Psalm 78:1-72 NASB95

[1] Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. [2] I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, [3] Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. [4] We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. [5] For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, [6] That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, [7] That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, [8] And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God. [9] The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, Yet they turned back in the day of battle. [10] They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk in His law; [11] They forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them. [12] He wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. [13] He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand up like a heap. [14] Then He led them with the cloud by day And all the night with a light of fire. [15] He split the rocks in the wilderness And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths. [16] He brought forth streams also from the rock And caused waters to run down like rivers. [17] Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. [18] And in their heart they put God to the test By asking food according to their desire. [19] Then they spoke against God; They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? [20] "Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?" [21] Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob And anger also mounted against Israel, [22] Because they did not believe in God And did not trust in His salvation. [23] Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of heaven; [24] He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them food from heaven. [25] Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. [26] He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His power He directed the south wind. [27] When He rained meat upon them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, [28] Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings. [29] So they ate and were well filled, And their desire He gave to them. [30] Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, [31] The anger of God rose against them And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel. [32] In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works. [33] So He brought their days to an end in futility And their years in sudden terror. [34] When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; [35] And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. [36] But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. [37] For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. [38] But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath. [39] Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return. [40] How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert! [41] Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel. [42] They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary, [43] When He performed His signs in Egypt And His marvels in the field of Zoan, [44] And turned their rivers to blood, And their streams, they could not drink. [45] He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them. [46] He gave also their crops to the grasshopper And the product of their labor to the locust. [47] He destroyed their vines with hailstones And their sycamore trees with frost. [48] He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones And their herds to bolts of lightning. [49] He sent upon them His burning anger, Fury and indignation and trouble, A band of destroying angels. [50] He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave over their life to the plague, [51] And smote all the firstborn in Egypt, The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham. [52] But He led forth His own people like sheep And guided them in the wilderness like a flock; [53] He led them safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea engulfed their enemies. [54] So He brought them to His holy land, To this hill country which His right hand had gained. [55] He also drove out the nations before them And apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. [56] Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies, [57] But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow. [58] For they provoked Him with their high places And aroused His jealousy with their graven images. [59] When God heard, He was filled with wrath And greatly abhorred Israel; [60] So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men, [61] And gave up His strength to captivity And His glory into the hand of the adversary. [62] He also delivered His people to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. [63] Fire devoured His young men, And His virgins had no wedding songs. [64] His priests fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep. [65] Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, Like a warrior overcome by wine. [66] He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach. [67] He also rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, [68] But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. [69] And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever. [70] He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds; [71] From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. [72] So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.