Psalms 78:9-16, 56-64

The Ephraimites, armed to the teeth, ran off when the battle began. They were cowards to God’s Covenant, refused to walk by his Word. They forgot what he had done— marvels he’d done right before their eyes. He performed miracles in plain sight of their parents in Egypt, out on the fields of Zoan. He split the Sea and they walked right through it; he piled the waters to the right and the left. He led them by day with a cloud, led them all the night long with a fiery torch. He split rocks in the wilderness, gave them all they could drink from underground springs; He made creeks flow out from sheer rock, and water pour out like a river.

But they kept on giving him a hard time, rebelled against God, the High God, refused to do anything he told them. They were worse, if that’s possible, than their parents: traitors—crooked as a corkscrew. Their pagan orgies provoked God’s anger, their obscene idolatries broke his heart. When God heard their carryings-on, he was furious; he posted a huge No over Israel. He walked off and left Shiloh empty, abandoned the shrine where he had met with Israel. He let his pride and joy go to the dogs, turned his back on the pride of his life. He turned them loose on fields of battle; angry, he let them fend for themselves. Their young men went to war and never came back; their young women waited in vain. Their priests were massacred, and their widows never shed a tear.