Psalms 78
78
PSALM 78
Common Meter: 8,6,8,6
Maschil of Asaph.
1Attend, my people, to my law;
thereto give thou an ear;
The words that from my mouth proceed
attentively do hear.
2My mouth shall speak a parable,
and sayings dark of old;
3The same which we have heard and known,
and us our fathers told.
4We also will them not conceal
from their posterity;
Them to the generation
to come declare will we:
The praises of the Lord our God,
and his almighty strength,
The wondrous works that he hath done,
we will shew forth at length.
5His testimony and his law
in Isr'el he did place,
And charg'd our fathers it to show
to their succeeding race;
6That so the race which was to come
might well them learn and know;
And sons unborn, who should arise,
might to their sons them show:
7That they might set their hope in God,
and suffer not to fall
His mighty works out of their mind,
but keep his precepts all:
8And might not, like their fathers, be
a stiff rebellious race;
A race not right in heart; with God
whose sp'rit not stedfast was.
9The sons of Ephraim, who nor bows
nor other arms did lack,
When as the day of battle was,
they faintly turned back.
10They brake God's cov'nant,
and refus'd in his commands to go;
11His works and wonders they forgot,
which he to them did show.
12Things marvellous he brought to pass;
their fathers them beheld
Within the land of Egypt done,
yea, ev'n in Zoan's field.
13By him divided was the sea,
he caus'd them through to pass;
And made the waters so to stand,
as like an heap it was.
14With cloud by day, with light of fire
all night, he did them guide.
15In desert rocks he clave,
and drink, as from great depths, supply'd.
16He from the rock brought streams, like floods
made waters to run down.
17Yet sinning more, in desert they
provok'd the Highest One.
18For in their heart they tempted God,
and, speaking with mistrust,
They greedily did meat require
to satisfy their lust.
19Against the Lord himself they spake,
and, murmuring, said thus,
A table in the wilderness
can God prepare for us?
20Behold, he smote the rock, and thence
came streams and waters great;
But can he give his people bread?
and send them flesh to eat?
21The Lord did hear, and waxed wroth;
so kindled was a flame
'Gainst Jacob, and 'gainst Israel
up indignation came.
22For they believ'd not God, nor trust
in his salvation had;
23Though clouds above he did command,
and heav'n's doors open made,
24And manna rain'd on them,
and gave them corn of heav'n to eat.
25Man angels' food did eat; to them
he to the full sent meat.
26And in the heaven he did cause
an eastern wind to blow;
And by his power he let out
the southern wind to go.
27Then flesh as thick as dust he made
to rain down them among;
And feather'd fowls, like as the sand
which li'th the shore along.
28At his command amidst their camp
these show'rs of flesh down fell,
All round about the tabernacles
and tents where they did dwell.
29So they did eat abundantly,
and had of meat their fill;
For he did give to them what was
their own desire and will.
30They from their lust had not estrang'd
their heart and their desire;
But while the meat was in their mouths,
which they did so require,
31God's wrath upon them came,
and slew the fattest of them all;
So that the choice of Israel,
o'erthrown by death, did fall.
32Yet, notwithstanding of all this,
they sinned still the more;
And though he had great wonders wrought,
believ'd him not therefore:
33Wherefore their days in vanity
he did consume and waste;
And by his wrath their wretched years
away in trouble past.
34But when he slew them, then they did
to seek him shew desire;
Yea, they return'd, and after God
right early did enquire.
35And that the Lord had been their Rock,
they did remember then;
Ev'n that the high almighty God
had their Redeemer been.
36Yet with their mouth they flatter'd him,
and spake but feignedly;
And they unto the God of truth
with their false tongues did lie.
37For though their words were good, their heart
with him was not sincere;
Unstedfast and perfidious
they in his cov'nant were.
38But, full of pity, he forgave
their sin, them did not slay;
Nor stirr'd up all his wrath, but oft
his anger turn'd away.
39For that they were but fading flesh
to mind he did recall;
A wind that passeth soon away,
and not returns at all.
40How often did they him provoke
within the wilderness!
And in the desert did him grieve
with their rebelliousness!
41Yea, turning back, they tempted God,
and limits set upon
Him, who in midst of Isr'el is
the only Holy One.
42They did not call to mind his pow'r,
nor yet the day when he
Deliver'd them out of the hand
of their fierce enemy;
43Nor how great signs in Egypt land
he openly had wrought;
What miracles in Zoan's field
his hand to pass had brought.
44How lakes and rivers ev'ry where
he turned into blood;
So that nor man nor beast could drink
of standing lake or flood.
45He brought among them swarms of flies,
which did them sore annoy;
And divers kinds of filthy frogs
he sent them to destroy.
46He to the caterpillar gave
the fruits of all their soil;
Their labours he deliver'd up
unto the locusts' spoil.
47Their vines with hail, their sycamores
he with the frost did blast:
48Their beasts to hail he gave; their flocks
hot thunderbolts did waste.
49Fierce burning wrath he on them cast,
and indignation strong,
And troubles sore, by sending forth
ill angels them among.
50He to his wrath made way; their soul
from death he did not save;
But over to the pestilence
the lives of them he gave.
51In Egypt land the first-born all
he smote down ev'ry where;
Among the tents of Ham, ev'n these
chief of their strength that were.
52But his own people, like to sheep,
thence to go forth he made;
And he, amidst the wilderness,
them, as a flock, did lead.
53And he them safely on did lead,
so that they did not fear;
Whereas their en'mies by the sea
quite overwhelmed were.
54To borders of his sanctuary
the Lord his people led,
Ev'n to the mount which his right hand
for them had purchased.
55The nations of Canaan,
by his almighty hand,
Before their face he did expel
out of their native land;
Which for inheritance to them
by line he did divide,
And made the tribes of Israel
within their tents abide.
56Yet God most high they did provoke,
and tempted ever still;
And to observe his testimonies
did not incline their will:
57But, like their fathers, turned back,
and dealt unfaithfully:
Aside they turned, like a bow
that shoots deceitfully.
58For they to anger did provoke
him with their places high;
And with their graven images
mov'd him to jealousy.
59When God heard this, he waxed wroth,
and much loath'd Isr'el then:
60So Shiloh's tent he left, the tent
which he had plac'd with men.
61And he his strength delivered
into captivity;
He left his glory in the hand
of his proud enemy.
62His people also he gave o'er
unto the sword's fierce rage:
So sore his wrath inflamed was
against his heritage.
63The fire consum'd their choice young men;
their maids no marriage had;
64And when their priests fell by the sword,
their wives no mourning made.
65But then the Lord arose, as one
that doth from sleep awake;
And like a giant that, by wine
refresh'd, a shout doth make:
66Upon his en'mies' hinder parts
he made his stroke to fall;
And so upon them he did put
a shame perpetual.
67Moreover, he the tabernacle
of Joseph did refuse;
The mighty tribe of Ephraim
he would in no wise chuse:
68But he did chuse Jehudah's tribe
to be the rest above;
And of mount Sion he made choice,
which he so much did love.
69And he his sanctuary built
like to a palace high,
Like to the earth which he did found
to perpetuity.
70Of David, that his servant was,
he also choice did make,
And even from the folds of sheep
was pleased him to take:
71From waiting on the ewes with young,
he brought him forth to feed
Israel, his inheritance,
his people, Jacob's seed.
72So after the integrity
he of his heart them fed;
And by the good skill of his hands
them wisely governed.
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Tehillim (Psa) 78
78
1A maskil of Asaf:
Listen, my people, to my teaching;
turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
2I will speak to you in parables
and explain mysteries from days of old.
3The things which we have heard and known,
and which our fathers told us
4we will not hide from their descendants;
we will tell the generation to come
the praises of Adonai and his strength,
the wonders that he has performed.
5He raised up a testimony in Ya‘akov
and established a Torah in Isra’el.
He commanded our ancestors
to make this known to their children,
6so that the next generation would know it,
the children not yet born,
who would themselves arise
and tell their own children,
7who could then put their confidence in God,
not forgetting God’s deeds,
but obeying his mitzvot.
8Then they would not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn, rebellious generation,
a generation with unprepared hearts,
with spirits unfaithful to God.
9The people of Efrayim, though armed with bows and arrows,
turned their backs on the day of battle.
10They did not keep the covenant of God
and refused to live by his Torah.
11They forgot what he had done,
his wonders which he had shown them.
12He had done wonderful things
in the presence of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt,
in the region of Tzo‘an.
13He split the sea and made them pass through,
he made the waters stand up like a wall.
14He also led them by day with a cloud
and all night long with light from a fire.
15He broke apart the rocks in the desert
and let them drink as if from boundless depths;
16yes, he brought streams out of the rock,
making the water flow down like rivers.
17Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High;
18in their hearts they tested God
by demanding food that would satisfy their cravings.
19Yes, they spoke against God by asking,
“Can God spread a table in the desert?
20True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out,
until the vadis overflowed;
but what about bread? Can he give that?
Can he provide meat for his people?”
21Therefore, when Adonai heard, he was angry;
fire blazed up against Ya‘akov;
his anger mounted against Isra’el;
22because they had no faith in God,
no trust in his power to save.
23So he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven.
24He rained down man on them as food;
he gave them grain from heaven —
25mortals ate the bread of angels;
he provided for them to the full.
26He stirred up the east wind in heaven,
brought on the south wind by his power,
27and rained down meat on them like dust,
birds flying thick as the sand on the seashore.
28He let them fall in the middle of their camp,
all around their tents.
29So they ate till they were satisfied;
he gave them what they craved.
30They were still fulfilling their craving,
the food was still in their mouths,
31when the anger of God rose up against them
and slaughtered their strongest men,
laying low the young men of Isra’el.
32Still, they kept on sinning
and put no faith in his wonders.
33Therefore, he ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
34When he brought death among them, they would seek him;
they would repent and seek God eagerly,
35remembering that God was their Rock,
El ‘Elyon their Redeemer.
36But they tried to deceive him with their words,
they lied to him with their tongues;
37for their hearts were not right with him,
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
38Yet he, because he is full of compassion,
forgave their sin and did not destroy;
many times he turned away his anger
and didn’t rouse all his wrath.
39So he remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that blows past and does not return.
40How often they rebelled against him in the desert
and grieved him in the wastelands!
41Repeatedly they challenged God
and pained the Holy One of Isra’el.
42They didn’t remember how he used his hand
on the day he redeemed them from their enemy,
43how he displayed his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the region of Tzo‘an.
44He turned their rivers into blood,
so they couldn’t drink from their streams.
45He sent swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46He gave their harvest to shearer-worms,
the fruit of their labor to locusts.
47He destroyed their vineyards with hail
and their sycamore-figs with frost.
48Their cattle too he gave over to the hail
and their flocks to lightning bolts.
49He sent over them his fierce anger,
fury, indignation and trouble,
with a company of destroying angels
50to clear a path for his wrath.
He did not spare them from death,
but gave them over to the plague,
51striking all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52But his own people he led out like sheep,
guiding them like a flock in the desert.
53He led them safely, and they weren’t afraid,
even when the sea overwhelmed their foes.
54He brought them to his holy land,
to the hill-country won by his right hand.
55He expelled nations before them,
apportioned them property to inherit
and made Isra’el’s tribes live in their tents.
56Yet they tested El ‘Elyon
and rebelled against him,
refusing to obey his instructions.
57They turned away and were faithless, like their fathers;
they were unreliable, like a bow without tension.
58They provoked him with their high places
and made him jealous with their idols.
59God heard, and he was angry;
he came to detest Isra’el completely.
60He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
the tent he had made where he could live among people.
61He gave his strength into exile,
his pride to the power of the foe.
62He gave his people over to the sword
and grew angry with his own heritage.
63Fire consumed their young men,
their virgins had no wedding-song,
64their cohanim fell by the sword,
and their widows could not weep.
65Then Adonai awoke, as if from sleep,
like a warrior shouting for joy from wine.
66He struck his foes, driving them back
and putting them to perpetual shame.
67Rejecting the tents of Yosef
and passing over the tribe of Efrayim,
68he chose the tribe of Y’hudah,
Mount Tziyon, which he loved.
69He built his sanctuary like the heights;
like the earth, he made it to last forever.
70He chose David to be his servant,
taking him from the sheep-yards;
71from tending nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Ya‘akov his people,
Isra’el his heritage.
72With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with skillful hands.
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