Tell the Coming Generation

78 A Maskil1 of hAsaph.

1  iGive ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

2  jI will open my mouth kin a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

3  things that we have heard and known,

that our lfathers have told us.

4  We will not mhide them from their children,

but ntell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and othe wonders that he has done.

5  He established pa testimony in qJacob

and appointed a law in qIsrael,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

6  that rthe next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children,

7  so that they should set their hope in God

and not forget sthe works of God,

but tkeep his commandments;

8  and that they should not be ulike their fathers,

va stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation wwhose heart was not steadfast,

whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9  The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,

xturned back on the day of battle.

10  They ydid not keep God’s covenant,

but refused to walk according to his law.

11  They zforgot his works

and athe wonders that he had shown them.

12  In the sight of their fathers bhe performed wonders

in the land of Egypt, in cthe fields of Zoan.

13  He ddivided the sea and let them pass through it,

and made the waters estand like a heap.

14  fIn the daytime he led them with a cloud,

and all the night with a fiery light.

15  He gsplit rocks in the wilderness

and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

16  He made streams come out of hthe rock

and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

17  Yet they sinned still more against him,

irebelling against the Most High in the desert.

18  They jtested God in their heart

by demanding the food they craved.

19  They spoke against God, saying,

k“Can God lspread a table in the wilderness?

20  mHe struck the rock so that water gushed out

and streams overflowed.

Can he also give bread

or provide meat for his people?”

21  Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;

na fire was kindled against Jacob;

his anger rose against Israel,

22  because they odid not believe in God

and did not trust his saving power.

23  Yet he commanded the skies above

and popened the doors of heaven,

24  and he qrained down on them manna to eat

and gave them rthe grain of heaven.

25  Man ate of the bread of sthe angels;

he sent them food tin abundance.

26  He ucaused the east wind to blow in the heavens,

and by his power he led out the south wind;

27  he rained meat on them like vdust,

winged birds like wthe sand of the seas;

28  he xlet them fall in the midst of their camp,

all around their dwellings.

29  And they yate and were well filled,

for he gave them what they zcraved.

30  But before they had satisfied their craving,

awhile the food was still in their mouths,

31  the anger of God rose against them,

and he killed bthe strongest of them

and laid low cthe young men of Israel.

32  In spite of all this, they dstill sinned;

edespite his wonders, they did not believe.

33  So he made ftheir days gvanish like3 a breath,4

and their years in terror.

34  When he killed them, they hsought him;

they repented and sought God earnestly.

35  They remembered that God was their irock,

the Most High God their jredeemer.

36  But they kflattered him with their mouths;

they llied to him with their tongues.

37  Their mheart was not nsteadfast toward him;

they were not faithful to his covenant.

38  Yet he, being ocompassionate,

patoned for their iniquity

and did not destroy them;

he restrained his anger often

and did not stir up all his wrath.

39  He qremembered that they were but rflesh,

sa wind that passes and comes not again.

40  How often they trebelled against him in the wilderness

and ugrieved him in vthe desert!

41  They wtested God again and again

and provoked xthe Holy One of Israel.

42  They ydid not remember his power5

or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,

43  zwhen he performed his asigns in Egypt

and his bmarvels in cthe fields of Zoan.

44  He dturned their rivers to blood,

so that they could not drink of their streams.

45  He sent among them swarms of eflies, which devoured them,

and ffrogs, which destroyed them.

46  He gave their crops to gthe destroying locust

and the fruit of their labor to the locust.

47  He destroyed their vines with hhail

and their sycamores with frost.

48  He gave over their icattle to the hail

and their flocks to thunderbolts.

49  He let loose on them his burning anger,

wrath, indignation, and distress,

a company of jdestroying angels.

50  He made a path for his anger;

he did not spare them from death,

but gave their lives over to the plague.

51  He struck down every kfirstborn in Egypt,

the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of lHam.

52  Then he led out his people mlike sheep

and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53  nHe led them in safety, so that they owere not afraid,

but pthe sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54  And he brought them to his qholy land,

rto the mountain which his right hand had swon.

55  He tdrove out nations before them;

he uapportioned them for a possession

and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56  Yet they vtested and wrebelled against the Most High God

and did not keep his testimonies,

57  but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;

they twisted like xa deceitful bow.

58  For they yprovoked him to anger with their zhigh places;

they amoved him to jealousy with their bidols.

59  When God heard, he was full of cwrath,

and he utterly rejected Israel.

60  He dforsook his dwelling at eShiloh,

the tent where he dwelt among mankind,

61  and delivered his fpower to captivity,

his gglory to the hand of the foe.

62  He hgave his people over to the sword

and ivented his wrath on his heritage.

63  jFire devoured their young men,

and their young women had no kmarriage song.

64  Their lpriests fell by the sword,

and their mwidows made no lamentation.

65  Then the Lord nawoke as from sleep,

like a strong man shouting because of wine.

66  And he oput his adversaries to rout;

he put them to everlasting shame.

67  He rejected the tent of pJoseph;

he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

68  but he chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion, which he qloves.

69  He rbuilt his sanctuary like the high heavens,

like the earth, which he has founded forever.

70  He schose David his servant

and took him from the sheepfolds;

71  from tfollowing the nursing ewes he brought him

to ushepherd Jacob his people,

Israel his vinheritance.

72  With wupright heart he shepherded them

and xguided them with his skillful hand.

How Long, O Lord?

79 A Psalm of yAsaph.

1  O God, zthe nations have come into your ainheritance;

they have defiled your bholy temple;

they have claid Jerusalem in ruins.

2  They have given dthe bodies of your servants

to the birds of the heavens for food,

the flesh of your efaithful to fthe beasts of the earth.

3  They have poured out their blood like water

all around Jerusalem,

and there was gno one to bury them.

4  We have become ha taunt to our neighbors,

hmocked and derided by those around us.

5  iHow long, O Lord? Will you be angry jforever?

Will your kjealousy lburn like fire?

6  mPour out your anger on the nations

that ndo not know you,

and on the kingdoms

that odo not call upon your name!

7  For they have devoured Jacob

and laid waste his habitation.

8  pDo not remember against us qour former iniquities;1

let your compassion come speedily to meet us,

for we are rbrought very low.

9  sHelp us, O God of our salvation,

for the glory of your name;

deliver us, and tatone for our sins,

for your uname’s sake!

10  vWhy should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”

Let wthe avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants

be known among the nations before our eyes!

11  Let xthe groans of the prisoners come before you;

according to your great power, preserve those ydoomed to die!

12  Return zsevenfold into the alap of our neighbors

the btaunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!

13  But we your people, the csheep of your pasture,

will dgive thanks to you forever;

from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Restore Us, O God

80 To the choirmaster: according to eLilies. A Testimony. Of fAsaph, a Psalm.

1  Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead gJoseph like ha flock.

You who are ienthroned upon the cherubim, jshine forth.

2  Before kEphraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,

lstir up your might

and mcome to save us!

3  nRestore us,1 O God;

olet your face shine, that we may be saved!

4  O pLord God of hosts,

qhow long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

5  You have fed them with rthe bread of tears

and given them tears to drink in full measure.

6  sYou make us an object of contention for our sneighbors,

and our enemies laugh among themselves.

7  nRestore us, O God of hosts;

let your face shine, that we may be saved!

8  You brought ta vine out of Egypt;

you udrove out the nations and planted it.

9  You vcleared the ground for it;

it took deep root and filled the land.

10  The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

11  It sent out its branches to wthe sea

and its shoots to wthe River.2

12  Why then have you xbroken down its walls,

so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?

13  yThe boar from the forest ravages it,

and all that move in the field feed on it.

14  Turn again, O God of hosts!

zLook down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

15  the stock that your right hand planted,

and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

16  They have aburned it with fire; they have acut it down;

may they perish at bthe rebuke of your face!

17  But clet your hand be on the man of your right hand,

the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

18  Then we shall not turn back from you;

dgive us life, and we will call upon your name!

19  eRestore us, O Lord God of hosts!

Let your face shine, that we may be saved!