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Psalm 78

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude

A Maskil of Asaph.
¹ Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
² I will open my mouth in a parable;
   I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³ things that we have heard and known,
   that our ancestors have told us.
⁴ We will not hide them from their children;
   we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
   and the wonders that he has done.

⁵ He established a decree in Jacob,
   and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
   to teach to their children;
⁶ that the next generation might know them,
   the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
⁷   so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
   but keep his commandments;
⁸ and that they should not be like their ancestors,
   a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
   whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹ The Ephraimites, armed with^* the bow,
   turned back on the day of battle.
¹⁰ They did not keep God’s covenant,
   but refused to walk according to his law.
¹¹ They forgot what he had done,
   and the miracles that he had shown them.
¹² In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels
   in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
¹³ He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
   and made the waters stand like a heap.
¹⁴ In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
   and all night long with a fiery light.
¹⁵ He split rocks open in the wilderness,
   and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
¹⁶ He made streams come out of the rock,
   and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ Yet they sinned still more against him,
   rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
¹⁸ They tested God in their heart
   by demanding the food they craved.
¹⁹ They spoke against God, saying,
   ‘Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰ Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out
   and torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread,
   or provide meat for his people?’

²¹ Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of rage;
   a fire was kindled against Jacob,
   his anger mounted against Israel,
²² because they had no faith in God,
   and did not trust his saving power.
²³ Yet he commanded the skies above,
   and opened the doors of heaven;
²⁴ he rained down on them manna to eat,
   and gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵ Mortals ate of the bread of angels;
   he sent them food in abundance.
²⁶ He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
   and by his power he led out the south wind;
²⁷ he rained flesh upon them like dust,
   winged birds like the sand of the seas;
²⁸ he let them fall within their camp,
   all around their dwellings.
²⁹ And they ate and were well filled,
   for he gave them what they craved.
³⁰ But before they had satisfied their craving,
   while the food was still in their mouths,
³¹ the anger of God rose against them
   and he killed the strongest of them,
   and laid low the flower of Israel.

³² In spite of all this they still sinned;
   they did not believe in his wonders.
³³ So he made their days vanish like a breath,
   and their years in terror.
³⁴ When he killed them, they sought for him;
   they repented and sought God earnestly.
³⁵ They remembered that God was their rock,
   the Most High God their redeemer.
³⁶ But they flattered him with their mouths;
   they lied to him with their tongues.
³⁷ Their heart was not steadfast towards him;
   they were not true to his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he, being compassionate,
   forgave their iniquity,
   and did not destroy them;
often he restrained his anger,
   and did not stir up all his wrath.
³⁹ He remembered that they were but flesh,
   a wind that passes and does not come again.

Rewards for Obedience

26You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no carved images or pillars, and you shall not place figured stones in your land, to worship at them; for I am the Lord your God. ²You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 If you follow my statutes and keep my commandments and observe them faithfully, ⁴I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. ⁵Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land. ⁶And I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one shall make you afraid; I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword shall go through your land. ⁷You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. ⁸Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. ⁹I will look with favour upon you and make you fruitful and multiply you; and I will maintain my covenant with you. ¹⁰You shall eat old grain long stored, and you shall have to clear out the old to make way for the new. ¹¹I will place my dwelling in your midst, and I shall not abhor you. ¹²And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. ¹³I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Penalties for Disobedience

14 But if you will not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments, ¹⁵if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant, ¹⁶I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. ¹⁷I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down by your enemies; your foes shall rule over you, and you shall flee though no one pursues you. ¹⁸And if in spite of this you will not obey me, I will continue to punish you sevenfold for your sins. ¹⁹I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper. ²⁰Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

Instructions concerning Prayer

2First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. ³This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, ⁴who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For
there is one God;
   there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,
⁶   who gave himself a ransom for all
—this was attested at the right time.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

18 ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. ²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.^{* 22}As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’