Psalm 78:21–55
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
his fire broke outq against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
or trustr in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens;s
24 he rained down mannat for the people to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east windu from the heavens
and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
birdsv like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp,
all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—w
he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved,
even while the food was still in their mouths,x
31 God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiesty among them,
cutting down the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;z
in spite of his wonders,a they did not believe.b
33 So he ended their days in futilityc
and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seekd him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,e
that God Most High was their Redeemer.f
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,g
lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyalh to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;i
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his angerl
and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,m
a passing breezen that does not return.
40 How often they rebelledo against him in the wildernessp
and grieved himq in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;r
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.s
42 They did not remembert his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,u
43 the day he displayed his signsv in Egypt,
his wondersw in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;x
they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of fliesy that devoured them,
and frogsz that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,a
their produce to the locust.b
47 He destroyed their vines with hailc
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
their livestockd to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,e
his wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.f
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,g
the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.h
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;i
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfedj their enemies.k
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right handl had taken.
55 He drove out nationsm before them
and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;n
he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.