1 Listen, my people, to my instruction. Hear b78:1 Lit. Stretch out your ear the words of my mouth. ISV — Psalm 78:1
2 I will tell c78:2 Lit. will open my mouth in a parable, speaking riddles from long ago— ISV — Psalm 78:2
3 things that we have heard and known and that our ancestors related to us. ISV — Psalm 78:3
4 We will not withhold them from their descendants; we’ll declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD— his might and awesome deeds that he has performed. ISV — Psalm 78:4
5 He established a decree in Jacob, and established the Law in Israel, that he commanded our ancestors to reveal to their children ISV — Psalm 78:5
6 in order that the next generation— children yet to be born— will know them and in turn teach them to their children. ISV — Psalm 78:6
7 Then they will put their trust in God and they will not forget his awesome deeds. Instead, they will keep his commandments. ISV — Psalm 78:7
8 They will not be like the rebellious generation of their ancestors, a rebellious generation, whose heart was not steadfast, and whose spirits were unfaithful to God. ISV — Psalm 78:8
9 The descendants of Ephraim were sharp shooters with the bow, but they retreated in the day of battle. ISV — Psalm 78:9
10 They did not keep God’s covenant, and refused to live by his Law. ISV — Psalm 78:10
11 They have forgotten what he has done, his awesome deeds that they witnessed. ISV — Psalm 78:11
12 He performed marvelous things in the presence of their ancestors in the land of Egypt— in the fields of Zoan. ISV — Psalm 78:12
13 He divided the sea so that they were able to cross; he caused the water to stand in a single location. ISV — Psalm 78:13
14 He led them with a cloud during the day, and during the night with light from the fire. ISV — Psalm 78:14
15 He caused the rocks to split in the wilderness, and gave them water d78:15 Lit. drink as from an abundant sea. ISV — Psalm 78:15
16 He brought streams from rock, causing water to flow like a river. ISV — Psalm 78:16
17 But time and again, they sinned against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. ISV — Psalm 78:17
18 To test God was in their minds, when they demanded food to satisfy their cravings. e78:18 Lit. food for their soul ISV — Psalm 78:18
19 They spoke against God by asking, “Is God able to prepare a feast f78:19 Or table in the desert? ISV — Psalm 78:19
20 It’s true that g78:20 Lit. Indeed, Moses h78:20 Lit. he struck the rock so that water flowed forth and torrents of water gushed out, but is he also able to give bread or to supply meat for his people?” ISV — Psalm 78:20
21 Therefore, when the LORD heard this, he was angry, and fire broke out against Jacob. Moreover, his anger flared against Israel, ISV — Psalm 78:21
22 because they didn’t believe in God and didn’t trust in his deliverance. ISV — Psalm 78:22
23 Yet he commanded the skies above and the doors of the heavens to open, ISV — Psalm 78:23
24 so that manna rained down on them for food and he sent them the grain of heaven. ISV — Psalm 78:24
25 Mortal men i78:25 Lit. A man ate the food of angels; he sent provision to them in abundance. ISV — Psalm 78:25
26 He stirred up the east wind in the heavens and drove the south wind by his might. ISV — Psalm 78:26
27 He caused meat to rain on them like dust and winged birds as the sand of the sea. ISV — Psalm 78:27
28 He caused these to fall in the middle of the camp and all around their tents. ISV — Psalm 78:28
29 So they ate and were very satisfied, because he granted their desire. ISV — Psalm 78:29
30 However, before they had fulfilled their desire, while their food was still in their mouths, ISV — Psalm 78:30
31 the anger of God flared against them, and he killed the strongest men and humbled Israel’s young men. ISV — Psalm 78:31
32 In spite of all of this, they kept on sinning and didn’t believe in his marvelous deeds. ISV — Psalm 78:32
33 So he made their days end in futility, and their years with sudden terror. ISV — Psalm 78:33
34 When he struck them, they sought him; they repented, and eagerly sought God. ISV — Psalm 78:34
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God was their deliverer. ISV — Psalm 78:35
36 But they deceived him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. ISV — Psalm 78:36
37 For their hearts weren’t committed to him, and they weren’t faithful to his covenant. ISV — Psalm 78:37
38 But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity and didn’t destroy them; He restrained his anger and didn’t vent all his wrath. ISV — Psalm 78:38
39 For he remembered that they were only flesh, a passing wind that doesn’t return. ISV — Psalm 78:39
40 How they rebelled against him in the desert, grieving him in the wilderness! ISV — Psalm 78:40
41 They tested God again and again, provoking the Holy One of Israel. ISV — Psalm 78:41
42 They did not remember his power— the day he delivered them from their adversary, ISV — Psalm 78:42
43 when he set his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the plain of Zoan. ISV — Psalm 78:43
44 He turned their rivers into blood and made their streams undrinkable. ISV — Psalm 78:44
45 He sent swarms of insects to bite them and frogs to destroy them. ISV — Psalm 78:45
46 He gave their crops to caterpillars and what they worked for to locusts. ISV — Psalm 78:46
47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore j78:47 The sycamore fruit tree native to Israel bears figs trees with frost. ISV — Psalm 78:47
48 He delivered their beasts to hail and their livestock to lightning bolts. ISV — Psalm 78:48
49 He inflicted his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, sending destroying angels among them. ISV — Psalm 78:49
50 He blazed a path for his anger; he did not stop short from killing them, but handed them over to pestilence. ISV — Psalm 78:50
51 He struck every firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of their manhood in the tents of Ham. ISV — Psalm 78:51
52 Yet he led out his people like sheep, guiding them like a flock in the desert. ISV — Psalm 78:52
53 He led them to safety so they would not fear. As for their enemies, the sea covered them. ISV — Psalm 78:53
54 He brought the people k78:54 Lit. brought them to the border of his holy mountain, which he acquired by his might. ISV — Psalm 78:54
55 He drove out nations before them and allotted their tribal inheritance, settling the tribes of Israel in their tents. ISV — Psalm 78:55
56 But they tested the Most High God by rebelling against him, and they did not obey his statutes. ISV — Psalm 78:56
57 They fell away and were as disloyal as their ancestors. They became unreliable, like a defective bow; ISV — Psalm 78:57
58 they angered him with their high places and with their carved images they made him jealous. ISV — Psalm 78:58
59 God heard and became furious, and he completely rejected Israel. ISV — Psalm 78:59
60 He abandoned the tent at Shiloh, the tent that he established among mankind. ISV — Psalm 78:60
61 Then he sent his might l78:61 i.e. the Ark of the Covenant into captivity and his glory into the control of the adversary. ISV — Psalm 78:61
62 He delivered his people over to the sword and was angry with his possession. ISV — Psalm 78:62
63 The young men were consumed by fire, and the virgins had no marriage celebrations. m78:63 Lit. virgins sang no wedding song ISV — Psalm 78:63
64 The priests fell by the sword, yet their widows couldn’t weep. ISV — Psalm 78:64
65 The LORD awoke as though from sleep, like a mighty warrior stimulated by wine. ISV — Psalm 78:65
66 He beat back his adversaries, permanently disgracing them. ISV — Psalm 78:66
67 He rejected the clan n78:67 Lit. tent of Joseph; and the tribe of Ephraim he did not choose. ISV — Psalm 78:67
68 But he chose the tribe of Judah, the mountain of Zion, which he loves. ISV — Psalm 78:68
69 He built his sanctuary, high as the heavens, like the earth that he established forever. ISV — Psalm 78:69
70 Then he chose his servant David, whom he took from the sheepfold. ISV — Psalm 78:70
71 He brought him from birthing sheep to care for Jacob, his people, Israel, his possession. ISV — Psalm 78:71
72 David o78:72 Lit. He shepherded them with a devoted heart, and led them with skillful hands. ISV — Psalm 78:72