Psalm 78:1-37

New American Standard Bible

God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.

A ^[a]Maskil of Asaph.

78 ^(A)Listen, my people, to my ^[b]instruction;
^(B)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
²I will ^(C)open my mouth in a parable;
I will tell ^(D)riddles of old,
³Which we have heard and known,
And ^(E)our fathers have told us.
⁴We will ^(F)not conceal them from their children,
But we will ^(G)tell the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His power and His ^(H)wondrous works that He has done.

⁵For He established a ^(I)testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a ^(J)law in Israel,
Which He ^(K)commanded our fathers
That they were to ^[c]^(L)teach them to their children,
⁶^(M)So that the generation to come would know, ^(N)the children yet to be born,
That they would arise and ^(O)tell them to their children,
⁷So that they would put their confidence in God
And ^(P)not forget the works of God,
But ^(Q)comply with His commandments,
⁸And ^(R)not be like their fathers,
A ^(S)stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that ^(T)did not ^[d]prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not ^(U)faithful to God.

⁹The sons of Ephraim ^[e]were ^(V)archers equipped with bows,
Yet ^(W)they turned back on the day of battle.
¹⁰They ^(X)did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to ^(Y)walk in His Law;
¹¹They ^(Z)forgot His deeds
And His ^[f]miracles that He had shown them.
¹²^(AA)He performed wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the ^(AB)field of Zoan.
¹³He ^(AC)divided the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand ^(AD)up like a heap.
¹⁴Then He led them with the cloud by ^(AE)day
And all the night with a ^(AF)light of fire.
¹⁵He ^(AG)split the rocks in the wilderness
And gave them plenty to drink like the ocean depths.
¹⁶He ^(AH)brought forth streams from the rock
And made waters run down like rivers.

¹⁷Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To ^(AI)rebel against the Most High in the desert.
¹⁸And in their heart they ^(AJ)put God to the test
By asking for ^(AK)food ^[g]that suited their taste.
¹⁹Then they spoke against God;
They said, “^(AL)Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
²⁰Behold, He ^(AM)struck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He also provide bread?
Will He prepare ^(AN)meat for His people?”

²¹Therefore the Lord heard and ^[h]was ^(AO)full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also mounted against Israel,
²²Because they ^(AP)did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
²³Yet He commanded the clouds above
And ^(AQ)opened the doors of heaven;
²⁴He ^(AR)rained down manna upon them to eat,
And gave them ^[i]^(AS)food from heaven.
²⁵Man ate the bread of ^[j]angels;
He sent them ^[k]food ^[l]^(AT)in abundance.
²⁶He ^(AU)made the east wind blow in the sky
And by His ^[m]power He directed the south wind.
²⁷When He rained meat upon them like the dust,
Even ^(AV)winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
²⁸He let them fall in the midst of ^[n]their camp,
All around their dwellings.
²⁹So they ^(AW)ate and were well filled,
And He ^[o]satisfied their longing.
³⁰^[p]Yet before they had abandoned their longing,
^(AX)While their food was in their mouths,
³¹The ^(AY)anger of God rose against them
And killed ^[q]some of their ^(AZ)strongest ones,
And ^[r]subdued the choice men of Israel.
³²In spite of all this they ^(BA)still sinned
And ^(BB)did not believe in His wonderful works.
³³So He brought ^(BC)their days to an end in futility,
And their years to an end in sudden terror.

³⁴When He killed them, then they ^(BD)sought Him,
And they returned and searched ^(BE)diligently for God;
³⁵And they remembered that God was their ^(BF)rock,
And the Most High God their ^(BG)Redeemer.
³⁶But they ^(BH)flattered Him with their mouth
And ^(BI)lied to Him with their tongue.
³⁷For their heart was not ^(BJ)steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful with His covenant.