Psalm 78:21-72

New King James Version

²¹ Therefore the Lord heard this and ^(A)was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
²² Because they ^(B)did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
²³ Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
^(C)And opened the doors of heaven,
^24 (D)Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the ^[a]bread of ^(E)heaven.
²⁵ Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to ^[b]the full.

^26 (F)He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by His power He brought in the south wind.
²⁷ He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
²⁸ And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.
^29 (G)So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
³⁰ They were not ^[c]deprived of their craving;
But ^(H)while their food was still in their mouths,
³¹ The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.

³² In spite of this ^(I)they still sinned,
And ^(J)did not believe in His wondrous works.
^33 (K)Therefore their days He consumed in futility,
And their years in fear.

^34 (L)When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
³⁵ Then they remembered that ^(M)God was their rock,
And the Most High God ^(N)their Redeemer.
³⁶ Nevertheless they ^(O)flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
³⁷ For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
^38 (P)But He, being full of ^(Q)compassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time ^(R)He turned His anger away,
And ^(S)did not stir up all His wrath;
³⁹ For ^(T)He remembered ^(U)that they were but flesh,
^(V)A breath that passes away and does not come again.

⁴⁰ How often they ^(W)provoked^[d] Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
⁴¹ Yes, ^(X)again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
⁴² They did not remember His ^[e]power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
⁴³ When He worked His signs in Egypt,
And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
^44 (Y)Turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, that they could not drink.
^45 (Z)He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,
And ^(AA)frogs, which destroyed them.
⁴⁶ He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,
And their labor to the ^(AB)locust.
^47 (AC)He destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamore trees with frost.
⁴⁸ He also gave up their ^(AD)cattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery ^[f]lightning.
⁴⁹ He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,
Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
By sending angels of destruction among them.
⁵⁰ He made a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave ^[g]their life over to the plague,
⁵¹ And destroyed all the ^(AE)firstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
⁵² But He ^(AF)made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
⁵³ And He ^(AG)led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea ^(AH)overwhelmed their enemies.
⁵⁴ And He brought them to His ^(AI)holy border,
This mountain ^(AJ)which His right hand had acquired.
^55 (AK)He also drove out the nations before them,
^(AL)Allotted them an inheritance by ^[h]survey,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

^56 (AM)Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,
⁵⁷ But ^(AN)turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside ^(AO)like a deceitful bow.
^58 (AP)For they provoked Him to anger with their ^(AQ)high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
⁵⁹ When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,
^60 (AR)So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent He had placed among men,
^61 (AS)And delivered His strength into captivity,
And His glory into the enemy’s hand.
^62 (AT)He also gave His people over to the sword,
And was furious with His inheritance.
⁶³ The fire consumed their young men,
And ^(AU)their maidens were not given in marriage.
^64 (AV)Their priests fell by the sword,
And ^(AW)their widows made no lamentation.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
^(AX)Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
⁶⁶ And ^(AY)He beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.

⁶⁷ Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
⁶⁸ But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion ^(AZ)which He loved.
⁶⁹ And He built His ^(BA)sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
^70 (BB)He also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
⁷¹ From following ^(BC)the ewes that had young He brought him,
^(BD)To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
⁷² So he shepherded them according to the ^(BE)integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.