Self-interpreting Bible

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Psalms 78

1An exhortation both to learn and to preach the law of God. 9The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient. 67The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David.


0 1Maschil of Asaph.

  • 1: Or, A psalm for Asaph to give instruction. Ps. 74, title. , Psalms 74

1 GIVE aear, O bmy people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I cwill open my mouth in a parable: I will utter ddark sayings of old:

3 Which ewe have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

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

5 For hhe established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, ithat they should make them known to their children:

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

7 That kthey might set their hope in God, and lnot forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

8 And might not be mas their fathers, na stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation 2that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and 3carrying bows, oturned back in the day of battle.

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

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

12 rMarvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field sof Zoan.

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

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

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

16 He brought wstreams also out of xthe rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

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

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

19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, aCan God 4furnish a table in the wilderness?

20 bBehold, 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?

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

22 Because dthey believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

23 Though he ehad commanded the clouds from above, and opened the fdoors of heaven,

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

25 5Man did eat angels' food: he sent them *meat hto the full.

26 He icaused an east wind 6to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.

27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and 7feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:

  • 7: Heb. fowl of wing.

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

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

30 They lwere not estranged from their mlust. But while their *meat was yet in their mouths,

31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the nfattest of them, and 8smote down the 9chosen men of Israel.

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

33 Therefore ptheir days did he consume in qvanity, and their years in trouble.

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

35 And they remembered sthat God was their rock, and the high God ttheir redeemer.

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

37 For vtheir heart was not right with him, neither were they wstedfast in his covenant.

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

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

40 How aoft did they 10provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

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

42 They remembered not chis hand, nor the day when he delivered them 11from the enemy.

43 How dhe had 12wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:

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

45 He fsent *divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and gfrogs, which destroyed them.

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

47 He 13destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with 14frost.

48 He 15gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to 16hot thunderbolts.

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

50 17He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave 18their life over to the pestilence;

  • 17: Heb. he weighed a path.
  • 18: Or, their beasts to the murrain. Ex. 9.3-6. , Ex. 9:3 - 6

51 And jsmote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the *tabernacles of kHam:

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

53 And mhe led them on safely, so that they feared not: but nthe sea 19overwhelmed their enemies.

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

55 He pcast out the heathen also before them, and qdivided them an inheritance by rline, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

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

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

58 For vthey provoked him to anger with their whigh places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God xheard this, he ywas *wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

60 So zthat he forsook the *tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered ahis strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.

62 He bgave his people over also unto the sword; and was *wroth with his inheritance.

63 The cfire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not 20given to marriage.

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

65 Then ethe Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

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

67 Moreover ghe refused the *tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

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

69 And ihe built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath 21established for ever.

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

71 22From following the kewes great with young he brought him lto feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

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