Psalm 78:21-55

New International Version

²¹ When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out^(A) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
²² for they did not believe in God
    or trust^(B) in his deliverance.
²³ Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;^(C)
24 he rained down manna^(D) 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^(E) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
²⁷ He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds^(F) 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—^(G)
    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,^(H)
31 God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest^(I) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;^(J)
    in spite of his wonders,^(K) they did not believe.^(L)
33 So he ended their days in futility^(M)
    and their years in terror.
³⁴ Whenever God slew them, they would seek^(N) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
³⁵ They remembered that God was their Rock,^(O)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.^(P)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,^(Q)
    lying to him with their tongues;
³⁷ their hearts were not loyal^(R) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he was merciful;^(S)
    he forgave^(T) their iniquities^(U)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger^(V)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
³⁹ He remembered that they were but flesh,^(W)
    a passing breeze^(X) that does not return.

⁴⁰ How often they rebelled^(Y) against him in the wilderness^(Z)
    and grieved him^(AA) in the wasteland!
⁴¹ Again and again they put God to the test;^(AB)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.^(AC)
42 They did not remember^(AD) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,^(AE)
43 the day he displayed his signs^(AF) in Egypt,
    his wonders^(AG) in the region of Zoan.
⁴⁴ He turned their river into blood;^(AH)
    they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵ He sent swarms of flies^(AI) that devoured them,
    and frogs^(AJ) that devastated them.
⁴⁶ He gave their crops to the grasshopper,^(AK)
    their produce to the locust.^(AL)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail^(AM)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
⁴⁸ He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock^(AN) to bolts of lightning.
⁴⁹ He unleashed against them his hot anger,^(AO)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.^(AP)
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,^(AQ)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.^(AR)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;^(AS)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
⁵³ He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed^(AT) their enemies.^(AU)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand^(AV) had taken.
⁵⁵ He drove out nations^(AW) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;^(AX)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.