Psalm 78:1–72

¹My people, hear my teaching;^j

listen to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth with a parable;^k

I will utter hidden things, things from of old—

³things we have heard and known,

things our ancestors have told us.^l

⁴We will not hide them from their descendants;^m

we will tell the next generationⁿ

the praiseworthy deeds^o of the Lord,

his power, and the wonders^p he has done.

⁵He decreed statutes^q for Jacob^r

and established the law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors

to teach their children,

⁶so the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born,^s

and they in turn would tell their children.

⁷Then they would put their trust in God

and would not forget^t his deeds

but would keep his commands.^u

⁸They would not be like their ancestors^v—

a stubborn^w and rebellious^x generation,

whose hearts were not loyal to God,

whose spirits were not faithful to him.

⁹The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,^y

turned back on the day of battle;^z

¹⁰they did not keep God’s covenant^a

and refused to live by his law.^b

¹¹They forgot what he had done,^c

the wonders he had shown them.

¹²He did miracles^d in the sight of their ancestors

in the land of Egypt,^e in the region of Zoan.^f

¹³He divided the sea^g and led them through;

he made the water stand up like a wall.^h

¹⁴He guided them with the cloud by day

and with light from the fire all night.ⁱ

¹⁵He split the rocks^j in the wilderness

and gave them water as abundant as the seas;

¹⁶he brought streams out of a rocky crag

and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin^k against him,

rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.

¹⁸They willfully put God to the test^l

by demanding the food they craved.^m

¹⁹They spoke against God;ⁿ

they said, “Can God really

spread a table in the wilderness?

²⁰True, he struck the rock,

and water gushed out,^o

streams flowed abundantly,

but can he also give us bread?

Can he supply meat^p for his people?”

²¹When the Lord heard them, he was furious;

his fire broke out^q against Jacob,

and his wrath rose against Israel,

²²for they did not believe in God

or trust^r in his deliverance.

²³Yet he gave a command to the skies above

and opened the doors of the heavens;^s

²⁴he rained down manna^t for the people to eat,

he gave them the grain of heaven.

²⁵Human beings ate the bread of angels;

he sent them all the food they could eat.

²⁶He let loose the east wind^u from the heavens

and by his power made the south wind blow.

²⁷He rained meat down on them like dust,

birds^v like sand on the seashore.

²⁸He made them come down inside their camp,

all around their tents.

²⁹They ate till they were gorged—^w

he had given them what they craved.

³⁰But before they turned from what they craved,

even while the food was still in their mouths,^x

³¹God’s anger rose against them;

he put to death the sturdiest^y among them,

cutting down the young men of Israel.

³²In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;^z

in spite of his wonders,^a they did not believe.^b

³³So he ended their days in futility^c

and their years in terror.

³⁴Whenever God slew them, they would seek^d him;

they eagerly turned to him again.

³⁵They remembered that God was their Rock,^e

that God Most High was their Redeemer.^f

³⁶But then they would flatter him with their mouths,^g

lying to him with their tongues;

³⁷their hearts were not loyal^h to him,

they were not faithful to his covenant.

³⁸Yet he was merciful;ⁱ

he forgave^j their iniquities^k

and did not destroy them.

Time after time he restrained his anger^l

and did not stir up his full wrath.

³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,^m

a passing breezeⁿ that does not return.

⁴⁰How often they rebelled^o against him in the wilderness^p

and grieved him^q in the wasteland!

⁴¹Again and again they put God to the test;^r

they vexed the Holy One of Israel.^s

⁴²They did not remember^t his power—

the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,^u

⁴³the day he displayed his signs^v in Egypt,

his wonders^w in the region of Zoan.

⁴⁴He turned their river into blood;^x

they could not drink from their streams.

⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies^y that devoured them,

and frogs^z that devastated them.

⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper,^a

their produce to the locust.^b

⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail^c

and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

⁴⁸He gave over their cattle to the hail,

their livestock^d to bolts of lightning.

⁴⁹He unleashed against them his hot anger,^e

his wrath, indignation and hostility—

a band of destroying angels.^f

⁵⁰He prepared a path for his anger;

he did not spare them from death

but gave them over to the plague.

⁵¹He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,^g

the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.^h

⁵²But he brought his people out like a flock;ⁱ

he led them like sheep through the wilderness.

⁵³He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;

but the sea engulfed^j their enemies.^k

⁵⁴And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,

to the hill country his right hand^l had taken.

⁵⁵He drove out nations^m before them

and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;ⁿ

he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶But they put God to the test

and rebelled against the Most High;

they did not keep his statutes.

⁵⁷Like their ancestors^o they were disloyal and faithless,

as unreliable as a faulty bow.^p

⁵⁸They angered him^q with their high places;^r

they aroused his jealousy with their idols.^s

⁵⁹When God heard^t them, he was furious;^u

he rejected Israel^v completely.

⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,^w

the tent he had set up among humans.^x

⁶¹He sent the ark of his might^y into captivity,^z

his splendor into the hands of the enemy.

⁶²He gave his people over to the sword;^a

he was furious with his inheritance.^b

⁶³Fire consumed^c their young men,

and their young women had no wedding songs;^d

⁶⁴their priests were put to the sword,^e

and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,^f

as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.

⁶⁶He beat back his enemies;

he put them to everlasting shame.^g

⁶⁷Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,

he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;^h

⁶⁸but he chose the tribe of Judah,ⁱ

Mount Zion,^j which he loved.

⁶⁹He built his sanctuary^k like the heights,

like the earth that he established forever.

⁷⁰He chose David^l his servant

and took him from the sheep pens;

⁷¹from tending the sheep^m he brought him

to be the shepherdⁿ of his people Jacob,

of Israel his inheritance.

⁷²And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;^o

with skillful hands he led them.