78:1 [A Maskil of Asaph.] Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 78:3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 78:5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 78:6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 78:7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 78:8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. 78:9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. 78:10 They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. 78:11 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them. 78:12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. 78:13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. 78:14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. 78:15 He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. 78:16 He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 78:17 Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. 78:18 They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. 78:19 They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness 78:20 He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people" 78:21 Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, 78:22 because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. 78:23 Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, 78:24 and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. 78:25 Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. 78:26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; 78:27 he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; 78:28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. 78:29 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. 78:30 But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, 78:31 the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel. 78:32 In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. 78:33 So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. 78:34 When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. 78:35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. 78:36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. 78:37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. 78:38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. 78:39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. 78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! 78:41 They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. 78:42 They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, 78:43 when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan. 78:44 He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams. 78:45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. 78:46 He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust. 78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost. 78:48 He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts. 78:49 He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. 78:50 He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. 78:51 He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham. 78:52 Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 78:53 He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 78:54 And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. 78:55 He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. 78:56 Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, 78:57 but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow. 78:58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols. 78:59 When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. 78:60 He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, 78:61 and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. 78:62 He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. 78:63 Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song. 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 strong man shouting because of wine. 78:66 And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame. 78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, 78:68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves. 78:69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever. 78:70 He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; 78:71 from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. 78:72 With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.