78:1 A maskil of Asaph. My people, listen to my teaching; listen to what I say.
78:2 I will speak using stories; I will tell secret things from long ago.
78:3 We have heard them and known them by what our ancestors have told us.
78:4 We will not keep them from our children; we will tell those who come later about the praises of the Lord. We will tell about his power and the miracles he has done.
78:5 The Lord made an agreement with Jacob and gave the teachings to Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children.
78:6 Then their children would know them, even their children not yet born. And they would tell their children.
78:7 So they would all trust God and would not forget what he had done but would obey his commands.
78:8 They would not be like their ancestors who were stubborn and disobedient. Their hearts were not loyal to God, and they were not true to him.
78:9 The men of Ephraim had bows for weapons, but they ran away on the day of battle.
78:10 They didn’t keep their agreement with God and refused to live by his teachings.
78:11 They forgot what he had done and the miracles he had shown them.
78:12 He did miracles while their ancestors watched, in the fields of Zoan in Egypt.
78:13 He divided the Red Sea and led them through. He made the water stand up like a wall.
78:14 He led them with a cloud by day and by the light of a fire by night.
78:15 He split the rocks in the desert and gave them more than enough water, as if from the deep ocean.
78:16 He brought streams out of the rock and caused water to flow down like rivers.
78:17 But the people continued to sin against him; in the desert they turned against God Most High.
78:18 They decided to test God by asking for the food they wanted.
78:19 Then they spoke against God, saying, “Can God prepare food in the desert?
78:20 When he hit the rock, water poured out and rivers flowed down. But can he give us bread also? Will he provide his people with meat?”
78:21 When the Lord heard them, he was very angry. His anger was like fire to the people of Jacob; his anger grew against the people of Israel.
78:22 They had not believed God and had not trusted him to save them.
78:23 But he gave a command to the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven.
78:24 He rained manna down on them to eat; he gave them grain from heaven.
78:25 So they ate the bread of angels. He sent them all the food they could eat.
78:26 He sent the east wind from heaven and led the south wind by his power.
78:27 He rained meat on them like dust. The birds were as many as the sand of the sea.
78:28 He made the birds fall inside the camp, all around the tents.
78:29 So the people ate and became very full. God had given them what they wanted.
78:30 While they were still eating, and while the food was still in their mouths,
78:31 God became angry with them. He killed some of the healthiest of them; he struck down the best young men of Israel.
78:32 But they kept on sinning; they did not believe even with the miracles.
78:33 So he ended their days without meaning and their years in terror.
78:34 Anytime he killed them, they would look to him for help; they would come back to God and follow him.
78:35 They would remember that God was their Rock, that God Most High had saved them.
78:36 But their words were false, and their tongues lied to him.
78:37 Their hearts were not really loyal to God; they did not keep his agreement.
78:38 Still God was merciful. He forgave their sins and did not destroy them. Many times he held back his anger and did not stir up all his anger.
78:39 He remembered that they were only human, like a wind that blows and does not come back.
78:40 They turned against God so often in the desert and grieved him there.
78:41 Again and again they tested God and brought pain to the Holy One of Israel.
78:42 They did not remember his power or the time he saved them from the enemy.
78:43 They forgot the signs he did in Egypt and his wonders in the fields of Zoan.
78:44 He turned their rivers to blood so no one could drink the water.
78:45 He sent flies that bit the people. He sent frogs that destroyed them.
78:46 He gave their crops to grasshoppers and what they worked for to locusts.
78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with sleet.
78:48 He killed their animals with hail and their cattle with lightning.
78:49 He showed them his hot anger. He sent his strong anger against them, his destroying angels.
78:50 He found a way to show his anger. He did not keep them from dying but let them die by a terrible disease.
78:51 God killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt, the oldest son of each family of Ham.
78:52 But God led his people out like sheep and he guided them like a flock through the desert.
78:53 He led them to safety so they had nothing to fear, but their enemies drowned in the sea.
78:54 So God brought them to his holy land, to the mountain country he took with his own power.
78:55 He forced out the other nations, and he had his people inherit the land. He let the tribes of Israel settle there in tents.
78:56 But they tested God and turned against God Most High; they did not keep his rules.
78:57 They turned away and were disloyal just like their ancestors. They were like a crooked bow that does not shoot straight.
78:58 They made God angry by building places to worship gods; they made him jealous with their idols.
78:59 When God heard them, he became very angry and rejected the people of Israel completely.
78:60 He left his dwelling at Shiloh, the Tent where he lived among the people.
78:61 He let the Ark, his power, be captured; he let the Ark, his glory, be taken by enemies.
78:62 He let his people be killed; he was very angry with his children.
78:63 The young men died by fire, and the young women had no one to marry.
78:64 Their priests fell by the sword, but their widows were not allowed to cry.
78:65 Then the Lord got up as if he had been asleep; he awoke like a man who had been drunk with wine.
78:66 He struck down his enemies and disgraced them forever.
78:67 But God rejected the family of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
78:68 Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion, which he loves.
78:69 And he built his Temple high like the mountains. Like the earth, he built it to last forever.
78:70 He chose David to be his servant and took him from the sheep pens.
78:71 He brought him from tending the sheep so he could lead the flock, the people of Jacob, his own people, the people of Israel.
78:72 And David led them with an innocent heart and guided them with skillful hands.
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