NAS - Psalms 78 to 79

Psalm 78

God's Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.

Maskil of Asaph.

¹Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. ² I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, ³ Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. ⁴We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

⁵For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, ⁶ That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, ⁷ That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, ⁸And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, Yet they turned back in the day of battle. ¹⁰ They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk in His law; ¹¹ They forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them. ¹²He wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. ¹³ He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand up like a heap. ¹⁴ Then He led them with the cloud by day And all the night with a light of fire. ¹⁵ He split the rocks in the wilderness And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths. ¹⁶ He brought forth streams also from the rock And caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹⁷Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. ¹⁸ And in their heart they put God to the test By asking food according to their desire. ¹⁹ Then they spoke against God; They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? ²⁰ "Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?"

²¹Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob And anger also mounted against Israel, ²²Because they did not believe in God And did not trust in His salvation. ²³Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of heaven; ²⁴He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them food from heaven. ²⁵Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. ²⁶He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His power He directed the south wind. ²⁷ When He rained meat upon them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, ²⁸ Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings. ²⁹ So they ate and were well filled, And their desire He gave to them. ³⁰ Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, ³¹ The anger of God rose against them And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel. ³²In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works. ³³ So He brought their days to an end in futility And their years in sudden terror.

³⁴When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; ³⁵ And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. ³⁶ But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. ³⁷ For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. ³⁸ But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath. ³⁹Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.

⁴⁰How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert! ⁴¹ Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel. ⁴² They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary, ⁴³ When He performed His signs in Egypt And His marvels in the field of Zoan, ⁴⁴ And turned their rivers to blood, And their streams, they could not drink. ⁴⁵ He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them. ⁴⁶ He gave also their crops to the grasshopper And the product of their labor to the locust. ⁴⁷ He destroyed their vines with hailstones And their sycamore trees with frost. ⁴⁸ He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones And their herds to bolts of lightning. ⁴⁹ He sent upon them His burning anger, Fury and indignation and trouble, A band of destroying angels. ⁵⁰He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave over their life to the plague, ⁵¹And smote all the firstborn in Egypt, The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham. ⁵² But He led forth His own people like sheep And guided them in the wilderness like a flock; ⁵³ He led them safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea engulfed their enemies.

⁵⁴So He brought them to His holy land, To this hill country which His right hand had gained. ⁵⁵ He also drove out the nations before them And apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. ⁵⁶ Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies, ⁵⁷ But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow. ⁵⁸ For they provoked Him with their high places And aroused His jealousy with their graven images. ⁵⁹ When God heard, He was filled with wrath And greatly abhorred Israel; ⁶⁰So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men, ⁶¹ And gave up His strength to captivity And His glory into the hand of the adversary. ⁶² He also delivered His people to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. ⁶³ Fire devoured His young men, And His virgins had no wedding songs. ⁶⁴ His priests fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, Like a warrior overcome by wine. ⁶⁶ He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach. ⁶⁷ He also rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, ⁶⁸ But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. ⁶⁹And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever. ⁷⁰ He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds; ⁷¹ From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. ⁷²So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.

Psalm 79

A Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help.

Psalm of Asaph.

¹O God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance; They have defiled Your holy temple; They have laid Jerusalem in ruins. ²They have given the dead bodies of Your servants for food to the birds of the heavens, The flesh of Your godly ones to the beasts of the earth. ³They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem; And there was no one to bury them. ⁴ We have become a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and derision to those around us. ⁵ How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? ⁶ Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You, And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name. ⁷ For they have devoured Jacob And laid waste his habitation.

⁸Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us; Let Your compassion come quickly to meet us, For we are brought very low. ⁹ Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name's sake. ¹⁰ Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let there be known among the nations in our sight, Vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed. ¹¹Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; According to the greatness of Your power preserve those who are doomed to die. ¹² And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom The reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord. ¹³ So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture Will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise.