Psalm 78
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 78
Lessons from Israel’s Past
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 My people, hear my instruction;
listen to what I say.(B)
2 I will declare wise sayings;
I will speak mysteries from the past(C)—
3 things we have heard and known
and that our fathers have passed down to us.(D)
4 We must not hide them from their children,
but must tell a future generation
the praises of the Lord,
His might, and the wonderful works
He has performed.(E)
5 He established a testimony in Jacob
and set up a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
to teach to their children(F)
6 so that a future generation—
children yet to be born—might know.
They were to rise and tell their children(G)
7 so that they might put their confidence in God
and not forget God’s works,
but keep His commands.(H)
8 Then they would not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not loyal
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.(I)
9 The Ephraimite archers turned back
on the day of battle.(J)
10 They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by His law.(K)
11 They forgot what He had done,
the wonderful works He had shown them.(L)
12 He worked wonders in the sight of their fathers
in the land of Egypt, the region of Zoan.(M)
13 He split the sea and brought them across;
the water stood firm like a wall.(N)
14 He led them with a cloud by day
and with a fiery light throughout the night.(O)
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink as abundant as the depths.(P)
16 He brought streams out of the stone
and made water flow down like rivers.(Q)
17 But they continued to sin against Him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.(R)
18 They deliberately[a] tested God,
demanding the food they craved.(S)
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?
20 Look! He struck the rock and water gushed out;
torrents overflowed.(T)
But can He also provide bread
or furnish meat for His people?”(U)
21 Therefore, the Lord heard and became furious;
then fire broke out against Jacob,
and anger flared up against Israel(V)
22 because they did not believe God
or rely on His salvation.(W)
23 He gave a command to the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.(X)
24 He rained manna for them to eat;
He gave them grain from heaven.(Y)
25 People[b] ate the bread of angels.[c]
He sent them an abundant supply of food.(Z)
26 He made the east wind blow in the skies
and drove the south wind by His might.(AA)
27 He rained meat on them like dust,
and winged birds like the sand of the seas.
28 He made them fall in His camp,
all around His tent.[d][e](AB)
29 They ate and were completely satisfied,
for He gave them what they craved.(AC)
30 Before they had satisfied their desire,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger flared up against them,
and He killed some of their best men.
He struck down Israel’s choice young men.(AD)
32 Despite all this, they kept sinning
and did not believe His wonderful works.(AE)
33 He made their days end in futility,
their years in sudden disaster.(AF)
34 When He killed some of them,
the rest began to seek Him;
they repented and searched for God.(AG)
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God, their Redeemer.(AH)
36 But they deceived Him with their mouths,
they lied to Him with their tongues,(AI)
37 their hearts were insincere toward Him,
and they were unfaithful to His covenant.(AJ)
38 Yet He was compassionate;
He atoned for[f] their guilt
and did not destroy them.
He often turned His anger aside
and did not unleash[g] all His wrath.(AK)
39 He remembered that they were only flesh,
a wind that passes and does not return.(AL)
40 How often they rebelled against Him
in the wilderness
and grieved Him in the desert.
41 They constantly tested God(AM)
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.(AN)
42 They did not remember His power shown
on the day He redeemed them from the foe,(AO)
43 when He performed His miraculous signs in Egypt
and His wonders in the region of Zoan.(AP)
44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.(AQ)
45 He sent among them swarms of flies,(AR)
which fed on them,
and frogs, which devastated them.(AS)
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.(AT)
47 He killed their vines with hail
and their sycamore fig trees with a flood.
48 He handed over their livestock to hail
and their cattle to lightning bolts.(AU)
49 He sent His burning anger against them:
fury, indignation, and calamity—
a band of deadly messengers.[h](AV)
50 He cleared a path for His anger.
He did not spare them from death
but delivered their lives to the plague.(AW)
51 He struck all the firstborn(AX) in Egypt,
the first progeny of the tents of Ham.[i](AY)
52 He led His people out like sheep
and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.(AZ)
53 He led them safely, and they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.(BA)
54 He brought them to His holy land,
to the mountain His right hand acquired.(BB)
55 He drove out nations before them.(BC)
He apportioned their inheritance by lot
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.(BD)
56 But they rebelliously tested the Most High God,
for they did not keep His decrees.(BE)
57 They treacherously turned away like their fathers;
they became warped like a faulty bow.(BF)
58 They enraged Him with their high places
and provoked His jealousy with their carved images.(BG)
59 God heard and became furious;
He completely rejected Israel.(BH)
60 He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
the tent where He resided among men.[j](BI)
61 He gave up His strength[k] to captivity
and His splendor to the hand of a foe.(BJ)
62 He surrendered His people to the sword
because He was enraged with His heritage.(BK)
63 Fire consumed His chosen young men,
and His young women had no wedding songs.[l](BL)
64 His priests fell by the sword,
but the[m] widows could not lament.[n](BM)
65 Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,
like a warrior from the effects of wine.(BN)
66 He beat back His foes;
He gave them lasting shame.(BO)
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph
and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose instead the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which He loved.(BP)
69 He built His sanctuary like the heights,[o]
like the earth that He established forever.(BQ)
70 He chose David His servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;(BR)
71 He brought him from tending ewes
to be shepherd over His people Jacob—
over Israel, His inheritance.(BS)
72 He shepherded them with a pure heart
and guided them with his skillful hands.(BT)
Footnotes
- Psalm 78:18 Lit in their heart
- Psalm 78:25 Lit Man
- Psalm 78:25 Lit mighty ones
- Psalm 78:28 LXX, Syr read in their camp, all around their tents
- Psalm 78:28 Or in its camp, all around its tents
- Psalm 78:38 Or He wiped out, or He forgave
- Psalm 78:38 Or stir up
- Psalm 78:49 Or angels
- Psalm 78:51 Ham’s descendants who settled in Egypt
- Psalm 78:60 Hb adam
- Psalm 78:61 = the ark of the covenant
- Psalm 78:63 Lit virgins were not praised
- Psalm 78:64 Lit His
- Psalm 78:64 War probably prevented customary funerals.
- Psalm 78:69 Either the heights of heaven or the mountain heights
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.
2 I will open my mouth in a (B)parable;
I will utter [b]dark sayings of old,
3 Which 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.
5 For (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,
7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
8 And (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.
9 The 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,
11 And (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.
16 He also brought (S)streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 But they sinned even more against Him
By (T)rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 And (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?”
21 Therefore the Lord heard this and (X)was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
22 Because they (Y)did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet 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.
25 Men 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.
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 (AD)So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
30 They were not [g]deprived of their craving;
But (AE)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 (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.
35 Then they remembered that (AJ)God was their rock,
And the Most High God (AK)their Redeemer.
36 Nevertheless they (AL)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 (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;
39 For (AQ)He remembered (AR)that they were but flesh,
(AS)A breath that passes away and does not come again.
40 How often they (AT)provoked[h] Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
41 Yes, (AU)again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember His [i]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 (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.
46 He 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.
48 He also gave up their (BA)cattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery [j]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 [k]their life over to the plague,
51 And destroyed all the (BB)firstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But He (BC)made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53 And He (BD)led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea (BE)overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And 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,
57 But (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.
59 When 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.
63 The 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.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
(BU)Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
66 And (BV)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 (BW)which He loved.
69 And 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;
71 From following (BZ)the ewes that had young He brought him,
(CA)To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
72 So 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
诗篇 78
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
述选民违逆及神恩导
78 亚萨的训诲诗。
1 我的民哪,你们要留心听我的训诲,侧耳听我口中的话。
2 我要开口说比喻,我要说出古时的谜语,
3 是我们所听见所知道的,也是我们的祖宗告诉我们的。
4 我们不将这些事向他们的子孙隐瞒,要将耶和华的美德和他的能力,并他奇妙的作为,述说给后代听。
5 因为他在雅各中立法度,在以色列中设律法,是他吩咐我们祖宗要传给子孙的,
6 使将要生的后代子孙可以晓得。他们也要起来告诉他们的子孙,
7 好叫他们仰望神,不忘记神的作为,唯要守他的命令,
8 不要像他们的祖宗,是顽梗悖逆居心不正之辈,向着神心不诚实。
9 以法莲的子孙带着兵器拿着弓,临阵之日转身退后。
10 他们不遵守神的约,不肯照他的律法行。
11 又忘记他所行的,和他显给他们奇妙的作为。
12 他在埃及地,在琐安田,在他们祖宗的眼前,施行奇事。
13 他将海分裂,使他们过去,又叫水立起如垒。
14 他白日用云彩,终夜用火光,引导他们。
15 他在旷野分裂磐石,多多地给他们水喝,如从深渊而出。
16 他使水从磐石涌出,叫水如江河下流。
17 他们却仍旧得罪他,在干燥之地悖逆至高者。
18 他们心中试探神,随自己所欲的求食物,
19 并且妄论神说:“神在旷野岂能摆设筵席吗?
20 他曾击打磐石,使水涌出成了江河,他还能赐粮食吗?还能为他的百姓预备肉吗?”
21 所以耶和华听见就发怒,有烈火向雅各烧起,有怒气向以色列上腾。
22 因为他们不信服神,不倚赖他的救恩。
23 他却吩咐天空,又敞开天上的门,
24 降吗哪像雨给他们吃,将天上的粮食赐给他们。
25 各人[a]吃大能者的食物,他赐下粮食,使他们饱足。
26 他领东风起在天空,又用能力引了南风来。
27 他降肉像雨在他们当中,多如尘土,又降飞鸟,多如海沙,
28 落在他们的营中,在他们住处的四面。
29 他们吃了,而且饱足,这样就随了他们所欲的。
30 他们贪而无厌,食物还在他们口中的时候,
31 神的怒气就向他们上腾,杀了他们内中的肥壮人,打倒以色列的少年人。
32 虽是这样,他们仍旧犯罪,不信他奇妙的作为。
33 因此他叫他们的日子全归虚空,叫他们的年岁尽属惊恐。
34 他杀他们的时候,他们才求问他,回心转意,切切地寻求神。
35 他们也追念神是他们的磐石,至高的神是他们的救赎主。
36 他们却用口谄媚他,用舌向他说谎。
37 因他们的心向他不正,在他的约上也不忠心。
38 但他有怜悯,赦免他们的罪孽,不灭绝他们,而且屡次消他的怒气,不发尽他的愤怒。
39 他想到他们不过是血气,是一阵去而不返的风。
40 他们在旷野悖逆他,在荒地叫他担忧,何其多呢!
41 他们再三试探神,惹动以色列的圣者。
42 他们不追念他的能力[b]和赎他们脱离敌人的日子。
43 他怎样在埃及地显神迹,在琐安田显奇事,
44 把他们的江河并河汊的水都变为血,使他们不能喝。
45 他叫苍蝇成群落在他们当中,嘬尽他们,又叫青蛙灭了他们;
46 把他们的土产交给蚂蚱,把他们辛苦得来的交给蝗虫。
47 他降冰雹打坏他们的葡萄树,下严霜打坏他们的桑树;
48 又把他们的牲畜交给冰雹,把他们的群畜交给闪电。
49 他使猛烈的怒气和愤怒、恼恨、苦难成了一群降灾的使者,临到他们。
50 他为自己的怒气修平了路,将他们交给瘟疫,使他们死亡。
51 在埃及击杀一切长子,在含的帐篷中击杀他们强壮时头生的。
52 他却领出自己的民如羊,在旷野引他们如羊群。
53 他领他们稳稳妥妥的,使他们不致害怕,海却淹没他们的仇敌。
54 他带他们到自己圣地的边界,到他右手所得的这山地。
55 他在他们面前赶出外邦人,用绳子将外邦的地量给他们为业,叫以色列支派的人住在他们的帐篷里。
56 他们仍旧试探、悖逆至高的神,不守他的法度,
57 反倒退后,行诡诈,像他们的祖宗一样,他们改变如同翻背的弓。
58 因他们的丘坛惹了他的怒气,因他们雕刻的偶像触动他的愤恨。
59 神听见就发怒,极其憎恶以色列人。
60 甚至他离弃示罗的帐幕,就是他在人间所搭的帐篷;
61 又将他的约柜[c]交于人掳去,将他的荣耀交在敌人手中。
62 并将他的百姓交于刀剑,向他的产业发怒。
63 少年人被火烧灭,处女也无喜歌。
64 祭司倒在刀下,寡妇却不哀哭。
65 那时主像世人睡醒,像勇士饮酒呼喊。
66 他就打退了他的敌人,叫他们永蒙羞辱。
67 并且他弃掉约瑟的帐篷,不拣选以法莲支派,
68 却拣选犹大支派,他所喜爱的锡安山,
69 盖造他的圣所好像高峰,又像他建立永存之地。
70 又拣选他的仆人大卫,从羊圈中将他召来,
71 叫他不再跟从那些带奶的母羊,为要牧养自己的百姓雅各和自己的产业以色列。
72 于是他按心中的纯正牧养他们,用手中的巧妙引导他们。
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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