Psalm 78:51-70
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
51 He struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham.(A)
52 Then he led out his people like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.(B)
53 He led them in safety so that they were not afraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.(C)
54 And he brought them to his holy hill,
to the mountain that his right hand had won.(D)
55 He drove out nations before them;
he apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.(E)
56 Yet they tested the Most High God
and rebelled against him.
They did not observe his decrees(F)
57 but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors;
they twisted like a treacherous bow.(G)
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
they moved him to jealousy with their idols.(H)
59 When God heard, he was full of wrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mortals,(I)
61 and delivered his power to captivity,
his glory to the hand of the foe.(J)
62 He gave his people to the sword
and vented his wrath on his heritage.(K)
63 Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no marriage song.(L)
64 Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows made no lamentation.(M)
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a warrior shouting because of wine.(N)
66 He put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting disgrace.(O)
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.(P)
69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.(Q)
70 He chose his servant David
and took him from the sheepfolds;(R)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.