
or spare their lives,
but killed them with a plague.
51 #
Ex 12.29
He killed the firstborn sons
of all the families of Egypt.
52 #
Ex 13.17–22
Then he led his people out like a shepherd
and guided them through the desert.
53 #
Ex 14.26–28
He led them safely, and they were not afraid;
but the sea came rolling over their enemies.
54 #
Ex 15.17; Josh 3.14–17 He brought them to his holy land,
to the mountains which he himself conquered.
55 #
Josh 11.16–23
He drove out the inhabitants as his people advanced;
he divided their land among the tribes of Israel
and gave their homes to his people.
56 #
Judg 2.11–15
But they rebelled against Almighty God
and put him to the test.
They did not obey his commandments,
57but were rebellious and disloyal like their ancestors,
unreliable as a crooked arrow.
58They angered him with their heathen places of worship,
and with their idols they made him furious.
59God was angry when he saw it,
so he rejected his people completely.
60 #
Josh 18.1; Jer 7.12–14; 26.6 He abandoned his tent in Shiloh,#78.60 Shiloh: The central place of worship for the people of Israel before the time of King David.
the home where he had lived among us.
61 #
1 Sam 4.4–22
He allowed our enemies to capture the Covenant Box,
the symbol of his power and glory.
62He was angry with his own people
and let them be killed by their enemies.
63Young men were killed in war,
and young women had no one to marry.
64Priests died by violence,
and their widows were not allowed to mourn.
65At last the Lord woke up as though from sleep;
he was like a strong man excited by wine.
66He drove his enemies back
in lasting and shameful defeat.
67But he rejected the descendants of Joseph;
he did not select the tribe of Ephraim.
68Instead he chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion, which he dearly loves.
69There he built his Temple
like his home in heaven;
he made it firm like the earth itself,
secure for all time.
70 #
1 Sam 16.11–12; 2 Sam 7.8; 1 Chr 17.7 He chose his servant David;
he took him from the pastures,
71where he looked after his flocks,
and he made him king of Israel,
the shepherd of the people of God.
72David took care of them with unselfish devotion
and led them with skill.
Currently Selected:
Psalms 78: GNBDK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.