Psalms 78:41-71

⁴¹Many times they did evil things, to find out if they could do those things without God punishing them. They frequently caused the holy God of Israel to become disgusted/sad.

⁴²They forgot about his great power, and they ◄forgot/did not think► about the time when he rescued them from their enemies.

⁴³They forgot about when he performed many miracles in the area near Zoan city in Egypt.

⁴⁴He caused the Nile River (OR, their sources of water) to become red like blood, with the result that the people of Egypt had no water to drink.

⁴⁵He sent among the people of Egypt swarms of flies that bit them, and he sent frogs that ate up everything.

⁴⁶He sent locusts to eat their crops and the other things that grew in their fields.

⁴⁷He sent hail that destroyed the grapevines, and sent frost that ruined the figs.

⁴⁸He sent hail that killed their cattle and sent lightning that killed their sheep and cows.

⁴⁹Because God was fiercely angry with the people of Egypt, he caused them to be very distressed. The disasters that struck them were like a group of angels that destroyed everything.

⁵⁰He did not lessen his being angry with them, and he did not ◄spare their lives/prevent them from dying►; he sent a ◄plague/serious illness► that killed many of them.

⁵¹He also caused all the firstborn sons of the people of Egypt to die.

⁵²Then he led his people out of Egypt like a shepherd leads his sheep SIM, and he guided them while they walked through the desert.

⁵³He led them safely, and they were not afraid, but their enemies were drowned in the sea.

⁵⁴Later he brought them to Canaan, his sacred land, to Zion Hill (OR, the hilly area) and by his power MTY he enabled them to conquer the people who were living there.

⁵⁵He expelled the people-groups while his people were advancing; he allotted part of the land for each tribe to possess, and he gave to the Israeli people the houses of those people who had been expelled.

⁵⁶However, the Israeli people rebelled against God, who is greater than any other god, and they did many evil things to see if they could do those things without God punishing them, and they did not obey his commandments.

⁵⁷Instead, like their ancestors did, they rebelled against God and ◄were not loyal to/did not faithfully obey► him; they were as unreliable as a crooked arrow that does not go straight SIM.

⁵⁸Because they worshiped carved images of their gods on the tops of hills, they caused God to become angry DOU.

⁵⁹He saw what they were doing and became very angry, so he rejected the Israeli people.

⁶⁰He no longer appeared to them at Shiloh in the tent where he had lived among them.

⁶¹He allowed their enemies to capture the sacred chest, which was the symbol of his power and his glory.

⁶²Because he was angry with his people, he allowed them to be killed MTY by their enemies.

⁶³Young men were killed in battles, with the result that the young women had no one to marry.

⁶⁴Many priests were killed by their enemies' swords, and ◄the people did not allow the priests' widows/the priests' widows were not allowed► to mourn.

⁶⁵Later, it was as though the Lord awoke from sleeping; he was like a strong man who ◄became stimulated/felt that he was strong► by (OR, became sober after) drinking a lot of wine SIM.

⁶⁶He pushed their enemies back and caused them to be very ashamed for a long time HYP because they had been defeated.

⁶⁷But he did not set up his tent where the people of the tribe of Ephraim lived; he did not choose their area to do that.

⁶⁸Instead he chose the area where the tribe of Judah lived; he chose Zion Hill, which he loves.

⁶⁹He decided to have his temple built there, high up, like his home in heaven; he caused it to be firm, and intended that his temple would last forever, like the earth.

⁷⁰He chose David, who served him faithfully, and took him from the pastures

⁷¹where he was taking care of his father's sheep, and appointed him to be the leader MET of the Israeli people, the people who belong to God.