Psalm 78

1 Give ^aear, O ^bmy people, to my law:² incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I^c will open my mouth in a parable;³ I will utter dark sayings of old;⁴

3 Which^d we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4 We^e will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.⁵

5 For^g he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, ^hthat they should make them known to their children:

6 Thatⁱ the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

7 That^j they might set their hope in God, ^kand not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

8 And might not be ^las their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright,⁶ and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying⁷ bows, ⁿturned back in the day of battle.

10 They^o kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

11 And^p forgat his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.

12 Marvellous^q things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of ^rZoan.

13 He^s divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

14 In^t the day-time also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15 He^u clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

16 He brought ^vstreams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 And ^xthey sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

18 And^y they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can^z God furnish⁸ a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold,^a he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore the LORD heard this, and ^bwas wroth; so a fire⁹ was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

22 Because ^cthey believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation;¹

23 Though he ^dhad commanded the clouds from above, and opened the ^edoors of heaven,

24 And^g had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

25 Man did eat ²angels'³ food: he sent them meat to the full.

26 He^h caused an east wind to blow⁴ in the heaven; and by his power he brought in the south wind.

27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls⁵ like as the sand of the sea;

28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

29 Soⁱ they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

30 They^j were not estranged from their lust: but while their meat was yet in their mouths,

31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down⁶ the chosen men⁷ of Israel.

32 For^k all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

33 Therefore^l their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

34 Whenⁿ he slew them, then they sought him; and they returned and inquired early after God.

35 And they remembered ^othat God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer.

36 Nevertheless^p they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

37 For^q their heart was not right with him, neither were they ^rsteadfast in his covenant.

38 But he, ^sbeing full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; ^tyea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

39 For^u he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

40 How^v oft did they provoke him⁸ in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

41 Yea,^x they turned back⁹ and tempted God, and limited¹ the Holy One of Israel.

42 They remembered not ^yhis hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.²

43 How^z he had wrought³ his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan;

44 And^a had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

45 He^b sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured⁴ them; and ^cfrogs, which destroyed them.

46 He^d gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,⁵ and their labour unto the locust.

47 He^e destroyed⁶ their vines with hail, and their sycamore-trees⁷ with frost.⁸

48 He gave up⁹ their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.¹

49 He^g cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels² among them.

50 He made a way³ to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;⁴

51 And^h smote all the first-born in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:ⁱ

52 But^j made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.⁵

53 And^k he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea ^loverwhelmed⁶ their enemies.

54 And he brought them ⁿto the border of his sanctuary,⁷ even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.

55 He^o cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line,⁸ and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56 Yet^p they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

57 But^q turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside ^rlike a deceitful bow.

58 For^s they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God ^theard this, he ^uwas wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

60 So^v that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength⁹ into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.¹

62 He^x gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.

63 The^y fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given² to marriage.

64 Their^z priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then^a the LORD awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine:

66 And he ^bsmote his enemies in the hinder parts; he put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover ^che refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

68 But^d chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.

69 And^e he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established³ for ever.⁴

70 He^g chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheep-folds:

71 From following⁵ the ^hewes great with young he brought him ⁱto feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72 So^j he fed them according to the integrity⁶ of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.