Psalm 78
New Living Translation
Psalm 78
A psalm[a] of Asaph.
1 O my people, listen to my instructions.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
2 for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
3 stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
4 We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
5 For he issued his laws to Jacob;
he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
6 so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children.
7 So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors—
stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,
refusing to give their hearts to God.
9 The warriors of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned their backs and fled on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his instructions.
11 They forgot what he had done—
the great wonders he had shown them,
12 the miracles he did for their ancestors
on the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.
13 For he divided the sea and led them through,
making the water stand up like walls!
14 In the daytime he led them by a cloud,
and all night by a pillar of fire.
15 He split open the rocks in the wilderness
to give them water, as from a gushing spring.
16 He made streams pour from the rock,
making the waters flow down like a river!
17 Yet they kept on sinning against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They stubbornly tested God in their hearts,
demanding the foods they craved.
19 They even spoke against God himself, saying,
“God can’t give us food in the wilderness.
20 Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out,
but he can’t give his people bread and meat.”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious.
The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob.
Yes, his anger rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe God
or trust him to care for them.
23 But he commanded the skies to open;
he opened the doors of heaven.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat;
he gave them bread from heaven.
25 They ate the food of angels!
God gave them all they could hold.
26 He released the east wind in the heavens
and guided the south wind by his mighty power.
27 He rained down meat as thick as dust—
birds as plentiful as the sand on the seashore!
28 He caused the birds to fall within their camp
and all around their tents.
29 The people ate their fill.
He gave them what they craved.
30 But before they satisfied their craving,
while the meat was yet in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed their strongest men.
He struck down the finest of Israel’s young men.
32 But in spite of this, the people kept sinning.
Despite his wonders, they refused to trust him.
33 So he ended their lives in failure,
their years in terror.
34 When God began killing them,
they finally sought him.
They repented and took God seriously.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
that God Most High[b] was their redeemer.
36 But all they gave him was lip service;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not loyal to him.
They did not keep his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins
and did not destroy them all.
Many times he held back his anger
and did not unleash his fury!
39 For he remembered that they were merely mortal,
gone like a breath of wind that never returns.
40 Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland.
41 Again and again they tested God’s patience
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power
and how he rescued them from their enemies.
43 They did not remember his miraculous signs in Egypt,
his wonders on the plain of Zoan.
44 For he turned their rivers into blood,
so no one could drink from the streams.
45 He sent vast swarms of flies to consume them
and hordes of frogs to ruin them.
46 He gave their crops to caterpillars;
their harvest was consumed by locusts.
47 He destroyed their grapevines with hail
and shattered their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He abandoned their cattle to the hail,
their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He loosed on them his fierce anger—
all his fury, rage, and hostility.
He dispatched against them
a band of destroying angels.
50 He turned his anger against them;
he did not spare the Egyptians’ lives
but ravaged them with the plague.
51 He killed the oldest son in each Egyptian family,
the flower of youth throughout the land of Egypt.[c]
52 But he led his own people like a flock of sheep,
guiding them safely through the wilderness.
53 He kept them safe so they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.
54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this land of hills he had won for them.
55 He drove out the nations before them;
he gave them their inheritance by lot.
He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.
56 But they kept testing and rebelling against God Most High.
They did not obey his laws.
57 They turned back and were as faithless as their parents.
They were as undependable as a crooked bow.
58 They angered God by building shrines to other gods;
they made him jealous with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was very angry,
and he completely rejected Israel.
60 Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people.
61 He allowed the Ark of his might to be captured;
he surrendered his glory into enemy hands.
62 He gave his people over to be butchered by the sword,
because he was so angry with his own people—his special possession.
63 Their young men were killed by fire;
their young women died before singing their wedding songs.
64 Their priests were slaughtered,
and their widows could not mourn their deaths.
65 Then the Lord rose up as though waking from sleep,
like a warrior aroused from a drunken stupor.
66 He routed his enemies
and sent them to eternal shame.
67 But he rejected Joseph’s descendants;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose instead the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 There he built his sanctuary as high as the heavens,
as solid and enduring as the earth.
70 He chose his servant David,
calling him from the sheep pens.
71 He took David from tending the ewes and lambs
and made him the shepherd of Jacob’s descendants—
God’s own people, Israel.
72 He cared for them with a true heart
and led them with skillful hands.
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.
Notas al pie
- 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
Psalm 78
Amplified Bible
God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.
78 Listen, O my people, to my teaching;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth [and be willing to learn].
2
I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples];
I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—(A)
3
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4
We will not hide them from their children,
But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.
5
For He established a testimony (a specific precept) in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel],
6
That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born
May arise and recount them to their children,
7
That they should place their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
8
And not be like their fathers—
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9
The sons of Ephraim were armed as archers and carrying bows,
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
10
They did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to walk according to His law;
11
And they forgot His [incredible] works
And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them.
12
He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].
13
He divided the [Red] Sea and allowed them to pass through it,
And He made the waters stand up like [water behind] a dam.(B)
14
In the daytime He led them with a cloud
And all the night with a light of fire.(C)
15
He split rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant [water to] drink like the ocean depths.
16
He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]
And caused waters to run down like rivers.(D)
17
Yet they still continued to sin against Him
By rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18
And in their hearts they put God to the test
By asking for food according to their [selfish] appetite.
19
Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness?
20
“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”
21
Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath;
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
And His anger mounted up against Israel,
22
Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him],
And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).
23
Yet He commanded the clouds from above
And opened the doors of heaven;
24
And He rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them the grain of heaven.(E)
25
Man ate the bread of angels;
God sent them provision in abundance.
26
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind.
27
He rained meat upon them like the dust,
And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas.(F)
28
And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Around their tents.
29
So they ate and were well filled,
He gave them what they craved.
30
Before they had satisfied their desire,
And while their food was in their mouths,(G)
31
The wrath of God rose against them
And killed some of the strongest of them,
And subdued the choice young men of Israel.
32
In spite of all this they still sinned,
For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works.
33
Therefore He consumed their days like a breath [in emptiness and futility]
And their years in sudden terror.
34
When He killed [some of] them, then those remaining sought Him,
And they returned [to Him] and searched diligently for God [for a time].
35
And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
36
Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouths
And lied to Him with their tongues.
37
For their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful to His covenant.(H)
38
[a]But He, the source of compassion and lovingkindness, forgave their wickedness and did not destroy them;
Many times He restrained His anger
And did not stir up all His wrath.
39
For He [graciously] remembered that they were mere [human] flesh,
A wind that goes and does not return.
40
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
41
Again and again they tempted God,
And distressed the Holy One of Israel.
42
They did not remember [the miracles worked by] His [powerful] hand,
Nor the day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43
How He worked His miracles in Egypt
And His wonders in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided],
44
And turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45
He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.
46
He also gave their crops to the grasshopper,
And the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47
He destroyed their vines with [great] hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48
He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones,
And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts.(I)
49
He sent upon them His burning anger,(J)
His fury and indignation and distress,
A band of angels of destruction [among them].
50
He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run];
He did not spare their souls from death,
But turned over their lives to the plague.
51
He killed all the firstborn in Egypt,
The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.
52
But God led His own people forward like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness like [a good shepherd with] a flock.
53
He led them safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea engulfed their enemies.(K)
54
So He brought them to His holy land,
To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.
55
He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel
And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;
And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].
56
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies (laws).
57
They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim].
58
For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship]
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].
59
When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath;
And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways],
60
So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
The tent in which He had dwelled among men,
61
And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity,
And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines).(L)
62
He also handed His people over to the sword,
And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).(M)
63
The fire [of war] devoured His young men,
And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs.
64
His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.(N)
65
Then the Lord awakened as from sleep,
Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].
66
He drove His enemies backward;
He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor.
67
Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood].
68
But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader],
Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].
69
And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens],
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70
He also chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;(O)
71
[b]From [c]tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.(P)
72
So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;
And guided them with his skillful hands.
Notas al pie
- Psalm 78:38 The ancient Sopherim, the Jewish scholars whose responsibility it was to do counts of all the letters, words, and verses of the OT, said that this verse marks the halfway point in Psalms.
- Psalm 78:71 The first impression one might receive from this passage is that God elevated David from the lowliest position in Israel to the highest. But the ancient rabbis said that God tested David’s skills and wisdom as a shepherd. For example, it is said that David held back the bigger sheep from the pasture and brought out the smaller ones first to graze on the tender grass. The rabbis represented God as saying, “He who knows how to shepherd the sheep, each one in proportion to its strength, shall come and shepherd My people.”
- Psalm 78:71 Lit following.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
