Psalms 78

1A psalm for Asaph. O God, the heathens are come into thy inheritance, they have defiled thy holy temple: they have made Jerusalem as a place to keep fruit.

1Give ear, O my people, to my law: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2They have given the dead bodies of thy servants to be meat for the fowls of the air: the flesh of thy saints for the beasts of the earth.

2I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

3They have poured out their blood as water, round about Jerusalem and there was none to bury them.

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

4We are become a reproach to our neighbours: a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

4We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.

5How long, O Lord, wilt thou be angry for ever: shall thy zeal be kindled like a fire?

5For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;

6Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that have not known thee: and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.

6That the generation to come might knowthem, even the children that should be born; Who should arise and tellthemto their children,

7Because they have devoured Jacob; and have laid waste his place.

7That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments,

8Remember not our former iniquities: let thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor.

8And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that set not their heart aright, And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9Help us, O God, our saviour: and for the glory of thy name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for thy name's sake:

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

10Lest they should say among the Gentiles: Where is their God? And let him be made known among the nations before our eyes, By the revenging the blood of thy servants, which hath been shed:

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

11Let the sighing of the prisoners come in before thee. According to the greatness of thy arm, take possession of the children of them that have been put to death.

11And they forgat his doings, And his wondrous works that he had showed them.

12And render to our neighbours sevenfold in their bosom: the reproach wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.

12Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13But we thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee for ever. We will shew forth thy praise, unto generation and generation.

13He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; And he made the waters to stand as a heap.

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

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15He clave rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.

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16He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

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17Yet went they on still to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

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18And they tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.

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19Yea, they spake against God; They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

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20Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out, And streams overflowed; Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?

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21Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also went up against Israel;

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22Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his salvation.

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23Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven;

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24And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven.

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25Man did eat the bread of the mighty: He sent them food to the full.

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26He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by his power he guided the south wind.

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27He rained flesh also upon them as the dust, And winged birds as the sand of the seas:

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

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29So they did eat, and were well filled; And he gave them their own desire.

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30They were not estranged from that which they desired, Their food was yet in their mouths,

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31When the anger of God went up against them, And slew of the fattest of them, And smote down the young men of Israel.

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32For all this they sinned still, And believed not in his wondrous works.

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33Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, And their years in terror.

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34When he slew them, then they inquired after him; And they returned and sought God earnestly.

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35And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their redeemer.

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36But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied unto him with their tongue.

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37For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant.

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38But he, being merciful, forgave theiriniquity, and destroyedthemnot: Yea, many a time turned he his anger away, And did not stir up all his wrath.

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39And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

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40How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!

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41And they turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.

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42They remembered not his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;

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43How he set his signs in Egypt, And his wonders in the field of Zoan,

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44And turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink.

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45He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs, which destroyed them.

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46He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, And their labor unto the locust.

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47He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycomore-trees with frost.

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48He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

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49He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, A band of angels of evil.

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50He made a path for his anger; He spared not their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence,

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51And smote all the first-born in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.

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52But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

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53And he led them safely, so that they feared not; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

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54And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had gotten.

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55He drove out the nations also before them, And allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

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56Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And kept not his testimonies;

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57But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers: They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

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

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59When God heardthis, he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;

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

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61And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the adversary’s hand.

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62He gave his people over also unto the sword, And was wroth with his inheritance.

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63Fire devoured their young men; And their virgins had no marriage-song.

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64Their priests fell by the sword; And their widows made no lamentation.

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65Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

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66And he smote his adversaries backward: He put them to a perpetual reproach.

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67Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,

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

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69And he built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he hath established for ever.

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70He chose David also his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds:

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71From following the ewes that have their young he brought him, To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

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72So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.