Psalms 78:13-64

¹³He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; Yea, he made the waters to stand as a heap.

¹⁴By day he led them by a cloud, And all the night by a light of fire.

¹⁵He clave the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink, as from the great deep.

¹⁶From the rock he brought flowing streams, And made water to run down like rivers.

¹⁷Yet still they sinned against him, And provoked the Most High in the desert.

¹⁸They tempted God in their hearts, By asking food for their delight.

¹⁹Yea, they spake against God, and said, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

²⁰Behold! he smote the rock, and the water flowed, And streams gushed forth: Is he also able to give bread? Can he provide flesh for his people?”

²¹When, therefore, the LORD heard this, he was wroth: So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger arose against Israel.

²²Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his aid.

²³Yet he had commanded the clouds above, And had opened the doors of heaven;

²⁴And had rained down upon them manna for food, And had given them the corn of heaven.

²⁵Every one ate the food of princes; He sent them bread to the full.

²⁶Then he caused a strong wind to blow in the heavens, And by his power he brought a south wind;

²⁷He rained down flesh upon them as dust, And feathered fowls as the sand of the sea.

²⁸He caused them to fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.

²⁹So they did eat, and were filled; For he gave them their own desire.

³⁰Their desire was not yet satisfied, And their meat was yet in their mouths,

³¹When the wrath of God came upon them, And slew their strong men, And smote down the chosen men of Israel.

³²For all this they sinned still, And put no trust in his wondrous works.

³³Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in sudden destruction.

³⁴When he slew them, they sought him; They returned, and sought earnestly for God;

³⁵And remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High their redeemer.

³⁶But they only flattered him with their mouths, And spake falsely to him with their tongues.

³⁷For their hearts were not true to him, Nor were they steadfast in his covenant.

³⁸Yet, being full of compassion, he forgave their iniquity, And would not utterly destroy them; Often he restrained his indignation, And stirred not up all his anger.

³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,—A breath, that passeth and cometh not back.

⁴⁰How often did they provoke him in the wilderness! How often did they anger him in the desert!

⁴¹Again and again they tempted God, And offended the Holy One of Israel.

⁴²They remembered not his hand, Nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy;

⁴³What signs he had wrought in Egypt, And what wonders in the fields of Zoan.

⁴⁴He turned their rivers into blood, So that they could not drink of their streams.

⁴⁵He sent amongst them flies, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.

⁴⁶He gave also their fruits to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore-trees with frost.

⁴⁸He also gave up their cattle to hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

⁴⁹He sent against them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and woe,—A host of angels of evil.

⁵⁰He made a way for his anger, He spared them not from death, But gave up their lives to the pestilence.

⁵¹He smote all the firstborn in Egypt; The first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.

⁵²But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

⁵³He led them on safely, so that they feared not, While the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

⁵⁴He brought them to his own sacred border, Even to this mountain which his right hand had gained.

⁵⁵He cast out the nations before them, And divided their land by a measuring-line, as an inheritance, And caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

⁵⁶Yet they tempted and provoked God, the Most High, And kept not his statutes;

⁵⁷Like their fathers they were faithless, and turned back; They turned aside, like a deceitful bow.

⁵⁸They provoked his anger by their high places, And stirred up his jealousy by their graven images.

⁵⁹God saw this, and was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;

⁶⁰So that he forsook the habitation at Shiloh, The tabernacle where he dwelt among men,

⁶¹And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the hand of the enemy.

⁶²His own people he gave up to the sword, And was wroth with his own inheritance.

⁶³Fire consumed their young men, And their maidens did not bewail them.

⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation.