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

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

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

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

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

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

³ Sound the ram’s horn^(E) at the New Moon,^(F)
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.^(G)
5 When God went out against Egypt,^(H)
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:^(I)

⁶ “I removed the burden^(J) from their shoulders;^(K)
    their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷ In your distress you called^(L) and I rescued you,
    I answered^(M) you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.^[c](N)
8 Hear me, my people,^(O) and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹ You shall have no foreign god^(P) among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰ I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.^(Q)
Open^(R) wide your mouth and I will fill^(S) it.

¹¹ “But my people would not listen to me;
    Israel would not submit to me.^(T)
12 So I gave them over^(U) to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.

¹³ “If my people would only listen to me,^(V)
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
¹⁴ how quickly I would subdue^(W) their enemies
    and turn my hand against^(X) their foes!
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe^(Y) before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
¹⁶ But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;^(Z)
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

² “How long will you^[d] defend the unjust
    and show partiality^(AC) to the wicked?^[e](AD)
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;^(AE)
    uphold the cause of the poor^(AF) and the oppressed.
⁴ Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

⁵ “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.^(AG)
    They walk about in darkness;^(AH)
    all the foundations^(AI) of the earth are shaken.

⁶ “I said, ‘You are “gods”;^(AJ)
    you are all sons of the Most High.’
⁷ But you will die^(AK) like mere mortals;
    you will fall like every other ruler.”

⁸ Rise up,^(AL) O God, judge^(AM) the earth,
    for all the nations are your inheritance.^(AN)

⁵ With one mind they plot together;^(AW)
    they form an alliance against you—
⁶ the tents of Edom^(AX) and the Ishmaelites,
    of Moab^(AY) and the Hagrites,^(AZ)
7 Byblos,^(BA) Ammon^(BB) and Amalek,^(BC)
    Philistia,^(BD) with the people of Tyre.^(BE)
8 Even Assyria^(BF) has joined them
    to reinforce Lot’s descendants.^[g](BG)

⁹ Do to them as you did to Midian,^(BH)
    as you did to Sisera^(BI) and Jabin^(BJ) at the river Kishon,^(BK)
10 who perished at Endor^(BL)
    and became like dung^(BM) on the ground.
¹¹ Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,^(BN)
    all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,^(BO)
12 who said, “Let us take possession^(BP)
    of the pasturelands of God.”

¹³ Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
    like chaff^(BQ) before the wind.
¹⁴ As fire consumes the forest
    or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,^(BR)
15 so pursue them with your tempest^(BS)
    and terrify them with your storm.^(BT)
16 Cover their faces with shame,^(BU) Lord,
    so that they will seek your name.

¹⁷ May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;^(BV)
    may they perish in disgrace.^(BW)
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord^(BX)—
    that you alone are the Most High^(BY) over all the earth.^(BZ)