Psalm 78 (CPDV)

1The understanding of Asaph. O my people, attend to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.

2I will open my mouth in parables. I will speak about concepts that are from the beginning.I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

3We have heard and known such great things, as our fathers have described to us.that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.

4These things have not been hidden from their sons in any generation: declaring the praises of the Lord, and his virtues, and the wonders that he has done.We will not hide them from their children but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might and the wonders He has performed.

5And he has received testimony with Jacob, and he has set a law within Israel. Such great things, he has commanded our fathers, so as to make these things known to their sons,For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,

6so that another generation might know them, and so that the sons, who will be born and who will grow up, shall describe them to their sons.that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children

7So then, may they put their hope in God, and may they not forget the works of God, and may they seek his commandments.that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.

8May they not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation: a generation that does not straighten their heart and whose spirit is not trustworthy with God.Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9The sons of Ephraim, who bend and shoot the bow, have been turned back in the day of battle.The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle.

10They have not kept the covenant of God. And they were not willing to walk in his law.They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.

11And they have been forgetful of his benefits, and of his miracle, which he revealed to them.They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.

12He performed miracles in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis.He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

13He broke the sea and he led them through. And he stationed the waters, as if in a vessel.He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.

14And he led them with a cloud by day, and with illumination by fire throughout the night.He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.

15He broke through the rock in the wasteland, and he gave them to drink, as if from the great abyss.He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.

16He brought forth water from the rock, and he conducted the waters, as if they were rivers.He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.

17And yet, they continued to sin against him. In a waterless place, they provoked the Most High with resentment.But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

18And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking for food according to their desires.They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.

19And they spoke badly about God. They said, “Would God be able to prepare a table in the desert?They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?

20He struck the rock, and so waters flowed and the torrents flooded, but would even he be able to provide bread, or provide a table, for his people?”When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?”

21Therefore, the Lord heard, and he was dismayed, and a fire was kindled within Jacob, and an anger ascended into Israel.Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,

22For they neither put their trust in God, nor did they hope in his salvation.because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.

23And he commanded the clouds from above, and he opened the doors of heaven.Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.

24And he rained down manna upon them to eat, and he gave them the bread of heaven.He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.

25Man ate the bread of Angels. He sent them provisions in abundance.Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.

26He transferred the south wind from heaven, and, in his virtue, he brought in the Southwest wind.He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.

27And he rained down flesh upon them, as if it were dust, and feathered birds, as if they were the sand of the sea.He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

28And they fell down in the midst of their camp, encircling their tabernacles.He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.

29And they ate until they were greatly satisfied, and he brought to them according to their desires.So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.

30They were not cheated out of what they wanted. Their food was still in their mouth,Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,

31and then the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones among them, and he impeded the elect of Israel.God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.

32In all these things, they continued to sin, and they were not trustworthy with his miracles.In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.

33And their days faded away into vanity, and their years with haste.So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.

34When he slew them, then they sought him. And they returned, and they drew near to him in the early morning.When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.

35And they were mindful that God is their helper and that the Most High God is their redeemer.And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36And they chose him with their mouth, and then they lied to him with their tongue.But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.

37For their heart was not upright with him, nor have they been living faithfully in his covenant.Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

38Yet he is merciful, and he will pardon their sins. And he will not destroy them. And he has abundantly turned aside his own wrath. And he did not enflame his wrath entirely.And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.

39And he remembered that they are flesh: with a spirit that goes forth and does not return.He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

40How often did they provoke him in the desert and stir him to wrath in a waterless place?How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!

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

42They did not remember his hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of the one troubling them.They did not remember His power—the day He redeemed them from the adversary,

43Thus, he positioned his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Tanis.when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.

44And he turned their rivers into blood, along with their rain showers, so that they could not drink.He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink.

45He sent among them the common fly, and it devoured them, and the frog, and it scattered them.He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.

46And he gave up their fruits to mold and their labors to the locust.He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.

47And he slew their vineyards with hail and their mulberry trees with severe frost.He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

48And he delivered their cattle to the hail and their possessions to fire.He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.

49And he sent the wrath of his indignation among them: indignation and wrath and tribulation, sent forth by evil angels.He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels.

50He made way for the path of his anger. He did not spare their souls from death. And he enclosed their beasts of burden in death.He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.

51And he struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt: the first-fruits of all their labor in the tabernacles of Ham.He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.

52And he took away his own people like sheep, and he led them through the wilderness like a flock.He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

53And he led them out in hope, and they did not fear. And the sea covered their enemies.He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.

54And he led them to the mountain of his sanctification: the mountain that his right hand had acquired. And he cast out the Gentiles before their face. And he divided their land by lot to them, with a line of distribution.He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired.

55And he caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56Yet they tempted and aggravated God Most High, and they did not keep his testaments.But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.

57And they turned themselves aside, and they did not serve the covenant. In the same manner as their fathers, they were turned backwards, like a crooked bow.They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.

58They impelled him to anger on their hills, and they provoked him to rivalry with their graven images.They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.

59God listened, and he spurned them, and he reduced Israel greatly, almost to nothing.On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.

60And he rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, his tabernacle where he had dwelt among men.He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.

61And he delivered their virtue into captivity, and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

62And he enclosed his people with the sword, and he spurned his inheritance.He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.

63Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins were not lamented.Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.

64Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows did not weep.His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.

65And the Lord was awakened, as if out of sleep, and like a powerful man impaired by wine.Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.

66And he struck his enemies on the back. He gave them over to everlasting disgrace.He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame.

67And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.

68But he chose the tribe of Judah: mount Zion, which he loved.But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.

69And he built up his sanctuary, like a single-horned beast, in the land that he founded for all ages.He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever.

70And he chose his servant David, and he took him from the flocks of the sheep: he received him from following the ewes with their young,He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

71in order to pasture Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance.from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.

72And he fed them with the innocence of his heart. And he led them with the understanding of his hands.So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands.

Psalm 78

I Will Open My Mouth in Parables

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Psalm 78

I Will Open My Mouth in Parables

You’ve read Psalm 78

Go Deeper