the-bible/NKJV/Psalms/Chapter_78.md

# Psalm 78 (New King James Version)
God's Kindness to Rebellious Israel

##### Chapter 78
###### 1 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.