Psalm 78 - English Standard Version (ESV)

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Asaph.

78 ^(B)Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
^{2 (C)}I will open my mouth ^(D)in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³ things that we have heard and known,
that our ^(E)fathers have told us.
⁴ We will not ^(F)hide them from their children,
but ^(G)tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and ^(H)the wonders that he has done.

⁵ He established ^(I)a testimony in ^(J)Jacob
and appointed a law in ^(K)Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
⁶ that ^(L)the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
⁷ so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget ^(M)the works of God,
but ^(N)keep his commandments;
⁸ and that they should not be ^(O)like their fathers,
^(P)a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation ^(Q)whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹ The Ephraimites, armed with^[b] the bow,
^(R)turned back on the day of battle.
¹⁰ They ^(S)did not keep God's covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
¹¹ They ^(T)forgot his works
and ^(U)the wonders that he had shown them.
¹² In the sight of their fathers ^(V)he performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in ^(W)the fields of Zoan.
¹³ He ^(X)divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters ^(Y)stand like a heap.
^{14 (Z)}In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
¹⁵ He ^(AA)split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
¹⁶ He made streams come out of ^(AB)the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ Yet they sinned still more against him,
^(AC)rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
¹⁸ They ^(AD)tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
¹⁹ They spoke against God, saying,
^(AE)“Can God ^(AF)spread a table in the wilderness?
^{20 (AG)}He struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”

²¹ Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
^(AH)a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
²² because they ^(AI)did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
²³ Yet he commanded the skies above
and ^(AJ)opened the doors of heaven,
²⁴ and he ^(AK)rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them ^(AL)the grain of heaven.
²⁵ Man ate of the bread of ^(AM)the angels;
he sent them food ^(AN)in abundance.
²⁶ He ^(AO)caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
²⁷ he rained meat on them like ^(AP)dust,
winged birds like ^(AQ)the sand of the seas;
²⁸ he ^(AR)let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
²⁹ And they ^(AS)ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they ^(AT)craved.
³⁰ But before they had satisfied their craving,
^(AU)while the food was still in their mouths,
³¹ the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed ^(AV)the strongest of them
and laid low ^(AW)the young men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this, they ^(AX)still sinned;
^(AY)despite his wonders, they did not believe.
³³ So he made ^(AZ)their days ^(BA)vanish like^[c] a breath,^[d]
and their years in terror.
³⁴ When he killed them, they ^(BB)sought him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
³⁵ They remembered that God was their ^(BC)rock,
the Most High God their ^(BD)redeemer.
³⁶ But they ^(BE)flattered him with their mouths;
they ^(BF)lied to him with their tongues.
³⁷ Their ^(BG)heart was not ^(BH)steadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he, being ^(BI)compassionate,
^(BJ)atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
³⁹ He ^(BK)remembered that they were but ^(BL)flesh,
^(BM)a wind that passes and comes not again.
⁴⁰ How often they ^(BN)rebelled against him in the wilderness
and ^(BO)grieved him in ^(BP)the desert!
⁴¹ They ^(BQ)tested God again and again
and provoked ^(BR)the Holy One of Israel.
⁴² They ^(BS)did not remember his power^[e]
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
^{43 (BT)}when he performed his ^(BU)signs in Egypt
and his ^(BV)marvels in ^(BW)the fields of Zoan.
⁴⁴ He ^(BX)turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
⁴⁵ He sent among them swarms of ^(BY)flies, which devoured them,
and ^(BZ)frogs, which destroyed them.
⁴⁶ He gave their crops to ^(CA)the destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
⁴⁷ He destroyed their vines with ^(CB)hail
and their sycamores with frost.
⁴⁸ He gave over their ^(CC)cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
⁴⁹ He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of ^(CD)destroying angels.
⁵⁰ He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
⁵¹ He struck down every ^(CE)firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of ^(CF)Ham.
⁵² Then he led out his people ^(CG)like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
^{53 (CH)}He led them in safety, so that they ^(CI)were not afraid,
but ^(CJ)the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
⁵⁴ And he brought them to his ^(CK)holy land,
^(CL)to the mountain which his right hand had ^(CM)won.
⁵⁵ He ^(CN)drove out nations before them;
he ^(CO)apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁵⁶ Yet they ^(CP)tested and ^(CQ)rebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
⁵⁷ but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like ^(CR)a deceitful bow.
⁵⁸ For they ^(CS)provoked him to anger with their ^(CT)high places;
they ^(CU)moved him to jealousy with their ^(CV)idols.
⁵⁹ When God heard, he was full of ^(CW)wrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
⁶⁰ He ^(CX)forsook his dwelling at ^(CY)Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
⁶¹ and delivered his ^(CZ)power to captivity,
his ^(DA)glory to the hand of the foe.
⁶² He ^(DB)gave his people over to the sword
and ^(DC)vented his wrath on his heritage.
^{63 (DD)}Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no ^(DE)marriage song.
⁶⁴ Their ^(DF)priests fell by the sword,
and their ^(DG)widows made no lamentation.
⁶⁵ Then the Lord ^(DH)awoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.
⁶⁶ And he ^(DI)put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting shame.

⁶⁷ He rejected the tent of ^(DJ)Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
⁶⁸ but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he ^(DK)loves.
⁶⁹ He ^(DL)built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
⁷⁰ He ^(DM)chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
⁷¹ from ^(DN)following the nursing ewes he brought him
to ^(DO)shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his ^(DP)inheritance.
⁷² With ^(DQ)upright heart he shepherded them
and ^(DR)guided them with his skillful hand.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
2. Psalm 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting
3. Psalm 78:33 Hebrew in
4. Psalm 78:33 Or vapor
5. Psalm 78:42 Hebrew hand

Cross references

1. Psalm 78:1 : Ps. 50, title
2. Psalm 78:1 : [Isa. 51:4]; See Ps. 49:1; 50:7
3. Psalm 78:2 : Cited Matt. 13:35; See Ps. 49:4
4. Psalm 78:2 : [Num. 21:27]
5. Psalm 78:3 : See Ps. 44:1
6. Psalm 78:4 : Job 15:18
7. Psalm 78:4 : [Ex. 12:26, 27; 13:8, 14; Deut. 11:19; Josh. 4:6, 7; Joel 1:3]
8. Psalm 78:4 : ver. 11, 32
9. Psalm 78:5 : Ps. 19:7; [Ps. 81:5]
10. Psalm 78:5 : Ps. 147:19
11. Psalm 78:5 : Ps. 147:19
12. Psalm 78:6 : ver. 4; Ps. 102:18
13. Psalm 78:7 : Ps. 77:12
14. Psalm 78:7 : Ps. 105:45
15. Psalm 78:8 : 2 Kgs. 17:14; 2 Chr. 30:7; Ezek. 20:18
16. Psalm 78:8 : Ex. 32:9; 33:3; Deut. 9:7, 24; 31:27; Jer. 5:23
17. Psalm 78:8 : ver. 37; Job 11:13
18. Psalm 78:9 : ver. 57
19. Psalm 78:10 : [2 Kgs. 17:15]
20. Psalm 78:11 : See Ps. 106:13
21. Psalm 78:11 : ver. 4
22. Psalm 78:12 : ver. 43; See Ex. 7-12; Ps. 72:18
23. Psalm 78:12 : ver. 43; Num. 13:22; Isa. 19:11, 13; Ezek. 30:14
24. Psalm 78:13 : Ps. 136:13; Ex. 14:21
25. Psalm 78:13 : Ex. 15:8
26. Psalm 78:14 : See Ps. 105:39
27. Psalm 78:15 : ver. 20; Ps. 105:41; 114:8; Ex. 17:6; Isa. 48:21
28. Psalm 78:16 : Num. 20:8, 10, 11
29. Psalm 78:17 : ver. 40, 56; Deut. 9:22; Isa. 63:10
30. Psalm 78:18 : ver. 41, 56; Ps. 95:9; 106:14; Deut. 6:16; 1 Cor. 10:9
31. Psalm 78:19 : [Ex. 16:3; Num. 11:4; 20:3; 21:5]
32. Psalm 78:19 : See Ps. 23:5
33. Psalm 78:20 : ver. 15, 16
34. Psalm 78:21 : Num. 11:1
35. Psalm 78:22 : ver. 8, 32, 37
36. Psalm 78:23 : Gen. 7:11; [Mal. 3:10]
37. Psalm 78:24 : Ex. 16:4
38. Psalm 78:24 : Ps. 105:40; [John 6:31]
39. Psalm 78:25 : Ps. 103:20
40. Psalm 78:25 : [ver. 29]
41. Psalm 78:26 : Num. 11:31
42. Psalm 78:27 : [Gen. 13:16]
43. Psalm 78:27 : [Gen. 22:17]
44. Psalm 78:28 : Ex. 16:13; Num. 11:31
45. Psalm 78:29 : Num. 11:19, 20
46. Psalm 78:29 : Num. 11:4, 34
47. Psalm 78:30 : Num. 11:33; [Job 20:23]
48. Psalm 78:31 : Isa. 10:16
49. Psalm 78:31 : ver. 63
50. Psalm 78:32 : See Num. 14; 16; 17
51. Psalm 78:32 : ver. 22; Num. 14:11
52. Psalm 78:33 : Num. 14:29, 35; 26:64, 65
53. Psalm 78:33 : Ps. 39:5
54. Psalm 78:34 : Hos. 5:15
55. Psalm 78:35 : Deut. 32:4, 15, 31
56. Psalm 78:35 : Ex. 15:13; See Ps. 74:2
57. Psalm 78:36 : Isa. 29:13; Ezek. 33:31
58. Psalm 78:36 : Isa. 57:11
59. Psalm 78:37 : ver. 8
60. Psalm 78:37 : Ps. 51:10
61. Psalm 78:38 : Ex. 34:6
62. Psalm 78:38 : Num. 14:20
63. Psalm 78:39 : [Ps. 103:14; Job 10:9]
64. Psalm 78:39 : Gen. 6:3
65. Psalm 78:39 : Job 7:7
66. Psalm 78:40 : ver. 17, 56; Ps. 107:11
67. Psalm 78:40 : [Eph. 4:30]
68. Psalm 78:40 : Ps. 106:14
69. Psalm 78:41 : See ver. 18
70. Psalm 78:41 : See Ps. 71:22
71. Psalm 78:42 : Judg. 8:34
72. Psalm 78:43 : For ver. 43-51, see Ps. 105:27-36
73. Psalm 78:43 : Ex. 7:3; [Ps. 106:22]; Acts 7:36
74. Psalm 78:43 : Ex. 4:21; 11:9, 10
75. Psalm 78:43 : See ver. 12
76. Psalm 78:44 : See Ex. 7:17-24
77. Psalm 78:45 : See Ex. 8:21-24
78. Psalm 78:45 : See Ex. 8:2-14
79. Psalm 78:46 : See Ex. 10:12-15
80. Psalm 78:47 : See Ex. 9:23-25
81. Psalm 78:48 : See Ex. 9:19-21
82. Psalm 78:49 : Ex. 12:13, 23; [2 Sam. 24:16]
83. Psalm 78:51 : Ex. 12:29; [Ps. 105:36; 135:8; 136:10]
84. Psalm 78:51 : Ps. 105:23, 27; 106:22
85. Psalm 78:52 : See Ps. 77:20
86. Psalm 78:53 : [Ex. 14:19, 20]
87. Psalm 78:53 : [Ex. 14:13]
88. Psalm 78:53 : Ex. 14:27, 28; 15:10
89. Psalm 78:54 : Ex. 15:17
90. Psalm 78:54 : Isa. 11:9; 57:13; [Ps. 68:16]
91. Psalm 78:54 : Ps. 74:2
92. Psalm 78:55 : See Ps. 44:2
93. Psalm 78:55 : Josh. 23:4; [Ps. 135:12; 136:21, 22; Acts 13:19]
94. Psalm 78:56 : ver. 18; Judg. 2:11, 12
95. Psalm 78:56 : ver. 40
96. Psalm 78:57 : Hos. 7:16; [ver. 9]
97. Psalm 78:58 : Deut. 31:29
98. Psalm 78:58 : Lev. 26:30; Deut. 12:2; 1 Kgs. 11:7; 12:31; Ezek. 20:28
99. Psalm 78:58 : Num. 25:11; Deut. 32:16, 21; Judg. 2:12
100. Psalm 78:58 : Deut. 7:5, 25; 12:3
101. Psalm 78:59 : ver. 62; Ps. 106:40; Deut. 3:26
102. Psalm 78:60 : 1 Sam. 4:11; Jer. 7:12, 14; 26:6
103. Psalm 78:60 : Josh. 18:1
104. Psalm 78:61 : Ps. 132:8; [Ps. 63:2; 96:6]
105. Psalm 78:61 : [1 Sam. 4:21]
106. Psalm 78:62 : [1 Sam. 4:10]
107. Psalm 78:62 : ver. 59
108. Psalm 78:63 : [Ps. 79:5; 89:46]
109. Psalm 78:63 : [Jer. 7:34]
110. Psalm 78:64 : 1 Sam. 4:11
111. Psalm 78:64 : Job 27:15
112. Psalm 78:65 : Ps. 73:20; See Ps. 35:23
113. Psalm 78:66 : [Ps. 40:14]
114. Psalm 78:67 : Ps. 80:1; 81:5
115. Psalm 78:68 : Ps. 87:2
116. Psalm 78:69 : See 1 Kgs. 6
117. Psalm 78:70 : 1 Sam. 16:12, 13
118. Psalm 78:71 : 2 Sam. 7:8
119. Psalm 78:71 : 2 Sam. 5:2; [Ps. 28:9]
120. Psalm 78:71 : 1 Sam. 10:1
121. Psalm 78:72 : Ps. 101:2; 1 Kgs. 9:4
122. Psalm 78:72 : [Ps. 77:20]