Psalm 78:1–31

¹O my people, listen to my instructions.

Open your ears to what I am saying,

²for I will speak to you in a parable.

I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—

³stories we have heard and known,

stories our ancestors handed down to us.

⁴We will not hide these truths from our children;

we will tell the next generation

about the glorious deeds of the Lord,

about his power and his mighty wonders.

⁵For he issued his laws to Jacob;

he gave his instructions to Israel.

He commanded our ancestors

to teach them to their children,

⁶so the next generation might know them—

even the children not yet born—

and they in turn will teach their own children.

⁷So each generation should set its hope anew on God,

not forgetting his glorious miracles

and obeying his commands.

⁸Then they will not be like their ancestors—

stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,

refusing to give their hearts to God.

⁹The warriors of Ephraim, though armed with bows,

turned their backs and fled on the day of battle.

¹⁰They did not keep God’s covenant

and refused to live by his instructions.

¹¹They forgot what he had done—

the great wonders he had shown them,

¹²the miracles he did for their ancestors

on the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.

¹³For he divided the sea and led them through,

making the water stand up like walls!

¹⁴In the daytime he led them by a cloud,

and all night by a pillar of fire.

¹⁵He split open the rocks in the wilderness

to give them water, as from a gushing spring.

¹⁶He made streams pour from the rock,

making the waters flow down like a river!

¹⁷Yet they kept on sinning against him,

rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

¹⁸They stubbornly tested God in their hearts,

demanding the foods they craved.

¹⁹They even spoke against God himself, saying,

“God can’t give us food in the wilderness.

²⁰Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out,

but he can’t give his people bread and meat.”

²¹When the Lord heard them, he was furious.

The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob.

Yes, his anger rose against Israel,

²²for they did not believe God

or trust him to care for them.

²³But he commanded the skies to open;

he opened the doors of heaven.

²⁴He rained down manna for them to eat;

he gave them bread from heaven.

²⁵They ate the food of angels!

God gave them all they could hold.

²⁶He released the east wind in the heavens

and guided the south wind by his mighty power.

²⁷He rained down meat as thick as dust—

birds as plentiful as the sand on the seashore!

²⁸He caused the birds to fall within their camp

and all around their tents.

²⁹The people ate their fill.

He gave them what they craved.

³⁰But before they satisfied their craving,

while the meat was yet in their mouths,

³¹the anger of God rose against them,

and he killed their strongest men.

He struck down the finest of Israel’s young men.