| 78:1 | God's Kindness to Rebellious IsraelA Contemplation of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. |
| 78:2 | I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, |
| 78:3 | Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. |
| 78:4 | We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. |
| 78:5 | For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; |
| 78:6 | That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, |
| 78:7 | That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; |
| 78:8 | And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. |
| 78:9 | The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. |
| 78:10 | They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, |
| 78:11 | And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them. |
| 78:12 | Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. |
| 78:13 | He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. |
| 78:14 | In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire. |
| 78:15 | He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths. |
| 78:16 | He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. |
| 78:17 | But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. |
| 78:18 | And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy. |
| 78:19 | Yes, they spoke against God: They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? |
| 78:20 | 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? |
| 78:21 | Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel, |
| 78:22 | Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation. |
| 78:23 | Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, |
| 78:24 | Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven. |
| 78:25 | Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full. |
| 78:26 | He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind. |
| 78:27 | He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; |
| 78:28 | And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings. |
| 78:29 | So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire. |
| 78:30 | They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths, |
| 78:31 | The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel. |
| 78:32 | In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works. |
| 78:33 | Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear. |
| 78:34 | When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God. |
| 78:35 | Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. |
| 78:36 | Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue; |
| 78:37 | For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. |
| 78:38 | But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath; |
| 78:39 | For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again. |
| 78:40 | How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! |
| 78:41 | Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. |
| 78:42 | They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy, |
| 78:43 | When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan; |
| 78:44 | Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, that they could not drink. |
| 78:45 | He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them. |
| 78:46 | He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust. |
| 78:47 | He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost. |
| 78:48 | He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning. |
| 78:49 | He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, By sending angels of destruction among them. |
| 78:50 | He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague, |
| 78:51 | And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham. |
| 78:52 | But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock; |
| 78:53 | And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies. |
| 78:54 | And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired. |
| 78:55 | He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. |
| 78:56 | Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies, |
| 78:57 | But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow. |
| 78:58 | For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. |
| 78:59 | When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel, |
| 78:60 | So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men, |
| 78:61 | And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy's hand. |
| 78:62 | He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance. |
| 78:63 | The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage. |
| 78:64 | Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation. |
| 78:65 | Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine. |
| 78:66 | And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach. |
| 78:67 | Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, |
| 78:68 | But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. |
| 78:69 | And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever. |
| 78:70 | He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; |
| 78:71 | From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. |
| 78:72 | So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. |