Psalms - Chapter 78 | New King James Version

  • 1. A Contemplation {cf2super [72]} of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; 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.
  • 4. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
  • 5. For 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;
  • 6. That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children,
  • 7. That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;
  • 8. And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
  • 9. The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.
  • 10. They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law,
  • 11. And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them.
  • 12. Marvelous things He did in the sight of 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. In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.
  • 15. He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
  • 16. He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.
  • 17. But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
  • 18. And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy.
  • 19. Yes, they spoke against God: They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
  • 20. Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?"
  • 21. Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,
  • 22. Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.
  • 23. Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven,
  • 24. Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven.
  • 25. Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full.
  • 26. He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind.
  • 27. He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
  • 28. And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings.
  • 29. So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire.
  • 30. They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths,
  • 31. The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel.
  • 32. In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.
  • 33. Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear.
  • 34. When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
  • 35. Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.
  • 36. Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;
  • 37. For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
  • 38. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath;
  • 39. For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.
  • 40. How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!
  • 41. Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.
  • 42. They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
  • 43. When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
  • 44. Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, that they could not drink.
  • 45. He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.
  • 46. He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.
  • 47. He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost.
  • 48. He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning.
  • 49. He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, By sending angels of destruction among them.
  • 50. He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague,
  • 51. And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
  • 52. But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
  • 53. And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
  • 54. And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired.
  • 55. He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
  • 56. Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies,
  • 57. But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
  • 58. For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
  • 59. When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel,
  • 60. So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,
  • 61. And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy's hand.
  • 62. He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance.
  • 63. The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage.
  • 64. Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation.
  • 65. Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
  • 66. And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach.
  • 67. Moreover He 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.
  • 69. And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever.
  • 70. He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
  • 71. From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.
  • 72. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
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