Psalm 78 — Legacy Standard Bible

That the Generation to Come Might Know

A ¹Maskil of Asaph.

^aGive ear, O my people, to my ²instruction;^bIncline your ears to the words of my mouth.²I will ^aopen my mouth in a parable;I will pour forth ^bdark sayings of old,³Which we have heard and known,And ^aour fathers have recounted to us.⁴We will ^anot conceal them from their children,But ^brecount to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh,And His strength and His ^cwondrous deeds that He has done.⁵For He established a ^atestimony in JacobAnd set a ^blaw in Israel,Which He ^ccommanded our fathersThat they should ¹^,^dteach them to their children,⁶^aThat the generation to come might know, even ^bthe children yet to be born,That they may arise and ^crecount them to their children,⁷That they should set their confidence in GodAnd ^anot forget the deeds of God,But ^bobserve His commandments,⁸And ^anot be like their fathers,A ^bstubborn and rebellious generation,A generation that ^cdid not ¹prepare its heartAnd whose spirit was not ^dfaithful to God.⁹The sons of Ephraim ¹were ^aarchers equipped with bows,Yet ^bthey turned back in the day of battle.¹⁰They ^adid not keep the covenant of GodAnd refused to ^bwalk in His law;¹¹So they ^aforgot His actsAnd His ¹wondrous deeds that He had shown them.¹²^aHe did wonders before their fathersIn the land of Egypt, in the ^bfield of Zoan.¹³He ^asplit the sea and caused them to pass through,And He made the waters stand ^bup like a heap.¹⁴Then He led them with the cloud by ^adayAnd all the night with a ^blight of fire.¹⁵He was ^asplitting the rocks in the wildernessAnd so gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.¹⁶He ^abrought forth streams also from the cliff faceAnd caused waters to run down like rivers.¹⁷Yet they still continued to sin against Him,To ^arebel against the Most High in the desert.¹⁸And in their heart they ^aput God to the testBy asking for ^bfood according to their desire.¹⁹Then they spoke against God;They said, “^aCan God prepare a table in the wilderness?²⁰“Behold, He ^astruck the rock so that waters gushed out,And streams were overflowing;Can He give bread also?Will He prepare ¹^,^bmeat for His people?”²¹Therefore Yahweh heard and ¹was ^afull of wrath;And a fire was kindled against JacobAnd anger also mounted against Israel,²²Because they ^adid not believe in GodAnd did not trust in His salvation.²³Yet He commanded the skies aboveAnd ^aopened the doors of heaven;²⁴He ^arained down manna upon them to eatAnd gave them ^bgrain from heaven.²⁵Man ate the bread of ¹angels;He sent them provision ^ato satisfy.²⁶He ^aled forth the east wind in the heavensAnd by His strength He guided the south wind.²⁷Then He rained ¹meat upon them like the dust,Even ^awinged fowl like the sand of the seas,²⁸He caused them to fall in the midst of His camp,All around His dwelling places.²⁹So they ^aate and were very satisfied,And their desire He brought to them.³⁰¹Before they had satisfied their desire,^aWhile their food was in their mouths,³¹The ^aanger of God rose against themAnd killed ¹some of their ^bstoutest ones,And ²subdued the choice men of Israel.³²In spite of all this they ^astill sinnedAnd ^bdid not believe in His wondrous deeds.³³So He brought ^atheir days to an end in ¹futilityAnd their years in sudden terror.³⁴When He killed them, then they ^asought Him,And returned and sought ^bearnestly for God;³⁵And they remembered that God was their ^arock,And the Most High God their ^bRedeemer.³⁶But they ^adeceived Him with their mouthAnd ^blied to Him with their tongue.³⁷For their heart was not ^aprepared to remain with Him,Nor were they faithful in His covenant.³⁸But He, being ^acompassionate, ^batoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them;And He abounded in ^cturning back His angerAnd did not arouse all His wrath.³⁹Thus ^aHe remembered that they were but ^bflesh,A ¹^,^cwind that goes and does not return.⁴⁰How often they ^arebelled against Him in the wildernessAnd ^bgrieved Him in the ^cwasteland!⁴¹Again and again they ¹^,^atested God,And pained the ^bHoly One of Israel.⁴²They ^adid not remember ^bHis ¹power,The day when He ^credeemed them from the adversary,⁴³When He performed His ^asigns in EgyptAnd His ^bmiracles in the field of Zoan,⁴⁴And ^aturned their rivers to blood,And their streams, they could not drink.⁴⁵He sent among them swarms of ^aflies which devoured them,And ^bfrogs which destroyed them.⁴⁶He gave also their crops to the ^agrasshopperAnd the fruit of their labor to the ^blocust.⁴⁷He killed their vines with ^ahailstonesAnd their sycamore trees with frost.⁴⁸He gave over their ^acattle also to the hailstonesAnd their herds to bolts of lightning.⁴⁹He ^asent upon them His burning anger,Fury and indignation and ¹distress,²A band of destroying angels.⁵⁰He leveled a path for His anger;He did not hold back their soul from death,But ^agave over their life to the plague,⁵¹So He ^astruck all the firstborn in Egypt,The ^bfirst of their vigor in the tents of ^cHam.⁵²But He ^aled forth His own people like sheepAnd guided them in the wilderness ^blike a flock;⁵³He led them ^asafely, so that they did not fear;But ^bthe sea covered their enemies.⁵⁴So ^aHe brought them to His holy ¹land,To this ²^,^bhill country ^cwhich His right hand had acquired.⁵⁵He also ^adrove out the nations before themAnd ^bapportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.⁵⁶Yet they ¹^,^atested and ^brebelled against the Most High GodAnd did not keep His testimonies,⁵⁷But turned back and ^aacted treacherously like their fathers;They ^bturned aside like a treacherous bow.⁵⁸For they ^aprovoked Him with their ^bhigh placesAnd ^caroused His jealousy with their ^dgraven images.⁵⁹God heard and ¹was filled with ^awrathAnd greatly ^brejected Israel;⁶⁰So that He ^aabandoned the ^bdwelling place at Shiloh,The tent ¹which He caused to dwell among men,⁶¹And gave up His ^astrength to captivityAnd His beauty ^binto the hand of the adversary.⁶²He also ^agave over His people to the sword,And ¹was filled with wrath at His inheritance.⁶³^aFire devoured ¹His choice men,And ²His ^bvirgins had no wedding songs.⁶⁴¹His ^apriests fell by the sword,And ²His ^bwidows could not weep.⁶⁵Then the Lord ^aawoke as if from sleep,As if He were a ^bwarrior ¹overcome by wine.⁶⁶He ^astruck His adversaries backward;He put on them an everlasting reproach.⁶⁷He also ^arejected the tent of Joseph,And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,⁶⁸But chose the tribe of Judah,Mount ^aZion which He loved.⁶⁹And He ^abuilt His sanctuary like the heights,Like the earth which He has founded forever.⁷⁰He also ^achose David His servantAnd took him from the sheepfolds;⁷¹From ^afollowing the ¹^,^bnursing ewes He brought himTo ^cshepherd Jacob His people,And Israel ^dHis inheritance.⁷²So he shepherded them according to the ^aintegrity of his heart,And led them with his skillful hands.