Psalm 78 (UDB) · Opened

1My friends, listen to what I am going to teach you; pay careful attention to what I will say.A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.

2I am going to give you some sayings that wise people have said. They will be sayings about things that happened long ago, things that were difficult to understand.I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

3These are things that we have heard and known previously, things that our parents and grandparents told us.that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.

4We will tell these things to our children, but we will also tell our grandchildren about Yahweh's power and the glorious things 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.

5He gave laws and commandments to the Israelite people, those who are the descendants of Jacob, and he told our ancestors to teach them to their children.For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,

6He commanded this so that their children would also know them and so that they would teach them to their own children.that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children

7In that way, they also would trust in God and would not forget the things that he has done; instead, they would obey his commandments.that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.

8They would not be like their ancestors, who were very stubborn and kept rebelling against God; they did not continue firmly trusting in God, and they did not worship him alone.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 soldiers of the tribe of Ephraim had bows and arrows, but they ran away from their enemies on the day that they fought with their enemies.The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle.

10They did not do what they had agreed with God that they would do; they refused to obey his laws.They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.

11They forgot what he had done; they forgot about the miracles that they had seen him perform.They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them.

12While our ancestors were watching, God performed miracles in the area around the city of Zoan in Egypt.He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

13Then he caused the Sea of Reeds to divide, causing the water on each side to pile up like a wall, with the result that our ancestors walked through it on dry ground.He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.

14He led them by a bright cloud during the day and by a fiery light during the night.He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.

15He split rocks open in the wilderness and gave to our ancestors plenty of water from deep inside the earth.He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.

16He caused a stream of water to flow from the rock; the water flowed like a river.He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.

17But our ancestors continued to sin against God; in the wilderness they rebelled against the one who is greater than any other god.But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

18By demanding that God give them the food that they desired, they tried to find out if he would always do what they requested him to do.They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.

19They insulted God by saying, "Can God supply food for us here in this desert?They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?

20It is true that he struck the rock, with the result that water gushed out, but can he also provide bread and meat for us, 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?”

21So when Yahweh heard that, he became very angry, and he sent a fire to burn up some of his Israelite people.Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,

22He did that because they did not trust in him, and they did not believe that he would rescue them.because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation.

23But God spoke to the sky above them and commanded it to open like a door,Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.

24and then food fell down like rain, food that they named "manna." God gave them grain from heaven.He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.

25So the people ate the food that angels eat, and God gave to them all the manna that they wanted.Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.

26Later, he caused the wind to blow from the east, and by his power he also sent wind from the south,He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.

27and the wind brought birds which were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

28God caused those birds to fall in the middle of their camp. There were birds all around their tents.He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.

29So the people cooked the birds and ate the meat; their stomachs were full because God had given them what they wanted.So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.

30But they had not yet eaten all that they wanted.Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,

31At that point, God was still very angry with them, and he caused their strongest men to die; he got rid of many of the finest young Israelite men.God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel.

32In spite of all this, the people continued to sin; in spite of all the miracles that God had performed, they still did not trust that he would take care of them.In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.

33So he made them terrified all their lives; he made them die young.So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.

34Whenever God caused some of the Israelites to die, the others would repent; they would be sorry and seriously ask God to save them.When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.

35They would remember that God was like a huge rock on which they would be safe, and that he, who was greater than any other god, was the one who protected them.And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36But they tried to deceive God by what they said; their words were all lies.But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.

37They were not loyal to him; they ignored the covenant that he had made with them.Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

38But God acted mercifully toward his people. He forgave them for having sinned and did not get rid of them. Many times he refrained from becoming angry with them and restrained himself from furiously punishing them.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.

39He remembered that they were only humans who die, humans who disappear as quickly as a wind that blows by and then is gone.He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.

40Many times our ancestors rebelled against God in the wilderness and made him very sad.How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!

41Many times they did evil things to find out if they could do those things without God punishing them. They frequently caused the holy God of Israel to become angry.Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42They forgot about his great power, and they forgot about the time when he rescued them from their enemies.They did not remember His power—the day He redeemed them from the adversary,

43They forgot about when he performed many miracles in the area near the city of Zoan in Egypt.when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.

44He caused the Nile River to become red like blood so that the people of Egypt had no water to drink.He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink.

45He sent among the people of Egypt swarms of flies that bit them, and he sent frogs that ate up everything.He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.

46He sent locusts to eat their crops and the other things that grew in their fields.He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.

47He sent hail that destroyed the grapevines, and he sent more hail that ruined the figs on the sycamore trees.He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

48He sent hail that killed their cattle and lightning that killed their sheep and cows.He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.

49Because God was fiercely angry with the people of Egypt, he caused them to be very distressed. The disasters that struck them were like a group of angels that destroyed everything.He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels.

50He did not lessen his anger with them, and he did not spare their lives; he sent a plague that killed many of them.He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.

51In that plague he caused all the firstborn sons of the people of Egypt to die.He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.

52Then he led his people out of Egypt as a shepherd leads his sheep, and he guided them while they walked through the wilderness.He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

53He led them safely, and they were not afraid, but their enemies were drowned in the sea.He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies.

54Later he brought them to Canaan, his sacred land, to Mount Zion, and by his power he enabled them to conquer the people who were living there.He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired.

55He expelled the peoples while his people were advancing; he assigned part of the land for each tribe to possess, and he gave the houses of those people to the Israelites.He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56However, the Israelites rebelled against God, who is greater than any other God, and they did many evil things to see if they could do those things without God punishing them; they did not obey his commandments.But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.

57Instead, as their ancestors did, they rebelled against God and were not loyal to him; they were as unreliable as a bow that breaks when you try to shoot with it.They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.

58Because they worshiped carved images of their gods on the tops of hills, they caused God to become angry.They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.

59He saw what they were doing and became very angry, so he rejected the Israelite people.On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.

60He no longer appeared to them at Shiloh in the sacred tent where he had lived among them.He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.

61He allowed their enemies to capture the sacred chest, which was the symbol of his power and his glory.He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

62Because he was angry with his people, he allowed their enemies to kill them.He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage.

63Young men were killed in battles, with the result that the young women had no one to marry.Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.

64Many priests were killed by their enemies' swords, and the people did not allow the priests' widows to mourn.His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.

65Later, it was as though the Lord awoke from sleeping; he was like a strong man who became angry because he drank a lot of wine.Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.

66He pushed his enemies back and caused them to be very ashamed for a long time because they had been defeated.He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame.

67But he did not set up his tent where the people of the tribe of Ephraim lived; he did not choose their area to do that.He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.

68Instead he chose the area where the tribe of Judah lived; he chose Mount Zion, which he loves.But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.

69He decided to have his temple built there, high up, like his home in heaven; he caused it to be firm, like the earth, and intended that his temple would last forever.He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever.

70He chose David, who served him faithfully, and took him from the pasturesHe chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

71where he was taking care of his father's sheep, and appointed him to be the leader of the Israelites, the people who would always belong to God.from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.

72David took care of the Israelite people sincerely and wholeheartedly, and he guided them skillfully.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