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Psalm 78:31-72
1599 Geneva Bible
Psalm 78:31-72
1599 Geneva Bible
31 When the wrath of God came even upon them, and slew [a]the strongest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
32 For all this they [b]sinned still, and believed not his wondrous works.
33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years hastily.
34 And when he [c]slew them, they sought him, and they returned, and sought God early.
35 And they remembered that God was their strength, and the most high God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and dissembled with him with their tongue.
37 For their [d]heart was not upright with him: neither were they faithful in his covenant.
38 Yet he being merciful, [e]forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not, but oft times called back his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 For he remembered that they were flesh: yea, a wind that passeth and cometh not again.
40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness? and grieve him in the desert?
41 Yea, they [f]returned and tempted God, and [g]limited the Holy one of Israel.
42 They [h]remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy,
43 Nor him that set his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 And turned their rivers into blood, and their floods, that they could not drink.
45 He sent [i]a swarm of flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He [j]gave also their fruits unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the grasshopper.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their wild fig trees with the hailstone.
48 He gave their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to the thunderbolts.
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, indignation and wrath, and vexation by the sending out of [k]evil angels.
50 He made a way to his anger: he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life to the pestilence,
51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt, even the [l]beginning of their strength in the tabernacles of [m]Ham.
52 But he made his people to go out like sheep, and led them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 Yea, he carried them out safely, and they [n]feared not, and the Sea covered their enemies.
54 And he brought them unto the borders of his [o]Sanctuary: even to this Mountain which his right hand purchased.
55 (A)He cast out the heathen also before them, and caused them to fall to the lot of his inheritance, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.
56 Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies,
57 But turned back, and dealt [p]falsely like their fathers: they turned like a deceitful bow.
58 And they [q]provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to wrath with their graven images.
59 God heard this and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel,
60 So that he [r]forsook the habitation of Shiloh, even the Tabernacle where he dwelt among men,
61 And delivered his [s]power into captivity, and his beauty into the enemy’s hand.
62 And he gave up his people to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance.
63 The fire [t]devoured their chosen men, and their maids were not [u]praised.
64 Their Priests fell by the sword, and their [v]widows lamented not.
65 But the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and as a strong man that after his [w]wine crieth out,
66 And smote his enemies in the hinder parts, and put them to a perpetual shame.
67 Yet he refused the tabernacle of [x]Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, and mount Zion which he loved.
69 And he [y]built his Sanctuary as an high palace, like the earth, which he established forever.
70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds.
71 Even from behind the ewes with young, brought he him to feed his people in Jacob, and his inheritance in Israel.
72 So [z]he fed them according to the simplicity of his heart, and guided them by the discretion of his hands.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Psalm 78:31 Though others were not spared, yet chiefly they suffered, which trusted in their strength against God.
- Psalm 78:32 Thus sin by continuance maketh man insensible, so that by no plagues they can be amended.
- Psalm 78:34 Such was their hypocrisy, that they sought unto God for fear of punishment, though in their heart they loved him not.
- Psalm 78:37 Whatsoever cometh not from the pure fountain of the heart, is hypocrisy.
- Psalm 78:38 Because he would ever have some remnant of a Church to praise his Name in earth, he suffered not their sins to overcome his mercy.
- Psalm 78:41 That is, they tempted him oft times.
- Psalm 78:41 As they all do that measure the power of God by their capacity.
- Psalm 78:42 The forgetfulness of God’s benefits is the root of rebellion and all vice.
- Psalm 78:45 This word signifieth a confused mixture of flies and venomous worms. Some take it for all sorts of serpents: some for all wild beasts.
- Psalm 78:46 He repeateth not here all the miracles that God did in Egypt, but certain which might be sufficient to convince the people of malice and ingratitude.
- Psalm 78:49 So called either of the effect, that is, of punishing the wicked: or else because they were wicked spirits, whom God permitted to vex men.
- Psalm 78:51 The firstborn are so called, as Gen. 49:3.
- Psalm 78:51 That is, Egypt: for it was called Mizraim, or Egypt of Mizraim that was the son of Ham.
- Psalm 78:53 That is, they had none occasion to fear, forasmuch as God destroyed their enemies, and delivered them safely.
- Psalm 78:54 Meaning, Canaan, which God had consecrated to himself, and appointed to his people.
- Psalm 78:57 Nothing more displeaseth God in the children, than when they continue in that wickedness, which their fathers had begun.
- Psalm 78:58 By serving God otherwise than he had appointed.
- Psalm 78:60 For their ingratitude he suffered the Philistines to take the Ark, which was the sign of his presence, from among them.
- Psalm 78:61 The Ark is called his power and beauty, because thereby he defended his people, and beautifully appeared unto them.
- Psalm 78:63 They were suddenly destroyed, 1 Sam. 4:10.
- Psalm 78:63 They had no marriage songs: that is, they were not married.
- Psalm 78:64 Either they were slain before, or taken prisoners of their enemies, and so were forbidden.
- Psalm 78:65 Because they were drunken in their sins, they judged God’s patience to be a slumbering, as though he were drunken, therefore he answering their beastly judgment, saith, he will awake and take sudden vengeance.
- Psalm 78:67 Showing that he spared not altogether the Israelites, though he punished their enemies.
- Psalm 78:69 By building the Temple, and established the kingdom, he declareth that the signs of his favor were among them.
- Psalm 78:72 He showeth wherein a king’s charge standeth: to wit, to provide faithfully for his people, to guide them by counsel, and defend them by power.
Psalm 78:31-72
New International Version
Psalm 78:31-72
New International Version
31 God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest(A) among them,
cutting down the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;(B)
in spite of his wonders,(C) they did not believe.(D)
33 So he ended their days in futility(E)
and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek(F) him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,(G)
that God Most High was their Redeemer.(H)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,(I)
lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal(J) to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;(K)
he forgave(L) their iniquities(M)
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger(N)
and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,(O)
a passing breeze(P) that does not return.
40 How often they rebelled(Q) against him in the wilderness(R)
and grieved him(S) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(T)
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(U)
42 They did not remember(V) his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,(W)
43 the day he displayed his signs(X) in Egypt,
his wonders(Y) in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;(Z)
they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies(AA) that devoured them,
and frogs(AB) that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,(AC)
their produce to the locust.(AD)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail(AE)
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
their livestock(AF) to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,(AG)
his wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.(AH)
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,(AI)
the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.(AJ)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;(AK)
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed(AL) their enemies.(AM)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right hand(AN) had taken.
55 He drove out nations(AO) before them
and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;(AP)
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(AQ) they were disloyal and faithless,
as unreliable as a faulty bow.(AR)
58 They angered him(AS) with their high places;(AT)
they aroused his jealousy with their idols.(AU)
59 When God heard(AV) them, he was furious;(AW)
he rejected Israel(AX) completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,(AY)
the tent he had set up among humans.(AZ)
61 He sent the ark of his might(BA) into captivity,(BB)
his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;(BC)
he was furious with his inheritance.(BD)
63 Fire consumed(BE) their young men,
and their young women had no wedding songs;(BF)
64 their priests were put to the sword,(BG)
and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,(BH)
as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
he put them to everlasting shame.(BI)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;(BJ)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,(BK)
Mount Zion,(BL) which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary(BM) like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David(BN) his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep(BO) he brought him
to be the shepherd(BP) of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;(BQ)
with skillful hands he led them.
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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