78:1 A maskil of Asaph. I Attend, my people, to my teaching; listen to the words ofmy mouth.
78:2 I will open my mouth in story, drawing lessons from of old.
78:3 We have heard them, we know them; our ancestors have recited them to us.
78:4 We do not keep them from our children; we recite them to the next generation,The praiseworthy and mighty deeds of the LORD, the wonders that he performed.
78:5 God set up a decree in Jacob, established a law in Israel: What he commandedour ancestors, they were to teach their children;
78:6 That the next generation might come to know, children yet to be born. In turnthey were to recite them to their children,
78:7 that they too might put their trust in God, And not forget the works of God,keeping his commandments.
78:8 They were not to be like their ancestors, a rebellious and defiantgeneration, A generation whose heart was not constant, whose spirit was notfaithful to God,
78:9 Like the ranks of Ephraimite archers, who retreated on the day of battle.
78:10 They did not keep God’s covenant; they refused to walk by his law.
78:11 They forgot his works, the wondrous deeds he had shown them.II
78:12 In the sight of their ancestors God did wonders, in the land of Egypt, theplain of Zoan.
78:13 He split the sea and led them across, piling up the waters rigid as walls.
78:14 God led them with a cloud by day, all night with the light of fire.
78:15 He split rock in the desert, gave water to drink, abounding as the deep.
78:16 He made streams flow from crags, drew out rivers of water.
78:17 But they went on sinning against him, rebelling against the Most High in thedesert.
78:18 They tested God in their hearts, demanding the food they craved.
78:19 They spoke against God, and said, "Can God spread a table in the desert?
78:20 True, when he struck the rock, water gushed forth, the wadis flooded. Butcan he also provide bread, give meat to his people?"
78:21 The LORD heard and grew angry; fire blazed up against Jacob; anger flared upagainst Israel.
78:22 For they did not believe in God, did not trust in his saving power.
78:23 So he commanded the skies above; the doors of heaven he opened.
78:24 God rained manna upon them for food; bread from heaven he gave them.
78:25 All ate a meal fit for heroes; food he sent in abundance.
78:26 He stirred up the east wind in the heavens; by his power God brought on thesouth wind.
78:27 He rained meat upon them like dust, winged fowl like the sands of the sea,
78:28 Brought them down in the midst of the camp, round about their tents.
78:29 They ate and were well filled; he gave them what they had craved.
78:30 But while they still wanted more, and the food was still in their mouths,
78:31 God’s anger attacked them, killed their best warriors, laid low the youth ofIsrael.
78:32 In spite of all this they went on sinning, they did not believe in hiswonders.
78:33 God ended their days abruptly, their years in sudden death.
78:34 When he slew them, they began to seek him; they again inquired of their God.
78:35 They remembered that God was their rock, God Most High, their redeemer.
78:36 But they deceived him with their mouths, lied to him with their tongues.
78:37 Their hearts were not constant toward him; they were not faithful to hiscovenant.
78:38 But God is merciful and forgave their sin; he did not utterly destroy them.Time and again he turned back his anger, unwilling to unleash all his rage.
78:39 He was mindful that they were flesh, a breath that passes and does notreturn.III
78:40 How often they rebelled against God in the desert, grieved him in thewasteland.
78:41 Again and again they tested God, provoked the Holy One of Israel.
78:42 They did not remember his power, the day he redeemed them from the foe,
78:43 When he displayed his wonders in Egypt, his marvels in the plain of Zoan.
78:44 God changed their rivers to blood; their streams they could not drink.
78:45 He sent insects that devoured them, frogs that destroyed them.
78:46 He gave their harvest to the caterpillar, the fruits of their labor to thelocust.
78:47 He killed their vines with hail, their sycamores with frost.
78:48 He exposed their flocks to deadly hail, their cattle to lightning.
78:49 He unleashed against them his fiery breath, roar, fury, and distress,storming messengers of death.
78:50 He cleared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death; hedelivered their beasts to the plague.
78:51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, love’s first child in the tents ofHam.
78:52 God led forth his people like sheep; he guided them through the desert likea flock.
78:53 He led them on secure and unafraid, but the sea enveloped their enemies.
78:54 He brought them to his holy land, the mountain his right hand had won.
78:55 God drove out the nations before them, apportioned them a heritage by lot,settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
78:56 But they tested, rebelled against God Most High, his decrees they did notobserve.
78:57 They turned back, deceitful like their ancestors; they proved false like abow with no tension.
78:58 They enraged him with their high places; with their idols they goaded him.
78:59 God heard and grew angry; he rejected Israel completely.
78:60 He forsook the shrine at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt with humans.
78:61 He gave up his might into captivity, his glorious ark into the hands of thefoe.
78:62 God abandoned his people to the sword; he was enraged against his heritage.
78:63 Fire consumed their young men; their young women heard no wedding songs.
78:64 Their priests fell by the sword; their widows made no lamentation.
78:65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a warrior from the effects of wine.
78:66 He put his enemies to flight; everlasting shame he dealt them.
78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph, chose not the tribe of Ephraim.
78:68 God chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he favored.
78:69 He built his shrine like the heavens, like the earth which he foundedforever.
78:70 He chose David his servant, took him from the sheepfold.
78:71 From tending sheep God brought him, to shepherd Jacob, his people, Israel,his heritage.
78:72 He shepherded them with a pure heart; with skilled hands he guided them.