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Psalm 78

A Maskil of Asaph.

Hear my teaching, O my people; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

Which we have heard and known, and such as our forefathers have told us,

That we should not hide them from the children of the generations to come, but show the honor of the Lord, his mighty and wonderful works that he has done.

He made a covenant with Jacob, and gave Israel a law, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children,

That their posterity might know it, and the children which were yet unborn;

With the intent that when they came up they might show it to their children,

That they might put their trust in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

And not be as their forefathers, a faithless and stubborn generation, a generation that did not set their heart aright, and whose spirit did not cleave steadfastly to God,

Like the children of Ephraim, archers carrying bows, who turned back in the day of battle.

They did not keep the covenant of God, and would not walk in his law,

But forgot what he had done, and the wonderful works that he had shown them.

Marvelous things he did in the sight of our forefathers, in the land of Egypt, even in the field of Zoan.

He divided the sea and let them go through; he made the waters to stand in a heap.

In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night through with a light of fire.

He split the hard rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink in abundance, as out of the great deep.

He brought waters out of the stony rock, so that it gushed out like the rivers.

Yet for all this they sinned more against him, and provoked the Most High in the wilderness.

They tested God in their hearts and demanded food for their craving.

They spoke against God, saying, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

Indeed, he smote the stony rock, so that water gushed out, and the streams overflowed; but can he give bread also, or provide meat for his people?”

When the Lord heard this, he was full of wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and there flared up fierce anger against Israel,

© Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.

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Because they did not believe in God, and did not put their trust in his help.

So he commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven.

He rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them food from heaven.

So mortals ate the bread of angels; for he sent them food enough.

He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and through his power he brought in the south wind.

He rained meat upon them as thick as dust and feathered fowl like the sand of the sea.

He let it fall among their tents, even round about their habitations.

So they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they desired; they did not deny themselves their cravings,

But while the food was yet in their mouths, the heavy wrath of God came upon them, and slew the mightiest of them, and struck down the young men of Israel.

But for all this they sinned yet more, and did not believe his wondrous works.

Therefore he brought their days to an end in vanity and their years in trouble.

When he slew them, they sought him, and returned, and inquired after God.

And they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God was their redeemer.

Nevertheless, they flattered him with their mouth and spoke deceitfully to him with their tongue.

For their heart was not fixed on him, neither did they continue steadfast in his covenant.

But he was so merciful that he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them.

Indeed, many times he turned his wrath away and would not permit his displeasure to arise.

For he considered that they were but flesh, that they were even as the wind that passes away and comes not again.

Many times they provoked him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert.

They turned back, and tested God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

They remembered not his power, nor the day when he delivered them from the hand of the enemy,

How he had wrought his miracles in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Zoan.

He turned their waters into blood, so that they might not drink of the rivers.

He sent flies among them, which devoured them up, and frogs to destroy them.

He gave their fruit to the grasshopper and their labor to the locust.

He destroyed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore trees with the frost.

He smote their cattle also with hailstones and their flocks with hot thunderbolts.

He cast upon them the furiousness of his wrath, anger, displeasure, and trouble, sending these destroying angels among them.

He made a way for his indignation, and did not spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence,

And smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the dwellings of Ham.

But as for his own people, he led them forth like sheep and carried them in the wilderness like a flock.

He brought them out safely, and they were not afraid; he overwhelmed their enemies with the sea,

And brought them within the borders of his holy land, to his mountain which he obtained with his right hand.

He cast out the nations before them, and caused their land to be divided among them for an inheritance, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

But they tested and displeased the Most High God, and did not keep his testimonies,

But turned their backs and fell away like their forefathers, twisting aside like a broken bow.

For they grieved him with their hill altars and provoked him to displeasure with their images.

When God heard this, he was full of wrath and utterly rejected Israel,

So that he forsook the tabernacle in Shiloh, even the tent that he had pitched among them.

He delivered the ark into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.

He gave his people over to the sword and was angry with his inheritance.

Fire consumed their young men, and their maidens had no marriage songs.

Their priests were slain with the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, and like a warrior recovered from wine.

He drove his enemies backward and put them to a perpetual shame.

He rejected the tabernacle of Joseph and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

But chose the tribe of Judah, even the hill of Zion which he loved.

And there he built his sanctuary, like the heights of heaven, like the earth which he had established for ever.

He chose David his servant, and took him away from the sheepfolds;

As he was following the ewes that were great with young, God took him, that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

So he fed them with a faithful and true heart, and guided them with skillful hands.