Psalm 78

Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

Listen closely, my people, to my guidance. Open your hearts to my words.

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

I will speak in riddles, sharing ancient mysteries with you.

Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

We've listened and learned, our ancestors shared their wisdom with us.

We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

We'll openly share with our children the awe-inspiring greatness of God, His mighty power, and the amazing things He's done.

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:

He set a sacred promise in Jacob, and created a rule in Israel, instructing our ancestors to pass these teachings to their children.

That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

So that future generations, even newborns, may learn and pass on these teachings to their own children.

That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

May their hearts find hope in God, always remembering His deeds and faithfully following His guidance.

And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

Let them not be like their ancestors, who were stubborn and rebellious, a generation that didn't align their hearts or remain faithful to God.

The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

Despite being armed with bows, the Ephraim's children, overwhelmed by fear, retreated when faced with the battle's harsh reality.

They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

They broke God's sacred agreement and stubbornly ignored His rules.

And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.

They forgot his deeds, the miracles he had shown them.

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

He performed incredible miracles that their ancestors witnessed in Egypt, on the fields of Zoan.

He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

He split the ocean, guiding them safely through, turning the towering waves into a solid wall.

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

During the day, He guided them under a comforting cloud, and throughout the night, He illuminated their path with a warm, fiery light.

He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

In the barren wilderness, He split open the rocks, providing them with a drink as if from a vast, deep ocean.

He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

He miraculously drew flowing streams from the stone, making water cascade down like mighty rivers.

And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

Despite their wrongdoings, they further angered the Almighty with their defiant actions in the wilderness.

And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

They challenged God, their hearts filled with desire, craving for meat.

Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

Indeed, they doubted God, questioning, "Can God really provide for us in this desolate place?"

Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

Look, he struck the stone and water flowed out in abundance. But can he also provide food? Can he supply meat for his people?

Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

Hearing their actions, the Lord was deeply angered. His wrath ignited a fire against Jacob, and His fury rose against Israel.

Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

Because they lacked faith in God and doubted His promise of salvation:

Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,

Even though He had directed the skies and unlocked heaven's gates,

And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

He showered them with heavenly manna to satisfy their hunger, gifting them with divine grain from the skies above.

Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.

God generously provided heavenly sustenance to mankind, filling them with divine nourishment.

He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.

With a divine breath, he summoned the east wind from the heavens; and with his mighty strength, he ushered in the warmth of the south wind.

He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:

He showered them with an abundance of meat, as plentiful as dust, and birds, as numerous as the grains of sand by the sea.

And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

He gently released it into the heart of their camp, encircling their homes.

So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

They feasted, their hearts full of joy, for He granted them their deepest wishes.

They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,

They were still consumed by their desires, even as they savored their feast.

The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

God's anger fell upon them, taking the lives of the most prosperous and striking down Israel's finest men.

For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

Despite witnessing His miraculous deeds, they continued to sin, refusing to believe in His divine power.

Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

He drained their days with emptiness and filled their years with hardship.

When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.

When He struck them down, they finally sought Him. They turned back, seeking God with urgency and earnestness.

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

They recalled, with deep emotion, that God was their unshakeable foundation and the supreme God, their savior.

Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

Despite their sweet words and false promises, they deceived him with their lies.

For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

Their hearts weren't truly with Him, nor did they remain loyal to His agreement.

But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

Though filled with deep compassion, he forgave their wrongs and chose not to destroy them. Often, he held back his anger, refraining from unleashing his full fury.

For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

He recognized their human fragility; like a fleeting breeze, once gone, never returns.

How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

How many times did they upset him in the wilderness, and sadden him in the desert!

Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

Indeed, they defiantly challenged God, putting constraints on the limitless power of Israel's Sacred One.

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

They forgot His saving grace, the day He rescued them from their foes.

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

He performed miraculous signs in Egypt and amazing wonders in the land of Zoan.

And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

He had transformed their rivers into a crimson tide of blood, making their once refreshing waters undrinkable.

He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

He unleashed a swarm of flies that tormented them, and frogs that wreaked havoc among them.

He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.

He also handed over their hard-earned bounty to the destructive caterpillars, and their toil to the relentless locusts.

He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.

He shattered their vineyards with icy hail, and froze their fig trees with biting frost.

He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

He surrendered their livestock to the merciless hail, and their herds to the fiery fury of thunderbolts.

He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

He unleashed his intense anger and fury upon them, wrath and distress, sending a band of destroying angels among them.

He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

In his fury, he found a path; he showed no mercy, allowing their souls to succumb to death, surrendering their lives to disease.

And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the pride of their strength in the tents of Ham.

But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

He lovingly led His people, like a shepherd guiding his sheep, through the vast wilderness.

And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

He guided them securely, easing their fears, while the sea swallowed up their foes.

And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.

He lovingly guided them to the edge of his sacred place, to this mountain, a precious possession of his mighty hand.

He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

He drove out the nations before them, fairly divided their inheritance, and settled the tribes of Israel comfortably in their homes.

Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

Still, they challenged and angered the Almighty God, ignoring His teachings.

But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

They retreated, betraying trust just like their ancestors, swaying away like a dishonest bow.

For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

Their worship at high places stirred up His anger, and their carved idols ignited His jealousy.

When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

When God heard this, He was deeply angered and came to loathe Israel, rejecting them completely.

So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

So he abandoned the sacred tent of Shiloh, the dwelling he had set amidst humanity.

And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.

He handed his strength over to captivity and his glory into the hands of the foe.

He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.

He allowed his people to fall to violence, deeply angered by those he once cherished.

The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.

The flames took away their young men's lives; and their young women remained unwed.

Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.

The clergy met their end through violence; their grieving wives shed no tears.

Then the LORD awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

Then the Lord stirred, as if from a deep slumber, roaring with the vigor of a strong man invigorated by wine.

And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.

With a fiery wrath, he struck down his foes, leaving them forever shamed and disgraced.

Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

He turned away from Joseph's sanctuary, and did not favor the tribe of Ephraim.

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

He selected the tribe of Judah, and cherished Mount Zion.

And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.

He crafted his sacred place as majestic as towering castles, as enduring as the earth he created to last eternally.

He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

God lovingly selected David, his humble servant, right from his simple life tending sheep.

From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

From tending pregnant sheep, he was chosen to nurture Jacob's people, his beloved Israel.

So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

With a pure heart, he lovingly provided for them; and with adept hands, he led them wisely.