Psalms 78

1 [A Psalm] of instruction for Asaph. Give heed, O my people, to my law: incline your ear to the words of my mouth.

An Instructive Psalm. Asaph’s. Give ear, O my people, to mine instruction, Bend your ear to the sayings of my mouth;

2 I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter dark sayings [which have been] from the beginning.

I will open, in a parable, my mouth, I will pour forth enigmas out of antiquity; —

3 All which we have heard and known, and our fathers have declared to us.

Which we have heard, and come to know, And, our fathers, have recounted to us;

4 They were not hid from their children to a second generations; [the fathers] declaring the praises of the Lord, and his mighty acts, and his wonders which he wrought.

We will not withhold [them] from their children, To a later generation, recounting the praises of Yahweh, Even his might and his wonders which he wrought;

5 And he raised up a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, to make it known to their children:

When he set up a testimony in Jacob, And, a law, appointed in Israel, —Which he commanded our fathers, That they might make them known to their children;

6 that another generation might know, even the sons which should be born; and they should arise and declare them to their children.

To the end, A later generation, might come to know, Children who should be born, Who should arise, and recount [them] to their children;

7 That they might set their hope on God, and not forget the works of God, but diligently seek his commandments.

That they might set, in Elohim, their confidence, —And not forget the doings of El, But, his commandments, might observe;

8 That they should not be as their fathers, a perverse and provoking generation; a generation which set not its heart aright, and its spirit was not steadfast with God.

And not become, like their fathers, a generation stubborn and rebellious, —A generation that fixed not their heart, Neither was their spirit, faithful with GOD.

9 The children of Ephraim, bending and shooting [with] the bow, turned [back] in the day of battle.

The sons of Ephraim—armed bowmen, Turned in the day of battle;

10 They kept not the covenant of God, and would not walk in his law.

They kept not the covenant of God, And, in his law, refused to walk;

11 And they forgot his benefits, and his miracles which he [had] shewed them;

And forgat His doings, And his wonders which he had showed them:

12 the miracles which he wrought before their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the plain of Tanes.

In presence of their fathers, wrought he, wondrously, —In the land of Egypt—the field of Zoan:

13 He clave the sea, and led them through: he made the waters to stand as [in] a bottle.

He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through, And reared up the waters like a mound;

14 And he guided them with a cloud by day, and all the night with a light of fire.

And led them, by a cloud, in the daytime, And all the night, by a light of fire;

15 he clave a rock in the wilderness, and made them drink as in a great deep.

He used to cleave rocks in the desert, And let them drink as out of mighty deeps;

16 And he brought water out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down as rivers.

And he brought forth streams out of the cliff, And caused waters to flow down, like rivers.

17 And they sinned yet more against him; they provoked the Most High in the wilderness.

But again, once more sinned they against him, Resisting the Most High in a land of drought:

18 And they tempted God in their hearts, in asking meat for [the desire of] their souls.

They put GOD to the proof in their heart, By asking food to their mind:

19 They spoke also against God, and said, Will God be able to prepare a table in the wilderness?

Yea they spake against Elohim, —They said, Can GOD prepare a table in the desert?

20 Forasmuch as he smote the rock, and the waters flowed, and the torrents ran abundantly; will he be able also to give bread, or prepare a table for his people?

Lo! he hath smitten a rock, And waters, have gushed out, Yea, torrents, have rushed along, —Food also, can he give? Or provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore the Lord heard, and was provoked: and fire was kindled in Jacob, and wrath went up against Israel.

Therefore, Yahweh hearkened, and became wroth, —And, a fire, was kindled against Jacob, Moreover also, anger, mounted against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.

Because, They believed not in God, Nor trusted in his salvation;

23 Yet he commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,

Though he had commanded the skies above, And, the doors of the heavens, had opened;

24 and rained upon them manna to eat, and gave them the bread of heaven.

And had rained on them manna to eat, And, the corn of the heavens, had given to them:

25 Man ate angels' bread; he sent them provision to the full.

The food of the mighty, each one did eat, Nourishment, sent he them to the full;

26 He removed the south wind from heaven; and by his might he brought in the south-west wind.

He let loose an east wind in the heavens, Then guided he, in his might, a south wind;

27 And he rained upon them flesh like dust, and feathered birds like the sand of the seas.

And rained upon them flesh as the dust, And, like the sand of the seas, birds of wing;

28 And they fell into the midst of their camp, round about their tents.

And let them fall in the midst of their camp, —Round about their habitations.

29 So they ate, and were completely filled; and he gave them their desire.

So they did eat and were abundantly filled, When, what they longed for, he had brought them: —

30 They were not disappointed of their desire: [but] when their food was yet in their mouth,

They had not turned away from what they had longed for, Yet was their food in their mouth,

31 then the indignation of God rose up against them, and slew the fattest of them, and overthrew the choice men of Israel.

When, the anger of God, mounted against them, And he slew of their vigorous youths, And, the choice young men of Israel, caused he to bow down in death.

32 In the midst of all this they sinned yet more, and believed not his miracles.

For all this, sinned they still, And believed not in his wonders;

33 And their days were consumed in vanity, and their years with anxiety.

So he ended, in a breath, their days, And their years, in a sudden terror!

34 When he slew them, they sought him: and they returned and called betimes upon God.

If he slew [of] them, then they sought him, Yea they turned, and did earnestly seek GOD;

35 And they remembered that God was their helper, and the most high God was their redeemer.

And remembered that, Elohim, was their rock, Yea, EL Most High, their Redeemer:

36 Yet they loved him [only] with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.

So they spake him fair with their mouth, And, with their tongue, did promise him falsely;

37 For their heart [was] not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant.

But, their heart, was not fixed with him, Nor were they trusty in his covenant:

38 But he is compassionate, and will forgive their sins, and will not destroy [them]: yea, he will frequently turn away his wrath, and will not kindle all his anger.

Yet, he, full of compassion, would put a propitiatory-covering over iniquity, and not destroy, —Yea, many a time, turned he back his anger, And would not stir up all his wrath.

39 And he remembered that they are flesh; a wind that passes away, and returns not.

So then he remembered, That, Flesh, they were, A Wind departing, that returneth not.

40 How often did they provoke him in the wilderness, [and] anger him in a dry land!

How often they, Resisted him in the desert, Vexed him, in the waste:

41 Yea, they turned back, and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

Yea they again put GOD to the test, And, to the Holy One of Israel, caused they sorrow:

42 They remembered not his hand, the day in which he delivered them from the hand of the oppressor.

They remembered not his hand—The day, When he ransomed them from the adversary;

43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Tanes:

When he set, in Egypt, his signs, And his wonders, in the plain of Zoan;

44 and had changed their rivers into blood; and their streams, that they should not drink.

When he turned, into blood, their Nile-streams, And, their own rivers, could they not drink;

45 He sent against them the dog-fly, and it devoured them; and the frog, and it spoiled them.

He sent among them, The gad-fly, and it devoured them, And the frog, and it despoiled them;

46 And he gave their fruit to the canker worm, and their labours to the locust.

When he gave to the corn-locust their produce, And their toil, to the swarming locust;

47 He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamores with frost.

He killed, with hail, their vine, And their sycomores, with frost:

48 And he gave up their cattle to hail, and their substance to the fire.

When he gave up, to hail-storms, their beasts, And their cattle, to pestilent fevers;

49 He sent out against them the fury of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and affliction, a message by evil angels.

He sent among them the heat of his anger, Wrath and indignation and distress, —A mission of messengers of misfortune:

50 He made a way for his wrath; he spared not their souls from death, but consigned their cattle to death;

He leveled a path for his anger, Withheld not, from death, their soul, But, their life—to the pestilence, he delivered:

51 and smote every first-born in the land of Egypt; the first-fruits of their labours in the tents of Cham.

So he smote, Every first-born in Egypt, The beginning of their strength, in the tents of Ham;

52 And he removed his people like sheep; he led them as a flock in the wilderness.

And he set forth, like sheep, his people, And guided them, like a flock in the desert;

53 And he guided them with hope, and they feared not: but the sea covered their enemies.

Yea he led them securely, and they dreaded not, And, their enemies, the sea did cover.

54 And he brought them in to the mountain of his sanctuary, this mountain which his right hand had purchased.

Then brought he them within his own holy bounds, The mountain-range, which his right hand made his own:

55 And he cast out the nations from before them, and made them to inherit by a line of inheritance, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

So he drave out, before them, [whole] nations, And allotted them, by line, an inheritance, And caused to dwell, in their own homes, the tribes of Israel.

56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies.

But they tested and resisted God Most High, And, his testimonies, did not observe;

57 And they turned back, and broke covenant, even as also their fathers: they became like a crooked bow.

But drew back and dealt treacherously, like their fathers, They turned aside, like deceitful bowmen;

58 And they provoked him with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

And provoked him to anger with their high places, And, with their images, used to move him to jealousy.

59 God heard and lightly regarded [them], and greatly despised Israel.

God heard and was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;

60 And he rejected the tabernacle of Selom, his tent where he dwelt among men.

So he gave up the habitation of Shiloh, The tent he had set up among Men;

61 And he gave their strength into captivity, and their beauty into the enemy's hand.

Yea he gave up, into captivity, his strength, And his beauty into the hand of an adversary;

62 And he gave his people to the sword; and disdained his inheritance.

And delivered up, to the sword, his people, And, with his own inheritance, was he wroth;

63 Fire devoured their young men; and their virgins mourned not.

His young men, were devoured by fire, And, his virgins, were not praised in song;

64 Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows shall not be wept for.

His priests, by the sword, did fall, And, his widows, were not able to bewail.

65 So the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, [and] as a mighty man who has been heated with wine.

Then awoke, as one that had slept, Adonay, As a warrior exulting with wine!

66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he brought on them a perpetual reproach.

So he smote his adversaries in the rear, Reproach age-abiding, laid he upon them.

67 And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim;

Howbeit he rejected the tent of Joseph, And, the tribe of Ephraim, did not choose:

68 but chose the tribe of Juda, the mount Sion which he loved.

But made choice of the tribe of Judah, The mountain of Zion, which he loved;

69 And he built his sanctuary as [the place] of unicorns; he founded it for ever on the earth.

And built, like the heights, his sanctuary, Like the earth, he founded it to times age-abiding.

70 He chose David also his servant, and took him up from the flocks of sheep.

And made choice of David his servant, And took him from among the folds of the sheep:

71 He took him from following the ewes great with young, to be the shepherd of Jacob his servant, and Israel his inheritance.

From after the sucking ewes, he brought him in, —To be shepherd to Jacob his people, And to Israel, his inheritance.

72 So he tended them in the innocency of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

So he did shepherd them, according to the singleness of his heart, And, with the discernment of his hands, used he to guide them.