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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Psalms 78: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Psalm 78
78
Psalm 78
A maskil of Asaph.
1My people, listen to my teaching.
Pay attention to what I say.
2I will open my mouth and tell a story.
I will speak about things that were hidden.
They happened a long time ago.
3We have heard about them and we know them.
Our people who lived before us have told us about them.
4We won’t hide them from our children.
We will tell them to those who live after us.
We will tell them what the Lord has done that is worthy of praise.
We will talk about his power and the wonderful things he has done.
5He gave laws to the people of Jacob.
He gave Israel their law.
He commanded our people who lived before us
to teach his laws to their children.
6Then those born later would know his laws.
Even their children yet to come would know them.
And they in turn would tell their children.
7Then they would put their trust in God.
They would not forget what he had done.
They would obey his commands.
8They would not be like their people who lived long ago.
Those people were stubborn. They refused to obey God.
They turned away from him.
Their spirits were not faithful to him.
9The soldiers of Ephraim were armed with bows.
But they ran away on the day of battle.
10They didn’t keep the covenant God had made with them.
They refused to live by his law.
11They forgot what he had done.
They didn’t remember the wonders he had shown them.
12He did miracles right in front of their people who lived long ago.
At that time they were living in Egypt, in the area of Zoan.
13God parted the Red Sea and led them through it.
He made the water stand up like a wall.
14He guided them with the cloud during the day.
He led them with the light of a fire all night long.
15He broke the rocks open in the desert.
He gave them as much water as there is in the oceans.
16He brought streams out of a rocky cliff.
He made water flow down like rivers.
17But they continued to sin against him.
In the desert they refused to obey the Most High God.
18They were stubborn and tested God.
They ordered him to give them the food they wanted.
19They spoke against God. They said,
“Can God really put food on a table in the desert?
20It is true that he struck the rock, and streams of water poured out.
Huge amounts of water flowed down.
But can he also give us bread?
Can he supply meat for his people?”
21When the Lord heard what they said, he was very angry.
His anger broke out like fire against the people of Jacob.
He became very angry with Israel.
22That was because they didn’t believe in God.
They didn’t trust in his power to save them.
23But he gave a command to the skies above.
He opened the doors of the heavens.
24He rained down manna for the people to eat.
He gave them the grain of heaven.
25Mere human beings ate the bread of angels.
He sent them all the food they could eat.
26He made the east wind blow from the heavens.
By his power he caused the south wind to blow.
27He rained down meat on them like dust.
He sent them birds like sand on the seashore.
28He made the birds come down inside their camp.
The birds fell all around their tents.
29People ate until they couldn’t eat any more.
He gave them what they had wanted.
30But even before they had finished eating, God acted.
He did it while the food was still in their mouths.
31His anger rose up against them.
He put to death the strongest among them.
He struck down Israel’s young men.
32But even after all that, they kept on sinning.
Even after the wonderful things he had done, they still didn’t believe.
33So he brought their days to an end like a puff of smoke.
He ended their years with terror.
34Every time God killed some of them, the others would seek him.
They gladly turned back to him again.
35They remembered that God was their Rock.
They remembered that God Most High had set them free.
36But they didn’t mean it when they praised him.
They lied to him when they spoke.
37They turned away from him.
They weren’t faithful to the covenant he had made with them.
38But he was full of tender love.
He forgave their sins
and didn’t destroy his people.
Time after time he held back his anger.
He didn’t let all his burning anger blaze out.
39He remembered that they were only human.
He remembered they were only a breath of air
that drifts by and doesn’t return.
40How often they refused to obey him in the desert!
How often they caused him sorrow in that dry and empty land!
41Again and again they tested God.
They made the Holy One of Israel sad and angry.
42They didn’t remember his power.
They forgot the day he set them free
from those who had treated them so badly.
43They forgot how he had shown them his signs in Egypt.
They forgot his miracles in the area of Zoan.
44He turned the river of Egypt into blood.
The people of Egypt couldn’t drink water from their streams.
45He sent large numbers of flies that bit them.
He sent frogs that destroyed their land.
46He gave their crops to the grasshoppers.
He gave their food to the locusts.
47He destroyed their vines with hail.
He destroyed their fig trees with sleet.
48He killed their cattle with hail.
Their livestock were struck by lightning.
49Because he was so angry with Egypt, he caused them to have great trouble.
In his great anger he sent destroying angels against them.
50God prepared a path for his anger.
He didn’t spare their lives.
He gave them over to the plague.
51He killed the oldest son of each family in Egypt.
He struck down the oldest son in every house in the land of Ham.
52But he brought his people out like a flock.
He led them like sheep through the desert.
53He guided them safely, and they weren’t afraid.
But the Red Sea swallowed up their enemies.
54And so he brought his people to the border of his holy land.
He led them to the central hill country he had taken by his power.
55He drove out the nations to make room for his people.
He gave to each family a piece of land to pass on to their children.
He gave the tribes of Israel a place to make their homes.
56But they tested God.
They refused to obey the Most High God.
They didn’t keep his laws.
57They were like their people who lived long ago.
They turned away from him and were not faithful.
They were like a bow that doesn’t shoot straight.
They couldn’t be trusted.
58They made God angry by going to their high places.
They made him jealous by worshiping the statues of their gods.
59When God saw what the people were doing, he was very angry.
He turned away from them completely.
60He deserted the holy tent at Shiloh.
He left the tent he had set up among his people.
61He allowed the ark to be captured.
Into the hands of his enemies he sent the ark where his glory rested.
62He let his people be killed by swords.
He was very angry with them.
63Fire destroyed their young men.
Their young women had no one to marry.
64Their priests were killed by swords.
Their widows weren’t able to weep.
65Then the Lord woke up as if he had been sleeping.
He was like a warrior waking up from the deep sleep caused by wine.
66He drove back his enemies.
He put them to shame that will last forever.
67He turned his back on the tents of the people of Joseph.
He didn’t choose to live in the tribe of Ephraim.
68Instead, he chose to live in the tribe of Judah.
He chose Mount Zion, which he loved.
69There he built his holy place as secure as the heavens.
He built it to last forever, like the earth.
70He chose his servant David.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71He brought him from tending sheep
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob.
He made him the shepherd of Israel, his special people.
72David cared for them with a faithful and honest heart.
With skilled hands he led them.
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