Psalm 78:1–31

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

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

^2jI will open my mouth ^kin a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

³things that we have heard and known,

that our ^lfathers have told us.

⁴We 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.

⁵He established ^pa testimony in ^qJacob

and appointed a law in ^qIsrael,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

⁶that ^rthe next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children,

⁷so that they should set their hope in God

and not forget ^sthe works of God,

but ^tkeep his commandments;

⁸and 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.

⁹The Ephraimites, armed with² the bow,

^xturned back on the day of battle.

¹⁰They ^ydid not keep God’s covenant,

but refused to walk according to his law.

¹¹They ^zforgot his works

and ^athe wonders that he had shown them.

¹²In the sight of their fathers ^bhe performed wonders

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

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

and made the waters ^estand like a heap.

^14fIn the daytime he led them with a cloud,

and all the night with a fiery light.

¹⁵He ^gsplit rocks in the wilderness

and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

¹⁶He made streams come out of ^hthe rock

and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

¹⁷Yet they sinned still more against him,

ⁱrebelling against the Most High in the desert.

¹⁸They ^jtested God in their heart

by demanding the food they craved.

¹⁹They spoke against God, saying,

^k“Can God ^lspread a table in the wilderness?

^20mHe struck the rock so that water gushed out

and streams overflowed.

Can he also give bread

or provide meat for his people?”

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

ⁿa fire was kindled against Jacob;

his anger rose against Israel,

²²because they ^odid not believe in God

and did not trust his saving power.

²³Yet he commanded the skies above

and ^popened the doors of heaven,

²⁴and he ^qrained down on them manna to eat

and gave them ^rthe grain of heaven.

²⁵Man ate of the bread of ^sthe angels;

he sent them food ^tin abundance.

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

and by his power he led out the south wind;

²⁷he rained meat on them like ^vdust,

winged birds like ^wthe sand of the seas;

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

all around their dwellings.

²⁹And they ^yate and were well filled,

for he gave them what they ^zcraved.

³⁰But before they had satisfied their craving,

^awhile the food was still in their mouths,

³¹the anger of God rose against them,

and he killed ^bthe strongest of them

and laid low ^cthe young men of Israel.