‏ Psalms 78Summary

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil ▼

▼Probably a musical or liturgical term

of ^bAsaph.

1 ^cGive ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 ^dI will open my mouth ^ein a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3things that we have heard and known,
that our ^ffathers have told us.
4We will not ^ghide them from their children,
but ^htell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and ⁱthe wonders that he has done.
5He established ^ja testimony in ^kJacob
and appointed a law in ^lIsrael,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6that ^mthe next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget ⁿthe works of God,
but ^okeep his commandments;
8and that they should not be ^plike their fathers,
^qa stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation ^rwhose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9The Ephraimites, armed with ▼

▼Hebrew  armed and shooting

the bow,
^tturned back on the day of battle.
10They ^udid not keep God’s covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11They ^vforgot his works
and ^wthe wonders that he had shown them.
12In the sight of their fathers ^xhe performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in ^ythe fields of Zoan.
13He ^zdivided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters ^aastand like a heap.
14 ^abIn the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15He ^acsplit rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16He made streams come out of ^adthe rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17Yet they sinned still more against him,
^aerebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18They ^aftested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19They spoke against God, saying,
^ag“Can God ^ahspread a table in the wilderness?
20 ^aiHe struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”
21Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
^aja fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22because they ^akdid not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23Yet he commanded the skies above
and ^alopened the doors of heaven,
24and he ^amrained down on them manna to eat
and gave them ^anthe grain of heaven.
25Man ate of the bread of ^aothe angels;
he sent them food ^apin abundance.
26He ^aqcaused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27he rained meat on them like ^ardust,
winged birds like ^asthe sand of the seas;
28he ^atlet them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29And they ^auate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they ^avcraved.
30But before they had satisfied their craving,
^awwhile the food was still in their mouths,
31the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed ^axthe strongest of them
and laid low ^aythe young men of Israel.
32In spite of all this, they ^azstill sinned;
^badespite his wonders, they did not believe.
33So he made ^bbtheir days ^bcvanish like ▼

▼Hebrew in

a breath, ▼

▼Or vapor

and their years in terror.
34When he killed them, they ^bfsought him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35They remembered that God was their ^bgrock,
the Most High God their ^bhredeemer.
36But they ^biflattered him with their mouths;
they ^bjlied to him with their tongues.
37Their ^bkheart was not ^blsteadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38Yet he, being ^bmcompassionate,
^bnatoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39He ^boremembered that they were but ^bpflesh,
^bqa wind that passes and comes not again.
40How often they ^brrebelled against him in the wilderness
and ^bsgrieved him in ^btthe desert!
41They ^butested God again and again
and provoked ^bvthe Holy One of Israel.
42They ^bwdid not remember his power ▼

▼Hebrew hand

or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43 ^bywhen he performed his ^bzsigns in Egypt
and his ^camarvels in ^cbthe fields of Zoan.
44He ^ccturned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45He sent among them swarms of ^cdflies, which devoured them,
and ^cefrogs, which destroyed them.
46He gave their crops to ^cfthe destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47He destroyed their vines with ^cghail
and their sycamores with frost.
48He gave over their ^chcattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of ^cidestroying angels.
50He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51He struck down every ^cjfirstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of ^ckHam.
52Then he led out his people ^cllike sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 ^cmHe led them in safety, so that they ^cnwere not afraid,
but ^cothe sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54And he brought them to his ^cpholy land,
^cqto the mountain which his right hand had ^crwon.
55He ^csdrove out nations before them;
he ^ctapportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56Yet they ^cutested and ^cvrebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
57but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like ^cwa deceitful bow.
58For they ^cxprovoked him to anger with their ^cyhigh places;
they ^czmoved him to jealousy with their ^daidols.
59When God heard, he was full of ^dbwrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60He ^dcforsook his dwelling at ^ddShiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61and delivered his ^depower to captivity,
his ^dfglory to the hand of the foe.
62He ^dggave his people over to the sword
and ^dhvented his wrath on his heritage.
63 ^diFire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no ^djmarriage song.
64Their ^dkpriests fell by the sword,
and their ^dlwidows made no lamentation.
65Then the Lord ^dmawoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66And he ^dnput his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67He rejected the tent of ^doJoseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he ^dploves.
69He ^dqbuilt his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70He ^drchose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71from ^dsfollowing the nursing ewes he brought him
to ^dtshepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his ^duinheritance.
72With ^dvupright heart he shepherded them
and ^dwguided them with his skillful hand.