Psalm 78:1-72 AMP

[1] Listen, O my people, to my teaching; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth [and be willing to learn]. [2] I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples]; I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]— [3] Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. [4] We will not hide them from their children, But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done. [5] For He established a testimony (a specific precept) in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel], [6] That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born May arise and recount them to their children, [7] That they should place their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, [8] And not be like their fathers—A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. [9] The sons of Ephraim were armed as archers and carrying bows, Yet they turned back in the day of battle. [10] They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk according to His law; [11] And they forgot His [incredible] works And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them. [12] He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided]. [13] He divided the [Red] Sea and allowed them to pass through it, And He made the waters stand up like [water behind] a dam. [14] In the daytime He led them with a cloud And all the night with a light of fire. [15] He split rocks in the wilderness And gave them abundant [water to] drink like the ocean depths. [16] He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh] And caused waters to run down like rivers. [17] Yet they still continued to sin against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the desert. [18] And in their hearts they put God to the test By asking for food according to their [selfish] appetite. [19] Then they spoke against God; They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness? [20] Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out And the streams overflowed; Can He give bread also? Or will He provide meat for His people?” [21] Therefore, when the LORD heard, He was full of wrath; A fire was kindled against Jacob, And His anger mounted up against Israel, [22] Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him], And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save). [23] Yet He commanded the clouds from above And opened the doors of heaven; [24] And He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them the grain of heaven. [25] Man ate the bread of angels; God sent them provision in abundance. [26] He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind. [27] He rained meat upon them like the dust, And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas. [28] And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Around their tents. [29] So they ate and were well filled, He gave them what they craved. [30] Before they had satisfied their desire, And while their food was in their mouths, [31] The wrath of God rose against them And killed some of the strongest of them, And subdued the choice young men of Israel. [32] In spite of all this they still sinned, For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works. [33] Therefore He consumed their days like a breath [in emptiness and futility] And their years in sudden terror. [34] When He killed [some of] them, then those remaining sought Him, And they returned [to Him] and searched diligently for God [for a time]. [35] And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. [36] Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouths And lied to Him with their tongues. [37] For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful to His covenant. [38] But He, the source of compassion and lovingkindness, forgave their wickedness and did not destroy them; Many times He restrained His anger And did not stir up all His wrath. [39] For He [graciously] remembered that they were mere [human] flesh, A wind that goes and does not return. [40] How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert! [41] Again and again they tempted God, And distressed the Holy One of Israel. [42] They did not remember [the miracles worked by] His [powerful] hand, Nor the day when He redeemed them from the enemy, [43] How He worked His miracles in Egypt And His wonders in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided], [44] And turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink. [45] He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them. [46] He also gave their crops to the grasshopper, And the fruit of their labor to the locust. [47] He destroyed their vines with [great] hailstones And their sycamore trees with frost. [48] He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones, And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts. [49] He sent upon them His burning anger, His fury and indignation and distress, A band of angels of destruction [among them]. [50] He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run]; He did not spare their souls from death, But turned over their lives to the plague. [51] He killed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham. [52] But God led His own people forward like sheep And guided them in the wilderness like [a good shepherd with] a flock. [53] He led them safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea engulfed their enemies. [54] So He brought them to His holy land, To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired. [55] He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned; And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed]. [56] Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies (laws). [57] They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim]. [58] For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship] And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His]. [59] When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath; And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways], [60] So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh, The tent in which He had dwelled among men, [61] And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity, And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines). [62] He also handed His people over to the sword, And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel). [63] The fire [of war] devoured His young men, And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs. [64] His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep. [65] Then the Lord awakened as from sleep, Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power]. [66] He drove His enemies backward; He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor. [67] Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood]. [68] But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader], Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital]. [69] And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens], Like the earth which He has established forever. [70] He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds; [71] From tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. [72] So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart; And guided them with his skillful hands.