Psalm 78:17-39

Christian Standard Bible

¹⁷ But they continued to sin against him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.^(A)
18 They deliberately^[a] tested God,
demanding the food they craved.^(B)
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?
²⁰ Look! He struck the rock and water gushed out;
torrents overflowed.^(C)
But can he also provide bread
or furnish meat for his people?” ^(D)
21 Therefore, the Lord heard and became furious;
then fire broke out against Jacob,
and anger flared up against Israel^(E)
22 because they did not believe God
or rely on his salvation.^(F)
23 He gave a command to the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.^(G)
24 He rained manna for them to eat;
he gave them grain from heaven.^(H)
25 People^[b] ate the bread of angels.^[c]
He sent them an abundant supply of food.^(I)
26 He made the east wind blow in the skies
and drove the south wind by his might.^(J)
27 He rained meat on them like dust,
and winged birds like the sand of the seas.
²⁸ He made them fall in the camp,
all around the tents.^(K)
29 The people ate and were completely satisfied,
for he gave them what they craved.^(L)
30 Before they had turned from what they craved,
while the food was still in their mouths,
³¹ God’s anger flared up against them,
and he killed some of their best men.
He struck down Israel’s fit young men.^(M)

³² Despite all this, they kept sinning
and did not believe his wondrous works.^(N)
33 He made their days end in futility,
their years in sudden disaster.^(O)
34 When he killed some of them,
the rest began to seek him;
they repented and searched for God.^(P)
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God, their Redeemer.^(Q)
36 But they deceived him with their mouths,
they lied to him with their tongues,^(R)
37 their hearts were insincere toward him,
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.^(S)
38 Yet he was compassionate;
he atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them.
He often turned his anger aside
and did not unleash^[d] all his wrath.^(T)
39 He remembered that they were only flesh,
a wind that passes and does not return.^(U)