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:
Psalms 78: GW
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.
Psalms 78
78
PSALM 78
God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A Maskil of Asaph.
1Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
5For He established a testimony in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach them to their children,
6That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and tell them to their children,
7That they should put their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
8And not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not #Or put rightprepare its heart
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows,
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
10They did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to walk in His law;
11They forgot His deeds
And His miracles that He had shown them.
12He wrought wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13He divided the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand up like a heap.
14Then He led them with the cloud by day
And all the night with a light of fire.
15He split the rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.
16He brought forth streams also from the rock
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18And in their heart they put God to the test
By asking food according to their desire.
19Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He give bread also?
Will He provide meat for His people?”
21Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob
And anger also mounted against Israel,
22Because they did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
23Yet He commanded the clouds above
And opened the doors of heaven;
24He rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them food from heaven.
25Man did eat the bread of angels;
He sent them food in abundance.
26He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His power He directed the south wind.
27When He rained meat upon them like the dust,
Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Round about their dwellings.
29So they ate and were well filled,
And their desire He gave to them.
30Before they had satisfied their desire,
While their food was in their mouths,
31The anger of God rose against them
And killed some of their stoutest ones,
And subdued the choice men of Israel.
32In spite of all this they still sinned
And did not believe in His wonderful works.
33So He brought their days to an end in futility
And their years in sudden terror.
34When He killed them, then they sought Him,
And returned and searched diligently for God;
35And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
36But they deceived Him with their mouth
And lied to Him with their tongue.
37For their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them;
And often He restrained His anger
And did not arouse all His wrath.
39Thus He remembered that they were but flesh,
A wind that passes and does not return.
40How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
41Again and again they #Or put God to the testtempted God,
And pained the Holy One of Israel.
42They did not remember His power,
The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,
43When He performed His signs in Egypt
And His marvels in the field of Zoan,
44And turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, they could not drink.
45He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.
46He gave also their crops to the grasshopper
And the product of their labor to the locust.
47He destroyed their vines with hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
49He sent upon them His burning anger,
Fury and indignation and trouble,
A band of destroying angels.
50He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave over their life to the plague,
51And smote all the firstborn in Egypt,
The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham.
52But He led forth His own people like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53He led them safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea engulfed their enemies.
54So He brought them to His holy land,
To this hill country which His right hand had gained.
55He also drove out the nations before them
And apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56Yet they #Or put to the testtempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
57But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers;
They turned aside like a treacherous bow.
58For they provoked Him with their high places
And aroused His jealousy with their graven images.
59When God heard, He was filled with wrath
And greatly abhorred Israel;
60So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent which He had pitched among men,
61And gave up His strength to captivity
And His glory into the hand of the adversary.
62He also delivered His people to the sword,
And was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63Fire devoured His young men,
And His virgins had no wedding songs.
64His priests fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.
65Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,
Like a warrior overcome by wine.
66He drove His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting reproach.
67He also rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which He loved.
69And He built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has founded forever.
70He also chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
72So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION
A Corporation Not for Profit
LA HABRA, CA
All Rights Reserved
http://www.lockman.org