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.
²I will open my mouth in a ^(B)parable;
I will utter ^[b]dark sayings of old,
³Which 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.

⁵For ^(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,
⁷That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
⁸And ^(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.

⁹The 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,
¹¹And ^(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.
¹⁶He also brought ^(S)streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹⁷But they sinned even more against Him
By ^(T)rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
¹⁸And ^(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?”

²¹Therefore the Lord heard this and ^(X)was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
²²Because they ^(Y)did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
²³Yet 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.
²⁵Men 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.
²⁷He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
²⁸And 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.
³⁰They were not ^[g]deprived of their craving;
But ^(AE)while their food was still in their mouths,
³¹The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.

³²In 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.
³⁵Then they remembered that ^(AJ)God was their rock,
And the Most High God ^(AK)their Redeemer.
³⁶Nevertheless they ^(AL)flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
³⁷For 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;
³⁹For ^(AQ)He remembered ^(AR)that they were but flesh,
^(AS)A breath that passes away and does not come again.

⁴⁰How often they ^(AT)provoked^[h] Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
⁴¹Yes, ^(AU)again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
⁴²They did not remember His ^[i]power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
⁴³When 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.
⁴⁶He 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.
⁴⁸He also gave up their ^(BA)cattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery ^[j]lightning.
⁴⁹He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,
Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
By sending angels of destruction among them.
⁵⁰He made a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave ^[k]their life over to the plague,
⁵¹And destroyed all the ^(BB)firstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
⁵²But He ^(BC)made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
⁵³And He ^(BD)led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea ^(BE)overwhelmed their enemies.
⁵⁴And 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,
⁵⁷But ^(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.
⁵⁹When 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.
⁶³The 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.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
^(BU)Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
⁶⁶And ^(BV)He beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.

⁶⁷Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
⁶⁸But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion ^(BW)which He loved.
⁶⁹And 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;
⁷¹From following ^(BZ)the ewes that had young He brought him,
^(CA)To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
⁷²So 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

Ezekiel 11

New King James Version

Judgment on Wicked Counselors

11 Then ^(A)the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to ^(B)the East Gate of the Lord’s house, which faces eastward; and there ^(C)at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ²And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked ^[a]counsel in this city, ³who say, ‘The time is not ^(D)near to build houses; ^(E)this city is the ^[b]caldron, and we are the meat.’ ⁴Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!”

⁵Then ^(F)the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me, “Speak! ‘Thus says the Lord: “Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for ^(G)I know the things that come into your mind. ⁶^(H)You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.” ⁷Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(I)“Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; ^(J)but I shall bring you out of the midst of it. ⁸You have ^(K)feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you,” says the Lord God. ⁹“And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and ^(L)execute judgments on you. ¹⁰^(M)You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at ^(N)the border of Israel. ^(O)Then you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹^(P)This city shall not be your ^[c]caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel. ¹²And you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but ^(Q)have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.” ’ ”

¹³Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that ^(R)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then ^(S)I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?”

God Will Restore Israel

¹⁴Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵“Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’ ¹⁶Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, ^(T)yet I shall be a little ^[d]sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” ’ ¹⁷Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(U)“I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’ ¹⁸And they will go there, and they will take away all its ^(V)detestable things and all its abominations from there. ¹⁹Then ^(W)I will give them one heart, and I will put ^(X)a new spirit within ^[e]them, and take ^(Y)the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰^(Z)that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; ^(AA)and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, ^(AB)I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.

²²So the cherubim ^(AC)lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. ²³And ^(AD)the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood ^(AE)on the mountain, ^(AF)which is on the east side of the city.

²⁴Then ^(AG)the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into ^[f]Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the Lord had shown me.