NET Bible

Psalm 78

^78:1 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction. Listen to the words I speak. ^78:2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past. ^78:3 What we have heard and learned — that which our ancestors have told us— ^78:4 we will not hide from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, about his strength and the amazing things he has done. ^78:5 He established a rule in Jacob; he set up a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors to make his deeds known to their descendants, ^78:6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born, might know about them. They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. ^78:7 Then they will place their confidence in God. They will not forget the works of God, and they will obey his commands. ^78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God. ^78:9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they retreated in the day of battle. ^78:10 They did not keep their covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law. ^78:11 They forgot what he had done, the amazing things he had shown them. ^78:12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. ^78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the water stand in a heap. ^78:14 He led them with a cloud by day and with the light of a fire all night long. ^78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. ^78:16 He caused streams to flow from the rock and made the water flow like rivers. ^78:17 Yet they continued to sin against him and rebelled against the Most High in the desert. ^78:18 They willfully challenged God by asking for food to satisfy their appetite. ^78:19 They insulted God, saying, “Is God really able to give us food in the wilderness? ^78:20 Yes, he struck a rock and water flowed out; streams gushed forth. But can he also give us food? Will he provide meat for his people?” ^78:21 When the Lord heard this, he was furious. A fire broke out against Jacob, and his anger flared up against Israel, ^78:22 because they did not have faith in God and did not trust his ability to deliver them. ^78:23 He gave a command to the clouds above and opened the doors in the sky. ^78:24 He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them the grain of heaven. ^78:25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones. He sent them more than enough to eat. ^78:26 He brought the east wind through the sky and by his strength led forth the south wind. ^78:27 He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores. ^78:28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp, all around their homes. ^78:29 They ate until they were beyond full; he gave them what they desired. ^78:30 They were not yet filled up; their food was still in their mouths ^78:31 when the anger of God flared up against them. He killed some of the strongest of them; he brought the young men of Israel to their knees. ^78:32 Despite all this, they continued to sin, and did not trust him to do amazing things. ^78:33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied and filled with terror. ^78:34 When he struck them down, they sought his favor; they turned back and longed for God. ^78:35 They remembered that God was their protector and that God Most High was their deliverer. ^78:36 But they deceived him with their words and lied to him. ^78:37 They were not really committed to him, and they were unfaithful to his covenant. ^78:38 Yet he is compassionate. He forgives sin and does not destroy. He often holds back his anger and does not stir up his fury. ^78:39 He remembered that they were made of flesh and were like a wind that blows past and does not return. ^78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and insulted him in the wastelands. ^78:41 They again challenged God and offended the Holy One of Israel. ^78:42 They did not remember what he had done, how he delivered them from the enemy, ^78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds in Egypt and his acts of judgment in the region of Zoan. ^78:44 He turned their rivers into blood, and they could not drink from their streams. ^78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, as well as frogs that overran their land. ^78:46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust. ^78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain. ^78:48 He rained hail down on their cattle and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock. ^78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them. He sent fury, rage, and trouble as messengers who bring disaster. ^78:50 He sent his anger in full force. He did not spare them from death; he handed their lives over to destruction. ^78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their reproductive power in the tents of Ham. ^78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep; he led them through the wilderness like a flock. ^78:53 He guided them safely along, and they were not afraid; but the sea covered their enemies. ^78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountainous land that his right hand acquired. ^78:55 He drove the nations out from before them; he assigned them their tribal allotments and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. ^78:56 Yet they challenged and defied God Most High and did not obey his commands. ^78:57 They were unfaithful and acted as treacherously as their ancestors; they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. ^78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines and made him jealous with their idols. ^78:59 God heard and was angry; he completely rejected Israel. ^78:60 He abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh, the tent where he lived among men. ^78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; he gave the symbol of his splendor into the hand of the enemy. ^78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword and was angry with his chosen nation. ^78:63 Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins remained unmarried. ^78:64 Their priests fell by the sword, but their widows did not weep. ^78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. ^78:66 He drove his enemies back; he made them a permanent target for insults. ^78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. ^78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion, which he loves. ^78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above, as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. ^78:70 He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. ^78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation. ^78:72 David cared for them with pure motives; he led them with skill.

^78:72 A psalm of Asaph.