Psalms 78:2-40

²I will open my mouth in parables; I will sing about hidden things about the past.

³These are things that we have heard and learned, things that our ancestors have told us.

⁴We will not keep them from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the praiseworthy deeds of Yahweh, his strength, and the wonders that he has done.

⁵For he established covenant decrees in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors that they were to teach them to their children.

⁶He commanded this so that the generation to come might know his decrees, the children not yet born, who should tell them in turn to their own children.

⁷Then they would place their hope in God and not forget his deeds but keep his commandments.

⁸Then they would not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose hearts were not right, and whose spirits were not committed and faithful to God.

⁹The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they turned back on the day of battle.

¹⁰They did not keep the covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law.

¹¹They forgot his deeds, the wonderful things that he had shown them.

¹²They forgot the marvelous things he did in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the land of Zoan.

¹³He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the waters to stand like walls.

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

¹⁵He split the rocks in the wilderness, and he gave them water abundantly, enough to fill the depths of the sea.

¹⁶He made streams flow out of the rock and made the water flow like rivers.

¹⁷Yet they continued to sin against him, rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.

¹⁸They challenged God in their hearts by asking for food to satisfy their appetites.

¹⁹They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really lay out a table for us in the wilderness?

²⁰See, when he struck the rock, waters gushed out and streams overflowed. But can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?”

²¹When Yahweh heard this, he was angry; so his fire burned against Jacob, and his anger attacked Israel,

²²because they did not believe in God and did not trust in his salvation.

²³Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of the sky.

²⁴He rained down manna for them to eat, and gave them the grain from heaven.

²⁵People ate the bread of angels. He sent them food in abundance.

²⁶He caused the east wind to blow in the sky, and by his power he guided the south wind.

²⁷He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sands of the sea.

²⁸They fell in the middle of their camp, all around their tents.

²⁹So they ate and were full. He gave them what they craved.

³⁰But they had not yet filled up; their food was still in their mouths.

³¹Then God's anger attacked them and killed the strongest of them. He brought down the young men of Israel.

³²Despite this, they continued to sin and did not believe his wonderful deeds.

³³Therefore God cut short their days; their years were filled with terror.

³⁴Whenever God afflicted them, they would start to seek him, and they would return and look earnestly for him.

³⁵They would call to mind that God was their rock and that the Most High God was their rescuer.

³⁶But they would flatter him with their mouth and lie to him with their words.

³⁷For their hearts were not firmly fixed on him, and they were not faithful to his covenant.

³⁸Yet he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Yes, many times he held back his anger and did not stir up all his wrath.

³⁹He called to mind that they were made of flesh, a wind that passes away and does not return.

⁴⁰How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the barren regions!