Psalm 78:34-72

New American Standard Bible 1995

³⁴ When He killed them, then they ^(A)sought Him,
And returned and searched ^(B)diligently for God;
³⁵ And they remembered that God was their ^(C)rock,
And the Most High God their ^(D)Redeemer.
³⁶ But they ^(E)deceived Him with their mouth
And ^(F)lied to Him with their tongue.
³⁷ For their heart was not ^(G)steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
³⁸ But He, being ^(H)compassionate, ^[a](I)forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them;
And often He ^[b](J)restrained His anger
And did not arouse all His wrath.
³⁹ Thus ^(K)He remembered that they were but ^(L)flesh,
A ^[c](M)wind that passes and does not return.

⁴⁰ How often they ^(N)rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And ^(O)grieved Him in the ^(P)desert!
⁴¹ Again and again they ^[d](Q)tempted God,
And pained the ^(R)Holy One of Israel.
⁴² They ^(S)did not remember ^(T)His ^[e]power,
The day when He ^(U)redeemed them from the adversary,
⁴³ When He performed His ^(V)signs in Egypt
And His ^(W)marvels in the field of Zoan,
⁴⁴ And ^(X)turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, they could not drink.
⁴⁵ He sent among them swarms of ^(Y)flies which devoured them,
And ^(Z)frogs which destroyed them.
⁴⁶ He gave also their crops to the ^(AA)grasshopper
And the product of their labor to the ^(AB)locust.
⁴⁷ He ^[f]destroyed their vines with ^(AC)hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
⁴⁸ He gave over their ^(AD)cattle also to the hailstones
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
⁴⁹ He ^(AE)sent upon them His burning anger,
Fury and indignation and trouble,
^[g]A band of destroying angels.
⁵⁰ He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But ^(AF)gave over their life to the plague,
⁵¹ And ^(AG)smote all the firstborn in Egypt,
The ^(AH)first issue of their virility in the tents of ^(AI)Ham.
⁵² But He ^(AJ)led forth His own people like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness ^(AK)like a flock;
⁵³ He led them ^(AL)safely, so that they did not fear;
But ^(AM)the sea engulfed their enemies.

⁵⁴ So ^(AN)He brought them to His holy ^[h]land,
To this ^[i](AO)hill country ^(AP)which His right hand had gained.
⁵⁵ He also ^(AQ)drove out the nations before them
And ^(AR)apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
⁵⁶ Yet they ^[j](AS)tempted and ^(AT)rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
⁵⁷ But turned back and ^(AU)acted treacherously like their fathers;
They ^(AV)turned aside like a treacherous bow.
⁵⁸ For they ^(AW)provoked Him with their ^(AX)high places
And ^(AY)aroused His jealousy with their ^(AZ)graven images.
⁵⁹ When God heard, He ^[k]was filled with ^(BA)wrath
And greatly ^(BB)abhorred Israel;
⁶⁰ So that He ^(BC)abandoned the ^(BD)dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent ^[l]which He had pitched among men,
⁶¹ And gave up His ^(BE)strength to captivity
And His glory ^(BF)into the hand of the adversary.
⁶² He also ^(BG)delivered His people to the sword,
And ^[m]was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
^63 (BH)Fire devoured ^[n]His young men,
And ^[o]His ^(BI)virgins had no wedding songs.
^64 [p]His ^(BJ)priests fell by the sword,
And ^[q]His ^(BK)widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord ^(BL)awoke as if from sleep,
Like a ^(BM)warrior ^[r]overcome by wine.
⁶⁶ He ^[s](BN)drove His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting reproach.
⁶⁷ He also ^(BO)rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
⁶⁸ But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount ^(BP)Zion which He loved.
⁶⁹ And He ^(BQ)built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has founded forever.
⁷⁰ He also ^(BR)chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;
⁷¹ From ^[t](BS)the care of the ^[u]ewes ^(BT)with suckling lambs He brought him
To ^(BU)shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel ^(BV)His inheritance.
⁷² So he shepherded them according to the ^(BW)integrity of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands.