Psalms 78

God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.

A ▼

▼Possibly, Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm

Maskil of Asaph.

1 ^bListen, my people, to my ▼

▼Or law, teaching

instruction;
^dIncline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will ^eopen my mouth in a parable;
I will tell ^friddles of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And ^gour fathers have told us.
4 We will ^hnot conceal them from their children,
But we will ⁱtell the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His power and His ^jwondrous works that He has done.

5 For He established a ^ktestimony in Jacob,
And appointed a ^llaw in Israel,
Which He ^mcommanded our fathers
That they were to ▼

▼Lit make them known

, ^oteach them to their children,
6 ^pSo that the generation to come would know, ^qthe children yet to be born,
That they would arise and ^rtell them to their children,
7 So that they would put their confidence in God
And ^snot forget the works of God,
But ^tcomply with His commandments,
8 And ^unot be like their fathers,
A ^vstubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that ^wdid not ▼

▼Or put right

prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not ^yfaithful to God.

9 The sons of Ephraim ▼

▼Or being

were ^aaarchers equipped with bows,
Yet ^abthey turned back on the day of battle.
10 They ^acdid not keep the covenant of God
And refused to ^adwalk in His Law;
11 They ^aeforgot His deeds
And His ▼

▼Or wonderful works

miracles that He had shown them.
12 ^agHe performed wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the ^ahfield of Zoan.
13 He ^aidivided the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand ^ajup like a heap.
14 Then He led them with the cloud by ^akday
And all the night with a ^allight of fire.
15 He ^amsplit the rocks in the wilderness
And gave them plenty to drink like the ocean depths.
16 He ^anbrought forth streams from the rock
And made waters run down like rivers.

17 Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To ^aorebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 And in their heart they ^apput God to the test
By asking for ^aqfood ▼

▼Lit to their soul

that suited their taste.
19 Then they spoke against God;
They said, “ ^asCan God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 “Behold, He ^atstruck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He also provide bread?
Will He prepare ^aumeat for His people?”

21 Therefore the Lord heard and ▼

▼Or became infuriated

was ^awfull of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also mounted against Israel,
22 Because they ^axdid not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He commanded the clouds above
And ^ayopened the doors of heaven;
24 He ^azrained down manna upon them to eat,
And gave them ▼

▼Lit grain

, ^bbfood from heaven.
25 Man ate the bread of ▼

▼Lit mighty ones

angels;
He sent them ▼

▼Or provision

food ▼

▼Lit to satiation

, ^bfin abundance.
26 He ^bgmade the east wind blow in the sky
And by His ▼

▼Or strength

power He directed the south wind.
27 When He rained meat upon them like the dust,
Even ^biwinged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28 He let them fall in the midst of ▼

▼Lit His

their camp,
All around their dwellings.
29 So they ^bkate and were well filled,
And He ▼

▼Lit brought to them their

satisfied their longing.
30 ▼

▼Lit They did not turn away from their

Yet before they had abandoned their longing,
^bnWhile their food was in their mouths,
31 The ^boanger of God rose against them
And killed ▼

▼Lit among their fat ones

some of their ^bqstrongest ones,
And ▼

▼Lit caused to bow down

subdued the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they ^bsstill sinned
And ^btdid not believe in His wonderful works.
33 So He brought ^butheir days to an end in futility,
And their years to an end in sudden terror.

34 When He killed them, then they ^bvsought Him,
And they returned and searched ^bwdiligently for God;
35 And they remembered that God was their ^bxrock,
And the Most High God their ^byRedeemer.
36 But they ^bzflattered Him with their mouth
And ^calied to Him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not ^cbsteadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful with His covenant.
38 But He, being ^cccompassionate, ▼

▼Lit covered over, atoned for

, ^ceforgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them;
And often He ▼

▼Lit turned away

, ^cgrestrained His anger
And did not stir up all His wrath.
39 So ^chHe remembered that they were only ^ciflesh,
A ▼

▼Or breath

, ^ckwind that passes and does not return.

40 How often they ^clrebelled against Him in the wilderness
And ^cmgrieved Him in the ^cndesert!
41 Again and again they ▼

▼Or put God to the test

, ^cptempted God,
And pained the ^cqHoly One of Israel.
42 They ^crdid not remember ^csHis ▼

▼Lit hand

power,
The day when He ^curedeemed them from the enemy,
43 When He performed His ^cvsigns in Egypt
And His ^cwmarvels in the field of Zoan,
44 And ^cxturned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He sent swarms of ^cyflies among them that devoured them,
And ^czfrogs that destroyed them.
46 He also gave their crops to the ^dagrasshopper
And the product of their labor to the ^dblocust.
47 He ▼

▼Lit was killing

destroyed their vines with ^ddhailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He also turned their ^decattle over to the hailstones,
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
49 He ^dfsent His burning anger upon them,
Fury and indignation and trouble,
A band of ▼

▼Lit angels of evil ones; another reading is evil angels

destroying angels.
50 He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not spare their souls from death,
But ^dhturned their lives over to the plague,
51 And ^distruck all the firstborn in Egypt,
The ^djfirst and best of their vigor in the tents of ^dkHam.
52 But He ^dlled His own people out like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness ^dmlike a flock;
53 He led them ^dnsafely, so that they did not fear;
But ^dothe sea engulfed their enemies.

54 So ^dpHe brought them to His holy ▼

▼Lit border, territory

land,
To this ▼

▼Or mountain

, ^dshill country ^dtwhich His right hand had gained.
55 He also ^dudrove out the nations from them
And ^dvapportioned them as an inheritance by measurement,
And had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they ▼

▼Or put to the test

, ^dxtempted and ^dyrebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But turned back and ^dzacted treacherously like their fathers;
They ^eaturned aside like a treacherous bow.
58 For they ^ebprovoked Him with their ^echigh places
And ^edmoved Him to jealousy with their ^eecarved images.
59 When God heard them, He ▼

▼Or became infuriated

was filled with ^egwrath
And He utterly ^ehrejected Israel;
60 So that He ^eiabandoned the ^ejdwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent ▼

▼Some ancient versions where He dwelt

which He had pitched among people,
61 And He gave up His ^elstrength to captivity
And His glory ^eminto the hand of the enemy.
62 He also ^enturned His people over to the sword,
And ▼

▼Or became infuriated

was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63 ^epFire devoured ▼

▼Or their

His young men,
And ▼

▼Or their

His ^esvirgins had no wedding songs.
64 ▼

▼Or their

His ^eupriests fell by the sword,
And ▼

▼Or their

His ^ewwidows could not weep.

65 Then the Lord ^exawoke as if from sleep,
Like a ^eywarrior ▼

▼Or sobered up from

overcome by wine.
66 He ▼

▼Lit struck

, ^fbdrove His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting disgrace.
67 He also ^fcrejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount ^fdZion, which He loved.
69 And He ^febuilt His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70 He also ^ffchose His servant David
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From ▼

▼Lit following

, ^fhthe care of the ▼

▼Lit ewes that wet-nurse, He

ewes ^fjwith nursing lambs He brought him
To ^fkshepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel ^flHis inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the ^fmintegrity of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands.