Psalm 78
1 Listen, my people, to my instruction. Hear the words of my mouth.ISV — Psalm 78:1
2 I will tell 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 childrenISV — 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 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. ISV — Psalm 78:18
19 They spoke against God by asking, “Is God able to prepare a feast in the desert?ISV — Psalm 78:19
20 It’s true that Moses 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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 shepherded them with a devoted heart, and led them with skillful hands.ISV — Psalm 78:72