Through My Bible Yr 2 – June 12

Psalm 78

A maskil of Asaph. ^[a]

¹ O my people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.

² I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter hidden things, things from of old-

³ what we have heard and known,
what our fathers have told us.

⁴ We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.

⁵ He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children,

⁶ so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.

⁷ Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.

⁸ They would not be like their forefathers—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.

⁹ The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;

¹⁰ they did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his law.

¹¹ They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.

¹² He did miracles in the sight of their fathers
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

¹³ He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand firm like a wall.

¹⁴ He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.

¹⁵ He split the rocks in the desert
and gave them water as abundant as the seas;

¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ But they continued to sin against him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

¹⁸ They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.

¹⁹ They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the desert?

²⁰ When he struck the rock, water gushed out,
and streams flowed abundantly.
But can he also give us food?
Can he supply meat for his people?”

²¹ When the LORD heard them, he was very angry;
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel,

²² for they did not believe in God
or trust in his deliverance.

²³ Yet he gave a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens;

²⁴ he rained down manna for the people to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.

²⁵ Men ate the bread of angels;
he sent them all the food they could eat.

²⁶ He let loose the east wind from the heavens
and led forth the south wind by his power.

²⁷ He rained meat down on them like dust,
flying birds like sand on the seashore.

²⁸ He made them come down inside their camp,
all around their tents.

²⁹ They ate till they had more than enough,
for he had given them what they craved.

³⁰ But before they turned from the food they craved,
even while it was still in their mouths,

³¹ God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest among them,
cutting down the young men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.

³³ So he ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.

³⁴ Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.

³⁵ They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.

³⁶ But then they would flatter him with their mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;

³⁷ their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.

³⁸ Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.

³⁹ He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 78:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.