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32 But in spite of this, the people kept sinning.
    Despite his wonders, they refused to trust him.
33 So he ended their lives in failure,
    their years in terror.
34 When God began killing them,
    they finally sought him.
    They repented and took God seriously.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
    that God Most High[a] was their redeemer.
36 But all they gave him was lip service;
    they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not loyal to him.
    They did not keep his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins
    and did not destroy them all.
Many times he held back his anger
    and did not unleash his fury!
39 For he remembered that they were merely mortal,
    gone like a breath of wind that never returns.

40 Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
    and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland.
41 Again and again they tested God’s patience
    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power
    and how he rescued them from their enemies.
43 They did not remember his miraculous signs in Egypt,
    his wonders on the plain of Zoan.
44 For he turned their rivers into blood,
    so no one could drink from the streams.
45 He sent vast swarms of flies to consume them
    and hordes of frogs to ruin them.
46 He gave their crops to caterpillars;
    their harvest was consumed by locusts.
47 He destroyed their grapevines with hail
    and shattered their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He abandoned their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He loosed on them his fierce anger—
    all his fury, rage, and hostility.
He dispatched against them
    a band of destroying angels.
50 He turned his anger against them;
    he did not spare the Egyptians’ lives
    but ravaged them with the plague.
51 He killed the oldest son in each Egyptian family,
    the flower of youth throughout the land of Egypt.[b]
52 But he led his own people like a flock of sheep,
    guiding them safely through the wilderness.
53 He kept them safe so they were not afraid;
    but the sea covered their enemies.
54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to this land of hills he had won for them.
55 He drove out the nations before them;
    he gave them their inheritance by lot.
    He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.

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Footnotes

  1. 78:35 Hebrew El-Elyon.
  2. 78:51 Hebrew in the tents of Ham.

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

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

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