Psalm 78

New King James Version

God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel

A ^(A)Contemplation^[a] of Asaph.

78 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
²I will open my mouth in a ^(B)parable;
I will utter ^[b]dark sayings of old,
³Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
⁴^(C)We will not hide them from their children,
^(D)Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

⁵For ^(E)He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That ^(F)they should make them known to their children;
⁶^(G)That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
⁷That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
⁸And ^(H)may not be like their fathers,
^(I)A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation ^(J)that did not ^[c]set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The children of Ephraim, being armed and ^[d]carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
¹⁰^(K)They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,
¹¹And ^(L)forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.

¹²^(M)Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, ^(N)in the field of Zoan.
¹³^(O)He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
And ^(P)He made the waters stand up like a heap.
¹⁴^(Q)In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
¹⁵^(R)He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
¹⁶He also brought ^(S)streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹⁷But they sinned even more against Him
By ^(T)rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
¹⁸And ^(U)they tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.
¹⁹^(V)Yes, they spoke against God:
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
²⁰^(W)Behold, He struck the rock,
So that the waters gushed out,
And the streams overflowed.
Can He give bread also?
Can He provide meat for His people?”

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

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

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

³⁴^(AI)When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
³⁵Then they remembered that ^(AJ)God was their rock,
And the Most High God ^(AK)their Redeemer.
³⁶Nevertheless they ^(AL)flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
³⁷For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
³⁸^(AM)But He, being full of ^(AN)compassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time ^(AO)He turned His anger away,
And ^(AP)did not stir up all His wrath;
³⁹For ^(AQ)He remembered ^(AR)that they were but flesh,
^(AS)A breath that passes away and does not come again.

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

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

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

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

Footnotes

Psalm 78:1 Heb. Maschil
Psalm 78:2 obscure sayings or riddles
Psalm 78:8 Lit. prepare its heart
Psalm 78:9 Lit. bow shooters
Psalm 78:24 Lit. grain
Psalm 78:25 satiation
Psalm 78:30 Lit. separated
Psalm 78:40 rebelled against Him
Psalm 78:42 Lit. hand
Psalm 78:48 lightning bolts
Psalm 78:50 Or their beasts
Psalm 78:55 surveyed measurement, lit. measuring cord

Leviticus 19-21

New King James Version

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(A)‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

³^(B)‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and ^(C)keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

⁴^(D)‘Do not turn to idols, ^(E)nor make for yourselves ^[a]molded gods: I am the Lord your God.

⁵‘And ^(F)if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it of your own free will. ⁶It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. ⁷And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. ⁸Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

⁹^(G)‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

¹¹^(H)‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, ^(I)nor lie to one another. ¹²And you shall not ^(J)swear by My name falsely, ^(K)nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

¹³^(L)‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. ^(M)The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. ¹⁴You shall not curse the deaf, ^(N)nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

¹⁵‘You shall do no injustice in ^(O)judgment. You shall not ^(P)be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. ¹⁶You shall not go about as a ^(Q)talebearer among your people; nor shall you ^(R)take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

¹⁷^(S)‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. ^(T)You shall surely ^[b]rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. ¹⁸^(U)You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, ^(V)but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

¹⁹‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.

²⁰‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is ^(W)betrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be ^[c]scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. ²²The priest shall make ^[d]atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.

²³‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as ^[e]uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. ²⁴But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. ²⁵And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.

²⁶‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. ²⁷You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. ²⁸You shall not ^(X)make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.

²⁹^(Y)‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.

³⁰‘You shall ^[f]keep My Sabbaths and ^(Z)reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.

³¹‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after ^(AA)them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

³²^(AB)‘You shall ^[g]rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and ^(AC)fear your God: I am the Lord.

³³‘And ^(AD)if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. ³⁴^(AE)The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as ^[h]one born among you, and ^(AF)you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

³⁵‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. ³⁶You shall have ^(AG)honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

³⁷^(AH)‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the Lord.’ ”

Penalties for Breaking the Law

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²^(AI)“Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ^(AJ)‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who ^[i]dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall ^(AK)stone him with stones. ³^(AL)I will set My face against that man, and will ^[j]cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. ⁴And if the people of the land should in any way ^[k]hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, ⁵then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.

⁶‘And ^(AM)the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. ⁷^(AN)Consecrate^[l] yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸And you shall keep ^(AO)My statutes, and perform them: ^(AP)I am the Lord who ^[m]sanctifies you.

⁹‘For ^(AQ)everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. ^(AR)His blood shall be upon him.

¹⁰^(AS)‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. ¹¹The man who lies with his ^(AT)father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. ¹²If a man lies with his ^(AU)daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. ¹³^(AV)If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. ¹⁴If a man marries a woman and her ^(AW)mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. ¹⁵If a man mates with an ^(AX)animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. ¹⁶If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

¹⁷‘If a man takes his ^(AY)sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be ^[n]cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his ^[o]guilt. ¹⁸^(AZ)If a man lies with a woman during her ^[p]sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has ^[q]exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be ^[r]cut off from their people.

¹⁹‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your ^(BA)mother’s sister nor of your ^(BB)father’s sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt. ²⁰If a man lies with his ^(BC)uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. ²¹If a man takes his ^(BD)brother’s wife, it is an ^[s]unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.

²²‘You shall therefore keep all My ^(BE)statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell ^(BF)may not vomit you out. ²³^(BG)And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and ^(BH)therefore I abhor them. ²⁴But ^(BI)I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, ^(BJ)who has separated you from the peoples. ²⁵^(BK)You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, ^(BL)and you shall not make yourselves ^[t]abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as ^[u]unclean. ²⁶And you shall be holy to Me, ^(BM)for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

²⁷^(BN)‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ”

Regulations for Conduct of Priests^(BO)

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ^(BP)‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, ²except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; ³also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. ⁴Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a ^[v]chief man among his people, to profane himself.

⁵^(BQ)‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. ⁶They shall be ^(BR)holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the ^(BS)bread of their God; ^(BT)therefore they shall be holy. ⁷^(BU)They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman ^(BV)divorced from her husband; for ^[w]the priest is holy to his God. ⁸Therefore you shall ^[x]consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for ^(BW)I the Lord, who ^(BX)sanctify you, am holy. ⁹The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be ^(BY)burned with fire.

¹⁰‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was ^(BZ)poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not ^(CA)uncover^[y] his head nor tear his clothes; ¹¹nor shall he go ^(CB)near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother; ¹²^(CC)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the ^(CD)consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord. ¹³And he shall take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. ¹⁵Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the Lord sanctify him.’ ”

¹⁶And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷“Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸For any man who has a ^(CE)defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb ^(CF)too long, ¹⁹a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. ²¹No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ²²He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy; ²³only he shall not go near the ^(CG)veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest ^(CH)he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”