1 A Contemplation of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. |
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, |
3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. |
4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. |
5 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; |
6 That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, |
7 That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; |
8 And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. |
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. |
10 They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, |
11 And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them. |
12 Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. |
13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. |
14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire. |
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths. |
16 He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. |
17 But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. |
18 And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy. |
19 Yes, they spoke against God: They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? |
20 Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?" |
21 Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel, |
22 Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation. |
23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, |
24 Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven. |
25 Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full. |
26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind. |
27 He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; |
28 And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings. |
29 So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire. |
30 They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths, |
31 The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel. |
32 In spite of this they still sinned, AND did not believe in His wondrous works. |
33 Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear. |
34 When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God. |
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. |
36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue; |
37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. |
38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath; |
39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again. |
40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! |
41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. |
42 They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy, |
43 When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan; |
44 Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, that they could not drink. |
45 He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them. |
46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust. |
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost. |
48 He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning. |
49 He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, By sending angels of destruction among them. |
50 He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague, |
51 And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham. |
52 But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock; |
53 And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies. |
54 And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired. |
55 He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. |
56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies, |
57 But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow. |
58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. |
59 When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel, |
60 So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men, |
61 And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy's hand. |
62 He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance. |
63 The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage. |
64 Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation. |
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine. |
66 And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach. |
67 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, |
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. |
69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever. |
70 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; |
71 From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. |
72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. |