Psalm 78

1. 1

   Hear my teaching, O my people; *
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2. 2

   I will open my mouth in a parable; *
   I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.

3. 3

   That which we have heard and known, and what our forefathers have told us, *
   we will not hide from their children.

4. 4

   We will recount to generations to come the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the LORD, *
   and the wonderful works he has done.

5. 5

   He gave his decrees to Jacob and established a law for Israel, *
   which he commanded them to teach their children;

6. 6

   That the generations to come might know, and the children yet unborn; *
   that they in their turn might tell it to their children;

7. 7

   So that they might put their trust in God, *
   and not forget the deeds of God, but keep his commandments;

8. 8

   And not be like their forefathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, *
   a generation whose heart was not steadfast, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9. 9

   The people of Ephraim, armed with the bow, *
   turned back in the day of battle;

10. 10

    They did not keep the covenant of God, *
    and refused to walk in his law;

11. 11

    They forgot what he had done, *
    and the wonders he had shown them.

12. 12

    He worked marvels in the sight of their forefathers, *
    in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13. 13

    He split open the sea and let them pass through; *
    he made the waters stand up like walls.

14. 14

    He led them with a cloud by day, *
    and all the night through with a glow of fire.

15. 15

    He split the hard rocks in the wilderness *
    and gave them drink as from the great deep.

16. 16

    He brought streams out of the cliff, *
    and the waters gushed out like rivers.

17. 17

    But they went on sinning against him, *
    rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

18. 18

    They tested God in their hearts, *
    demanding food for their craving.

19. 19

    They railed against God and said, *
    "Can God set a table in the wilderness?

20. 20

    True, he struck the rock, the waters gushed out, and the gullies overflowed; *
    but is he able to give bread or to provide meat for his people?"

21. 21

    When the LORD heard this, he was full of wrath; *
    a fire was kindled against Jacob, and his anger mounted against Israel;

22. 22

    For they had no faith in God, *
    nor did they put their trust in his saving power.

23. 23

    So he commanded the clouds above *
    and opened the doors of heaven.

24. 24

    He rained down manna upon them to eat *
    and gave them grain from heaven.

25. 25

    So mortals ate the bread of angels; *
    he provided for them food enough.

26. 26

    He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens *
    and led out the south wind by his might.

27. 27

    He rained down flesh upon them like dust *
    and wingèd birds like the sand of the sea.

28. 28

    He let it fall in the midst of their camp *
    and round about their dwellings.

29. 29

    So they ate and were well filled, *
    for he gave them what they craved.

30. 30

    But they did not stop their craving, *
    though the food was still in their mouths.

31. 31

    So God's anger mounted against them; *
    he slew their strongest men and laid low the youth of Israel.

32. 32

    In spite of all this, they went on sinning *
    and had no faith in his wonderful works.

33. 33

    So he brought their days to an end like a breath *
    and their years in sudden terror.

34. 34

    Whenever he slew them, they would seek him, *
    and repent, and diligently search for God.

35. 35

    They would remember that God was their rock, *
    and the Most High God their redeemer.

36. 36

    But they flattered him with their mouths *
    and lied to him with their tongues.

37. 37

    Their heart was not steadfast toward him, *
    and they were not faithful to his covenant.

38. 38

    But he was so merciful that he forgave their sins and did not destroy them; *
    many times he held back his anger and did not permit his wrath to be roused.

39. 39

    For he remembered that they were but flesh, *
    a breath that goes forth and does not return.

40. 40

    How often the people disobeyed him in the wilderness *
    and offended him in the desert!

41. 41

    Again and again they tempted God *
    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42. 42

    They did not remember his power *
    in the day when he ransomed them from the enemy;

43. 43

    How he wrought his signs in Egypt *
    and his omens in the field of Zoan.

44. 44

    He turned their rivers into blood, *
    so that they could not drink of their streams.

45. 45

    He sent swarms of flies among them, which ate them up, *
    and frogs, which destroyed them.

46. 46

    He gave their crops to the caterpillar, *
    the fruit of their toil to the locust.

47. 47

    He killed their vines with hail *
    and their sycamores with frost.

48. 48

    He delivered their cattle to hailstones *
    and their livestock to hot thunderbolts.

49. 49

    He poured out upon them his blazing anger: *
    fury, indignation, and distress, a troop of destroying angels.

50. 50

    He gave full rein to his anger; he did not spare their souls from death; *
    but delivered their lives to the plague.

51. 51

    He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, *
    the flower of manhood in the dwellings of Ham.

52. 52

    He led out his people like sheep *
    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53. 53

    He led them to safety, and they were not afraid; *
    but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54. 54

    He brought them to his holy land, *
    the mountain his right hand had won.

55. 55

    He drove out the Canaanites before them and apportioned an inheritance to them by lot; *
    he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56. 56

    But they tested the Most High God, and defied him, *
    and did not keep his commandments.

57. 57

    They turned away and were disloyal like their fathers; *
    they were undependable like a warped bow.

58. 58

    They grieved him with their hill-altars *
    they provoked his displeasure with their idols.

59. 59

    When God heard this, he was angry *
    and utterly rejected Israel.

60. 60

    He forsook the shrine at Shiloh, *
    the tabernacle where he had lived among his people.

61. 61

    He delivered the ark into captivity, *
    his glory into the adversary's hand.

62. 62

    He gave his people to the sword *
    and was angered against his inheritance.

63. 63

    The fire consumed their young men; *
    there were no wedding songs for their maidens.

64. 64

    Their priests fell by the sword, *
    and their widows made no lamentation.

65. 65

    Then the LORD woke as though from sleep, *
    like a warrior refreshed with wine.

66. 66

    He struck his enemies on the backside *
    and put them to perpetual shame.

67. 67

    He rejected the tent of Joseph *
    and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;

68. 68

    He chose instead the tribe of Judah *
    and Mount Zion, which he loved.

69. 69

    He built his sanctuary like the heights of heaven, *
    like the earth which he founded for ever.

70. 70

    He chose David his servant, *
    and took him away from the sheepfolds.

71. 71

    He brought him from following the ewes, *
    to be a shepherd over Jacob his people and over Israel his inheritance.

72. 72

    So he shepherded them with a faithful and true heart *
    and guided them with the skillfulness of his hands.

All 150 psalms