Psalm 78

New International Version

Psalm 78

A maskil^[a] of Asaph.

¹My people, hear my teaching;^(A)
    listen to the words of my mouth.
²I will open my mouth with a parable;^(B)
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
³things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.^(C)
⁴We will not hide them from their descendants;^(D)
    we will tell the next generation^(E)
the praiseworthy deeds^(F) of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders^(G) he has done.
⁵He decreed statutes^(H) for Jacob^(I)
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
⁶so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,^(J)
    and they in turn would tell their children.
⁷Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget^(K) his deeds
    but would keep his commands.^(L)
⁸They would not be like their ancestors^(M)—
    a stubborn^(N) and rebellious^(O) generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.

⁹The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,^(P)
    turned back on the day of battle;^(Q)
¹⁰they did not keep God’s covenant^(R)
    and refused to live by his law.^(S)
¹¹They forgot what he had done,^(T)
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹²He did miracles^(U) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,^(V) in the region of Zoan.^(W)
¹³He divided the sea^(X) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.^(Y)
¹⁴He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.^(Z)
¹⁵He split the rocks^(AA) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin^(AB) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
¹⁸They willfully put God to the test^(AC)
    by demanding the food they craved.^(AD)
¹⁹They spoke against God;^(AE)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,^(AF)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat^(AG) for his people?”
²¹When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out^(AH) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
²²for they did not believe in God
    or trust^(AI) in his deliverance.
²³Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;^(AJ)
²⁴he rained down manna^(AK) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
²⁶He let loose the east wind^(AL) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
²⁷He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds^(AM) like sand on the seashore.
²⁸He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
²⁹They ate till they were gorged—^(AN)
    he had given them what they craved.
³⁰But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,^(AO)
³¹God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest^(AP) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

³²In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;^(AQ)
    in spite of his wonders,^(AR) they did not believe.^(AS)
³³So he ended their days in futility^(AT)
    and their years in terror.
³⁴Whenever God slew them, they would seek^(AU) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
³⁵They remembered that God was their Rock,^(AV)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.^(AW)
³⁶But then they would flatter him with their mouths,^(AX)
    lying to him with their tongues;
³⁷their hearts were not loyal^(AY) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸Yet he was merciful;^(AZ)
    he forgave^(BA) their iniquities^(BB)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger^(BC)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,^(BD)
    a passing breeze^(BE) that does not return.

⁴⁰How often they rebelled^(BF) against him in the wilderness^(BG)
    and grieved him^(BH) in the wasteland!
⁴¹Again and again they put God to the test;^(BI)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.^(BJ)
⁴²They did not remember^(BK) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,^(BL)
⁴³the day he displayed his signs^(BM) in Egypt,
    his wonders^(BN) in the region of Zoan.
⁴⁴He turned their river into blood;^(BO)
    they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies^(BP) that devoured them,
    and frogs^(BQ) that devastated them.
⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper,^(BR)
    their produce to the locust.^(BS)
⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail^(BT)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
⁴⁸He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock^(BU) to bolts of lightning.
⁴⁹He unleashed against them his hot anger,^(BV)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.^(BW)
⁵⁰He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
⁵¹He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,^(BX)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.^(BY)
⁵²But he brought his people out like a flock;^(BZ)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
⁵³He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed^(CA) their enemies.^(CB)
⁵⁴And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand^(CC) had taken.
⁵⁵He drove out nations^(CD) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;^(CE)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
⁵⁷Like their ancestors^(CF) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.^(CG)
⁵⁸They angered him^(CH) with their high places;^(CI)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.^(CJ)
⁵⁹When God heard^(CK) them, he was furious;^(CL)
    he rejected Israel^(CM) completely.
⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,^(CN)
    the tent he had set up among humans.^(CO)
⁶¹He sent the ark of his might^(CP) into captivity,^(CQ)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
⁶²He gave his people over to the sword;^(CR)
    he was furious with his inheritance.^(CS)
⁶³Fire consumed^(CT) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;^(CU)
⁶⁴their priests were put to the sword,^(CV)
    and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,^(CW)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
⁶⁶He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.^(CX)
⁶⁷Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;^(CY)
⁶⁸but he chose the tribe of Judah,^(CZ)
    Mount Zion,^(DA) which he loved.
⁶⁹He built his sanctuary^(DB) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
⁷⁰He chose David^(DC) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
⁷¹from tending the sheep^(DD) he brought him
    to be the shepherd^(DE) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
⁷²And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;^(DF)
    with skillful hands he led them.

Footnotes

Psalm 78:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term

Luke 23

New International Version

23 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate.^(A) ²And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation.^(B) He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar^(C) and claims to be Messiah, a king.”^(D)

³So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

⁴Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”^(E)

⁵But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee^(F) and has come all the way here.”

⁶On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.^(G) ⁷When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod,^(H) who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him.^(I) From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. ⁹He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.^(J) ¹⁰The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe,^(K) they sent him back to Pilate. ¹²That day Herod and Pilate became friends^(L)—before this they had been enemies.

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.^(M) ¹⁵Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶Therefore, I will punish him^(N) and then release him.” ^[17]^[a]

¹⁸But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”^(O) ¹⁹(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²²For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”^(P)

²³But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion of Jesus^(Q)

²⁶As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene,^(R) who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.^(S) ²⁷A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed^(T) for him. ²⁸Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.^(U) ²⁹For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’^(V) ³⁰Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’^[b]^(W)

³¹For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”^(X)

³²Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.^(Y) ³³When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴Jesus said, “Father,^(Z) forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”^[c]^(AA) And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.^(AB)

³⁵The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.^(AC) They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”^(AD)

³⁶The soldiers also came up and mocked him.^(AE) They offered him wine vinegar^(AF) ³⁷and said, “If you are the king of the Jews,^(AG) save yourself.”

³⁸There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.^(AH)

³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”^(AI)

⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”^(AJ)

⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^[d]”^(AK)

⁴³Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”^(AL)

The Death of Jesus^(AM)

⁴⁴It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,^(AN) ⁴⁵for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple^(AO) was torn in two.^(AP) ⁴⁶Jesus called out with a loud voice,^(AQ) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”^[e]^(AR) When he had said this, he breathed his last.^(AS)

⁴⁷The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God^(AT) and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts^(AU) and went away. ⁴⁹But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee,^(AV) stood at a distance,^(AW) watching these things.

The Burial of Jesus^(AX)

⁵⁰Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.^(AY) ⁵²Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴It was Preparation Day,^(AZ) and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee^(BA) followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.^(BB) But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.^(BC)

Footnotes

Luke 23:17 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Matt. 27:15 and Mark 15:6.
Luke 23:30 Hosea 10:8
Luke 23:34 Some early manuscripts do not have this sentence.
Luke 23:42 Some manuscripts come with your kingly power
Luke 23:46 Psalm 31:5