Add parallel Print Page Options

That the Generation to Come Might Know

A [a]Maskil of Asaph.

78 (A)Give ear, O my people, to my [b]instruction;
(B)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will (C)open my mouth in a parable;
I will pour forth (D)dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And (E)our fathers have recounted to us.
We will (F)not conceal them from their children,
But (G)recount to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh,
And His strength and His (H)wondrous deeds that He has done.

For He established a (I)testimony in Jacob
And set a (J)law in Israel,
Which He (K)commanded our fathers
That they should [c](L)teach them to their children,
(M)That the generation to come might know, even (N)the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and (O)recount them to their children,
That they should set their confidence in God
And (P)not forget the deeds of God,
But (Q)observe His commandments,
And (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.

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

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

21 Therefore Yahweh heard and [h]was (AO)full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob
And anger also mounted against Israel,
22 Because they (AP)did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He commanded the skies above
And (AQ)opened the doors of heaven;
24 He (AR)rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them (AS)grain from heaven.
25 Man ate the bread of [i]angels;
He sent them provision (AT)to satisfy.
26 He (AU)led forth the east wind in the heavens
And by His strength He guided the south wind.
27 Then He rained [j]meat upon them like the dust,
Even (AV)winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28 He caused them to fall in the midst of His camp,
All around His dwelling places.
29 So they (AW)ate and were very satisfied,
And their desire He brought to them.
30 [k]Before they had satisfied their desire,
(AX)While their food was in their mouths,
31 The (AY)anger of God rose against them
And killed [l]some of their (AZ)stoutest ones,
And [m]subdued the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they (BA)still sinned
And (BB)did not believe in His wondrous deeds.
33 So He brought (BC)their days to an end in [n]futility
And their years in sudden terror.

34 When He killed them, then they (BD)sought Him,
And returned and sought (BE)earnestly for God;
35 And they remembered that God was their (BF)rock,
And the Most High God their (BG)Redeemer.
36 But they (BH)deceived Him with their mouth
And (BI)lied to Him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not (BJ)prepared to remain with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38 But He, being (BK)compassionate, (BL)atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them;
And He abounded in (BM)turning back His anger
And did not arouse all His wrath.
39 Thus (BN)He remembered that they were but (BO)flesh,
A [o](BP)wind that goes and does not return.

40 How often they (BQ)rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And (BR)grieved Him in the (BS)wasteland!
41 Again and again they [p](BT)tested God,
And pained the (BU)Holy One of Israel.
42 They (BV)did not remember (BW)His [q]power,
The day when He (BX)redeemed them from the adversary,
43 When He performed His (BY)signs in Egypt
And His (BZ)miracles in the field of Zoan,
44 And (CA)turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, they could not drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of (CB)flies which devoured them,
And (CC)frogs which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their crops to the (CD)grasshopper
And the fruit of their labor to the (CE)locust.
47 He killed their vines with (CF)hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He gave over their (CG)cattle also to the hailstones
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
49 He (CH)sent upon them His burning anger,
Fury and indignation and [r]distress,
[s]A band of destroying angels.
50 He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not hold back their soul from death,
But (CI)gave over their life to the plague,
51 So He (CJ)struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
The (CK)first of their vigor in the tents of (CL)Ham.
52 But He (CM)led forth His own people like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness (CN)like a flock;
53 He led them (CO)safely, so that they did not fear;
But (CP)the sea covered their enemies.

54 So (CQ)He brought them to His holy [t]land,
To this [u](CR)hill country (CS)which His right hand had acquired.
55 He also (CT)drove out the nations before them
And (CU)apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they [v](CV)tested and (CW)rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But turned back and (CX)acted treacherously like their fathers;
They (CY)turned aside like a treacherous bow.
58 For they (CZ)provoked Him with their (DA)high places
And (DB)aroused His jealousy with their (DC)graven images.
59 God heard and [w]was filled with (DD)wrath
And greatly (DE)rejected Israel;
60 So that He (DF)abandoned the (DG)dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent [x]which He caused to dwell among men,
61 And gave up His (DH)strength to captivity
And His beauty (DI)into the hand of the adversary.
62 He also (DJ)gave over His people to the sword,
And [y]was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63 (DK)Fire devoured [z]His choice men,
And [aa]His (DL)virgins had no wedding songs.
64 [ab]His (DM)priests fell by the sword,
And [ac]His (DN)widows could not weep.

65 Then the Lord (DO)awoke as if from sleep,
As if He were a (DP)warrior [ad]overcome by wine.
66 He (DQ)struck His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting reproach.
67 He also (DR)rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount (DS)Zion which He loved.
69 And He (DT)built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has founded forever.
70 He also (DU)chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From (DV)following the [ae](DW)nursing ewes He brought him
To (DX)shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel (DY)His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the (DZ)integrity of his heart,
And led them with his skillful hands.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 78 Title Possibly Contemplative, Didactic, Skillful Psalm
  2. Psalm 78:1 Or law
  3. Psalm 78:5 Lit make them known
  4. Psalm 78:8 Or put right
  5. Psalm 78:9 Or being
  6. Psalm 78:11 Or miracles
  7. Psalm 78:20 Lit flesh
  8. Psalm 78:21 Or became infuriated
  9. Psalm 78:25 Lit mighty ones
  10. Psalm 78:27 Lit flesh
  11. Psalm 78:30 Lit They were not estranged from
  12. Psalm 78:31 Lit among their fat ones
  13. Psalm 78:31 Lit caused to bow down
  14. Psalm 78:33 Lit vanity, a mere breath
  15. Psalm 78:39 Or breath
  16. Psalm 78:41 Or put God to the test
  17. Psalm 78:42 Lit hand
  18. Psalm 78:49 Or trouble
  19. Psalm 78:49 Lit A deputation of angels of evil
  20. Psalm 78:54 Lit border, territory
  21. Psalm 78:54 Or mountain
  22. Psalm 78:56 Or put to the test
  23. Psalm 78:59 Or became infuriated
  24. Psalm 78:60 Some ancient versions where He dwelt
  25. Psalm 78:62 Or became infuriated
  26. Psalm 78:63 Or their
  27. Psalm 78:63 Or their
  28. Psalm 78:64 Or Their
  29. Psalm 78:64 Or their
  30. Psalm 78:65 Or sobered up from
  31. Psalm 78:71 Lit ewes which gave suck

Psalm 78

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude

A Maskil of Asaph.

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
    that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
    we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.

He established a decree in Jacob,
    and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
    so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
and that they should not be like their ancestors,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The Ephraimites, armed with[a] the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
    and the miracles that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels
    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
    and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
    and all night long with a fiery light.
15 He split rocks open in the wilderness,
    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock,
    and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out
    and torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread,
    or provide meat for his people?”

21 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of rage;
    a fire was kindled against Jacob,
    his anger mounted against Israel,
22 because they had no faith in God,
    and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above,
    and opened the doors of heaven;
24 he rained down on them manna to eat,
    and gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Mortals ate of the bread of angels;
    he sent them food in abundance.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
    and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained flesh upon them like dust,
    winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall within their camp,
    all around their dwellings.
29 And they ate and were well filled,
    for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had satisfied their craving,
    while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them
    and he killed the strongest of them,
    and laid low the flower of Israel.

32 In spite of all this they still sinned;
    they did not believe in his wonders.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath,
    and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, they sought for him;
    they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
    the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths;
    they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
    they were not true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate,
    forgave their iniquity,
    and did not destroy them;
often he restrained his anger,
    and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
    a wind that passes and does not come again.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
    and grieved him in the desert!
41 They tested God again and again,
    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not keep in mind his power,
    or the day when he redeemed them from the foe;
43 when he displayed his signs in Egypt,
    and his miracles in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers to blood,
    so that they could not drink of their streams.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
    and frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar,
    and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
    and their sycamores with frost.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49 He let loose on them his fierce anger,
    wrath, indignation, and distress,
    a company of destroying angels.
50 He made a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death,
    but gave their lives over to the plague.
51 He struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
    the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 Then he led out his people like sheep,
    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid;
    but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to his holy hill,
    to the mountain that his right hand had won.
55 He drove out nations before them;
    he apportioned them for a possession
    and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56 Yet they tested the Most High God,
    and rebelled against him.
    They did not observe his decrees,
57 but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors;
    they twisted like a treacherous bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
    they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
59 When God heard, he was full of wrath,
    and he utterly rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
    the tent where he dwelt among mortals,
61 and delivered his power to captivity,
    his glory to the hand of the foe.
62 He gave his people to the sword,
    and vented his wrath on his heritage.
63 Fire devoured their young men,
    and their girls had no marriage song.
64 Their priests fell by the sword,
    and their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
    like a warrior shouting because of wine.
66 He put his adversaries to rout;
    he put them to everlasting disgrace.

67 He rejected the tent of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
    Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
    like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70 He chose his servant David,
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from tending the nursing ewes he brought him
    to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
    of Israel, his inheritance.
72 With upright heart he tended them,
    and guided them with skillful hand.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 78:9 Heb armed with shooting

Psalm 78

A maskil[a] of Asaph.

78 Listen, my people, to my teaching;
    tilt your ears toward the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a proverb.
    I’ll declare riddles from days long gone—
        ones that we’ve heard and learned about,
        ones that our ancestors told us.
We won’t hide them from their descendants;
    we’ll tell the next generation
    all about the praise due the Lord and his strength—
    the wondrous works God has done.
He established a law for Jacob
    and set up Instruction for Israel,
        ordering our ancestors
        to teach them to their children.
This is so that the next generation
    and children not yet born will know these things,
        and so they can rise up and tell their children
    to put their hope in God—
        never forgetting God’s deeds,
        but keeping God’s commandments—
    and so that they won’t become like their ancestors:
    a rebellious, stubborn generation,
        a generation whose heart wasn’t set firm
        and whose spirit wasn’t faithful to God.

The children of Ephraim, armed with bows,
    retreated on the day of battle.
10 They didn’t keep God’s covenant;
    they refused to walk in his Instruction.
11 They forgot God’s deeds
    as well as the wondrous works he showed them.
12 But God performed wonders in their ancestors’ presence—
    in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 God split the sea and led them through,
    making the waters stand up like a wall.
14 God led them with the cloud by day;
    by the lightning all through the night.
15 God split rocks open in the wilderness,
    gave them plenty to drink—
    as if from the deep itself!
16 God made streams flow from the rock,
    made water run like rivers.

17 But they continued to sin against God,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their hearts,
    demanded food for their stomachs.
19 They spoke against God!
    “Can God set a dinner table in the wilderness?” they asked.
20 “True, God struck the rock
    and water gushed and streams flowed,
        but can he give bread too?
        Can he provide meat for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard this, he became furious.
        A fire was ignited against Jacob;
    wrath also burned against Israel
22         because they had no faith in God,
        because they didn’t trust his saving power.
23 God gave orders to the skies above,
    opened heaven’s doors,
24     and rained manna on them so they could eat.
        He gave them the very grain of heaven!
25 Each person ate the bread of the powerful ones;[b]
    God sent provisions to satisfy them.
26 God set the east wind moving across the skies
    and drove the south wind by his strength.
27 He rained meat on them as if it were dust in the air;
    he rained as many birds as the sand on the seashore!
28 God brought the birds down in the center of their camp,
    all around their dwellings.
29 So they ate and were completely satisfied;
    God gave them exactly what they had craved.
30 But they didn’t stop craving—
    even with the food still in their mouths!
31 So God’s anger came up against them:
    he killed the most hearty of them;
        he cut down Israel’s youth in their prime.
32 But in spite of all that, they kept sinning
    and had no faith in God’s wondrous works.
33 So God brought their days to an end,
    like a puff of air,
    and their years in total ruin.
34 But whenever God killed them, they went after him!
    They would turn and earnestly search for God.
35 They would remember that God was their rock,
    that the Most High was their redeemer.
36 But they were just flattering him with lip service.
    They were lying to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts weren’t firmly set on him;
    they weren’t faithful to his covenant.
38 But God, being compassionate,
    kept forgiving their sins,
    kept avoiding destruction;
    he took back his anger so many times,
    wouldn’t stir up all his wrath!
39 God kept remembering that they were just flesh,
    just breath that passes and doesn’t come back.

40 How often they rebelled against God in the wilderness
    and distressed him in the desert!
41 Time and time again they tested God,
    provoking the holy one of Israel.
42 They didn’t remember God’s power—
    the day when he saved them from the enemy;
43     how God performed his signs in Egypt,
    his marvelous works in the field of Zoan.
44 God turned their rivers into blood;
    they couldn’t drink from their own streams.
45 God sent swarms against them to eat them up,
    frogs to destroy them.
46 God handed over their crops to caterpillars,
    their land’s produce to locusts.
47 God killed their vines with hail,
    their sycamore trees with frost.
48 God delivered their cattle over to disease,[c]
    their herds to plagues.
49 God unleashed his burning anger against them—
    fury, indignation, distress,
    a troop of evil messengers.
50 God blazed a path for his wrath.
    He didn’t save them from death,
    but delivered their lives over to disease.
51 God struck down all of Egypt’s oldest males;
    in Ham’s tents, he struck their pride and joy.
52 God led his own people out like sheep,
    guiding them like a flock in the wilderness.
53 God led them in safety—they were not afraid!
    But the sea engulfed their enemies!
54 God brought them to his holy territory,
    to the mountain that his own strong hand had acquired.
55 God drove out the nations before them
        and apportioned property for them;
    he settled Israel’s tribes in their tents.

56 But they tested and defied the Most High God;
    they didn’t pay attention to his warnings.
57 They turned away, became faithless just like their ancestors;
    they twisted away like a defective bow.
58 They angered God with their many shrines;
    they angered him with their idols.
59 God heard and became enraged;
    he rejected Israel utterly.
60 God abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh,
    the tent where he had lived with humans.
61 God let his power be held captive,
    let his glory go to the enemy’s hand.
62 God delivered his people up to the sword;
    he was enraged at his own possession.
63 Fire devoured his young men,
    and his young women had no wedding songs.
64 God’s priests were killed by the sword,
    and his widows couldn’t even cry.
65 But then my Lord woke up—
    as if he’d been sleeping!
Like a warrior shaking off wine,
66     God beat back his foes;
    he made them an everlasting disgrace.

67 God rejected the tent of Joseph
    and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah,
    the mountain of Zion, which he loves.
69 God built his sanctuary like the highest heaven
    and like the earth, which he established forever.
70 And God chose David, his servant,
    taking him from the sheepfolds.
71 God brought him from shepherding nursing ewes
    to shepherd his people Jacob,
    to shepherd his inheritance, Israel.
72 David shepherded them with a heart of integrity;
    he led them with the skill of his hands.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 78:1 Perhaps instruction
  2. Psalm 78:25 Or everyone ate the bread from heaven; Heb uncertain
  3. Psalm 78:48 Correction; MT to hailstones

Psalm 78

A maskil[a] of Asaph.

My people, hear my teaching;(A)
    listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;(B)
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.(C)
We will not hide them from their descendants;(D)
    we will tell the next generation(E)
the praiseworthy deeds(F) of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders(G) he has done.
He decreed statutes(H) for Jacob(I)
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,(J)
    and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget(K) his deeds
    but would keep his commands.(L)
They would not be like their ancestors(M)
    a stubborn(N) and rebellious(O) generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,(P)
    turned back on the day of battle;(Q)
10 they did not keep God’s covenant(R)
    and refused to live by his law.(S)
11 They forgot what he had done,(T)
    the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles(U) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,(V) in the region of Zoan.(W)
13 He divided the sea(X) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.(Y)
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.(Z)
15 He split the rocks(AA) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

17 But they continued to sin(AB) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test(AC)
    by demanding the food they craved.(AD)
19 They spoke against God;(AE)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,(AF)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat(AG) for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out(AH) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
    or trust(AI) in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;(AJ)
24 he rained down manna(AK) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind(AL) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds(AM) like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—(AN)
    he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,(AO)
31 God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest(AP) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;(AQ)
    in spite of his wonders,(AR) they did not believe.(AS)
33 So he ended their days in futility(AT)
    and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek(AU) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,(AV)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.(AW)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,(AX)
    lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal(AY) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;(AZ)
    he forgave(BA) their iniquities(BB)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger(BC)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,(BD)
    a passing breeze(BE) that does not return.

40 How often they rebelled(BF) against him in the wilderness(BG)
    and grieved him(BH) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(BI)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(BJ)
42 They did not remember(BK) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,(BL)
43 the day he displayed his signs(BM) in Egypt,
    his wonders(BN) in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;(BO)
    they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies(BP) that devoured them,
    and frogs(BQ) that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,(BR)
    their produce to the locust.(BS)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail(BT)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock(BU) to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,(BV)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.(BW)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,(BX)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.(BY)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;(BZ)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed(CA) their enemies.(CB)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand(CC) had taken.
55 He drove out nations(CD) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;(CE)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

56 But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors(CF) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.(CG)
58 They angered him(CH) with their high places;(CI)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.(CJ)
59 When God heard(CK) them, he was furious;(CL)
    he rejected Israel(CM) completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,(CN)
    the tent he had set up among humans.(CO)
61 He sent the ark of his might(CP) into captivity,(CQ)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;(CR)
    he was furious with his inheritance.(CS)
63 Fire consumed(CT) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;(CU)
64 their priests were put to the sword,(CV)
    and their widows could not weep.

65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,(CW)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.(CX)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;(CY)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,(CZ)
    Mount Zion,(DA) which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary(DB) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David(DC) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep(DD) he brought him
    to be the shepherd(DE) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;(DF)
    with skillful hands he led them.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 78:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term