Psalms 77
1A Psalm of instruction for Asaph. 1 Give heed, O my people, to my law: 1 Incline your ear to the words of my mouth. 1
2I will open my mouth in parables: 1 I will utter dark sayings which have been from the beginning. 1
3All which we have heard and known, 1 And our fathers have declared to us. 1
4They were not hidden from their children to a second generation; 1 The fathers declaring the praises of the Lord, 1 And his mighty acts, 1 And his wonders which he wrought. 1
5And he raised up a testimony in Jacob, 1 And appointed a law in Israel, 1 Which he commanded our fathers, 1 To make it known to their children: 1
6That another generation might know, 1 Even the sons which should be born; 1 And they should arise and declare them to their children. 1
7That they might set their hope on God, 1 And not forget the works of God, 1 But diligently seek his commandments. 1
8That they should not be as their fathers, 1 A perverse and provoking generation; 1 A generation which set not its heart aright, 1 And its spirit was not steadfast with God. 1
9The children of Ephraim, bending and shooting with the bow, 1 Turned back in the day of battle. 1
10They kept not the covenant of God, 1 And would not walk in his law. 1
11And they forgot his benefits, 1 And his miracles which he had shown them; 1
12The miracles which he wrought before their fathers, 1 In the land of Egypt, in the plain of Tanis. 1
13He clove the sea, and led them through: 1 He made the waters to stand as in a bottle. 1
14And he guided them with a cloud by day, 1 And all the night with a light of fire. 1
15He clove a rock in the wilderness, 1 And made them drink as in a great deep. 1
16And he brought water out of the rock, 1 And caused waters to flow down as rivers. 1
17And they sinned yet more against him; 1 They provoked the Most High in the wilderness. 1
18And they tempted God in their hearts, 1 In asking meat for the desire of their souls. 1
19They spoke also against God, and said, 1 Will God be able to prepare a table in the wilderness? 1
20Forasmuch as he smote the rock, and the waters flowed, 1 And the torrents ran abundantly; 1 Will he be able also to give bread, 1 Or prepare a table for his people? 1
21Therefore the Lord heard, and was provoked: 1 And fire was kindled in Jacob, 1 And wrath went up against Israel. 1
22Because they believed not in God, 1 And trusted not in his salvation. 1
23Yet he commanded the clouds from above, 1 And opened the doors of heaven, 1
24And rained upon them manna to eat, 1 And gave them the bread of heaven. 1
25Man ate angels’ bread; 1 He sent them provision to the full. 1
26He removed the south wind from heaven; 1 And by his might he brought in the southwest wind. 1
27And he rained upon them flesh like dust, 1 And feathered birds like the sand of the seas. 1
28And they fell into the midst of their camp, 1 Round about their tents. 1
29So they ate, and were completely filled; 1 And he gave them their desire. 1
30They were not disappointed of their desire: 1 But when their food was yet in their mouth, 1
31Then the indignation of God rose up against them, 1 And slew the fattest of them, 1 And overthrew the choice men of Israel. 1
32In the midst of all this they sinned yet more, 1 And believed not his miracles. 1
33And their days were consumed in vanity, 1 And their years with anxiety. 1
34When he slew them, they sought him: 1 And they returned and called betimes upon God. 1
35And they remembered that God was their helper, 1 And the most high God was their redeemer. 1
36Yet they loved him only with their mouth, 1 And lied to him with their tongue. 1
37For their heart was not right with him, 1 Neither were they steadfast in his covenant. 1
38But he is compassionate, 1 And will forgive their sins, and will not destroy them: 1 Yea, he will frequently turn away his wrath, 1 And will not kindle all his anger. 1
39And he remembered that they are flesh; 1 A wind that passes away, and returns not. 1
40How often did they provoke him in the wilderness, 1 And anger him in a dry land! 1
41Yea, they turned back, and tempted God, 1 And provoked the Holy One of Israel. 1
42They remembered not his hand, 1 The day in which he delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. 1
43How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, 1 And his wonders in the field of Tanis: 1
44And had changed their rivers into blood; 1 And their streams, that they should not drink. 1
45He sent against them the dog fly, and it devoured them; 1 And the frog, and it spoiled them. 1
46And he gave their fruit to the canker worm, 1 And their labors to the locust. 1
47He killed their vines with hail, 1 And their sycamores with frost. 1
48And he gave up their cattle to hail, 1 And their substance to the fire. 1
49He sent out against them the fury of his anger, 1 Wrath, and indignation, and affliction, 1 A message by evil angels. 1
50He made a way for his wrath; 1 He spared not their souls from death, 1 But consigned their cattle to death; 1
51And smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt; 1 The firstfruits of their labors in the tents of Ham. 1
52And he removed his people like sheep; 1 He led them as a flock in the wilderness. 1
53And he guided them with hope, and they feared not: 1 But the sea covered their enemies. 1
54And he brought them in to the mountain of his sanctuary, 1 This mountain which his right hand had purchased. 1
55And he cast out the nations from before them, 1 And made them to inherit by a line of inheritance, 1 And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 1
56Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, 1 And kept not his testimonies. 1
57And they turned back, and broke covenant, even as also their fathers: 1 They became like a crooked bow. 1
58And they provoked him with their high places, 1 And moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 1
59God heard and lightly regarded them, 1 And greatly despised Israel. 1
60And he rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, 1 His tent where he dwelt among men. 1
61And he gave their strength into captivity, 1 And their beauty into the enemy’s hand. 1
62And he gave his people to the sword; 1 And disdained his inheritance. 1
63Fire devoured their young men; 1 And their virgins mourned not. 1
64Their priests fell by the sword; 1 And their widows shall not be wept for. 1
65So the Lord awoke as one out of sleep, 1 And as a mighty man who has been heated with wine. 1
66And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: 1 He brought on them a perpetual reproach. 1
67And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, 1 And chose not the tribe of Ephraim; 1
68But chose the tribe of Judah, 1 The Mount Zion which he loved. 1
69And he built his sanctuary as the place of unicorns; 1 He founded it forever on the earth. 1
70He chose David also his servant, 1 And took him up from the flocks of sheep. 1
71He took him from following the ewes great with young, 1 To be the shepherd of Jacob his servant, 1 And Israel his inheritance. 1
72So he tended them in the innocency of his heart; 1 And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.