Noyes - Psalms - 78

78:1  Give ear, O my people, to my instruction! Incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

78:2  I will open my mouth in a psalm; I will utter sayings of ancient times.

78:3  What we have heard and learned, And our fathers have told us,

78:4  We will not hide from their children; Showing to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, His might, and the wonders he hath wrought.

78:5  For he appointed statutes in Jacob, And established a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers To make known to their children;

78:6  So that the generation to come might know them; The children, which should be born, and rise up, Who should declare them to their children;

78:7  That they might put their trust in God, And not forget his deeds, But keep his commandments;

78:8  And might not be, like their forefathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation,—A generation whose heart was not fixed upon God, And whose spirit was not steadfast toward the Almighty.

78:9  The children of Ephraim were like armed bowmen, Who turn their backs in the day of battle.

78:10  They kept not the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law;

78:11  And forgot his mighty deeds, And the wonders he had shown them.

78:12  Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

78:13  He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; Yea, he made the waters to stand as a heap.

78:14  By day he led them by a cloud, And all the night by a light of fire.

78:15  He clave the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink, as from the great deep.

78:16  From the rock he brought flowing streams, And made water to run down like rivers.

78:17  Yet still they sinned against him, And provoked the Most High in the desert.

78:18  They tempted God in their hearts, By asking food for their delight.

78:19  Yea, they spake against God, and said, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

78:20  Behold! he smote the rock, and the water flowed, And streams gushed forth: Is he also able to give bread? Can he provide flesh for his people?"

78:21  When, therefore, the LORD heard this, he was wroth: So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger arose against Israel.

78:22  Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his aid.

78:23  Yet he had commanded the clouds above, And had opened the doors of heaven;

78:24  And had rained down upon them manna for food, And had given them the corn of heaven.

78:25  Every one ate the food of princes; He sent them bread to the full.

78:26  Then he caused a strong wind to blow in the heavens, And by his power he brought a south wind;

78:27  He rained down flesh upon them as dust, And feathered fowls as the sand of the sea.

78:28  He caused them to fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.

78:29  So they did eat, and were filled; For he gave them their own desire.

78:30  Their desire was not yet satisfied, And their meat was yet in their mouths,

78:31  When the wrath of God came upon them, And slew their strong men, And smote down the chosen men of Israel.

78:32  For all this they sinned still, And put no trust in his wondrous works.

78:33  Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in sudden destruction.

78:34  When he slew them, they sought him; They returned, and sought earnestly for God;

78:35  And remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High their redeemer.

78:36  But they only flattered him with their mouths, And spake falsely to him with their tongues.

78:37  For their hearts were not true to him, Nor were they steadfast in his covenant.

78:38  Yet, being full of compassion, he forgave their iniquity, And would not utterly destroy them; Often he restrained his indignation, And stirred not up all his anger.

78:39  He remembered that they were but flesh,—A breath, that passeth and cometh not back.

78:40  How often did they provoke him in the wilderness! How often did they anger him in the desert!

78:41  Again and again they tempted God, And offended the Holy One of Israel.

78:42  They remembered not his hand, Nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy;

78:43  What signs he had wrought in Egypt, And what wonders in the fields of Zoan.

78:44  He turned their rivers into blood, So that they could not drink of their streams.

78:45  He sent amongst them flies, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.

78:46  He gave also their fruits to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

78:47  He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore-trees with frost.

78:48  He also gave up their cattle to hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

78:49  He sent against them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and woe,—A host of angels of evil.

78:50  He made a way for his anger, He spared them not from death, But gave up their lives to the pestilence.

78:51  He smote all the firstborn in Egypt; The first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.

78:52  But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

78:53  He led them on safely, so that they feared not, While the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

78:54  He brought them to his own sacred border, Even to this mountain which his right hand had gained.

78:55  He cast out the nations before them, And divided their land by a measuring-line, as an inheritance, And caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

78:56  Yet they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, And kept not his statutes;

78:57  Like their fathers they were faithless, and turned back; They turned aside, like a deceitful bow.

78:58  They provoked his anger by their high places, And stirred up his jealousy by their graven images.

78:59  God saw this, and was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;

78:60  So that he forsook the habitation at Shiloh, The tabernacle where he dwelt among men,

78:61  And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the hand of the enemy.

78:62  His own people he gave up to the sword, And was wroth with his own inheritance.

78:63  Fire consumed their young men, And their maidens did not bewail them.

78:64  Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation.

78:65  But at length the Lord awaked as from sleep, As a hero who had been overpowered by wine;

78:66  He smote his enemies, and drove them back, And covered them with everlasting disgrace.

78:67  Yet he rejected the tents of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of Ephraim;

78:68  But chose the tribe of Judah, The Mount Zion which he loved;

78:69  Where he built, like the heavens, his sanctuary; Like the earth, which he hath established for ever.

78:70  And he chose David, his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;

78:71  From tending the suckling ewes he brought him To feed Jacob his people, And Israel his inheritance.

78:72  He fed them with an upright heart, And guided them with skilful hands.