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A maskil by Asaph.

78 Open your ears to my teachings, my people.
Turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
I will open my mouth to illustrate points.
I will explain what has been hidden long ago,
things that we have heard and known about,
things that our parents have told us.
We will not hide them from our children.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s power and great deeds
and the miraculous things he has done.

He established written instructions for Jacob’s people.
He gave his teachings to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to make them known to their children
so that the next generation would know them.
Children yet to be born ⌞would learn them⌟.
They will grow up and tell their children
to trust God, to remember what he has done,
and to obey his commands.
Then they will not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation.
Their hearts were not loyal.
Their spirits were not faithful to God.

The men of Ephraim, well-equipped with bows ⌞and arrows⌟,
turned ⌞and ran⌟ on the day of battle.
10 They had not been faithful to God’s promise.[a]
They refused to follow his teachings.
11 They forgot what he had done—
the miracles that he had shown them.

12 In front of their ancestors he performed miracles
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through it.
He made the waters stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them by a cloud during the day
and by a fiery light throughout the night.
15 He split rocks in the desert.
He gave them plenty to drink, an ocean of water.
16 He made streams come out of a rock.
He made the water flow like rivers.

17 They continued to sin against him,
to rebel in the desert against the Most High.
18 They deliberately tested God by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God by saying,
“Can God prepare a banquet in the desert?
20 True, he did strike a rock,
and water did gush out,
and the streams did overflow.
But can he also give us bread or provide us, his people, with meat?”

21 When the Lord heard this, he became furious.
His fire burned against Jacob
and his anger flared up at Israel
22 because they did not believe God
or trust him to save them.

23 In spite of that, he commanded the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 He rained manna down on them to eat
and gave them grain from heaven.
25 Humans ate the bread of the mighty ones,
and God sent them plenty of food.

26 He made the east wind blow in the heavens
and guided the south wind with his might.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
birds like the sand on the seashore.
28 He made the birds fall in the middle of his camp,
all around his dwelling place.

29 They ate more than enough.
He gave them what they wanted,
30 but they still wanted more.
While the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God flared up against them.
He killed their strongest men and slaughtered the best young men in Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they continued to sin,
and they no longer believed in his miracles.
33 He brought their days to an end like a whisper in the wind.
He brought their years to an end in terror.
34 When he killed ⌞some of⌟ them, ⌞the rest⌟ searched for him.
They turned from their sins and eagerly looked for God.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
that the Most High was their defender.
36 They flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not loyal to him.
They were not faithful to his promise.

38 But he is compassionate.
He forgave their sin.
He did not destroy them.
He restrained his anger many times.
He did not display all of his fury.
39 He remembered that they were only flesh and blood,
a breeze that blows and does not return.

40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness!
How often they caused him grief in the desert!
41 Again and again they tested God,
and they pushed the Holy One of Israel to the limit.
42 They did not remember his power—
the day he freed them from their oppressor,
43 when he performed his miraculous signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the fields of Zoan.

44 He turned their rivers into blood
so that they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent a swarm of flies that bit them
and frogs that ruined them.
46 He gave their crops to grasshoppers
and their produce to locusts.
47 He killed their vines with hail
and their fig trees with frost.
48 He let the hail strike their cattle
and bolts of lightning strike their livestock.
49 He sent his burning anger, rage, fury, and hostility against them.
He sent an army of destroying angels.
50 He cleared a path for his anger.
He did not spare them.
He let the plague take their lives.
51 He slaughtered every firstborn in Egypt,
the ones born in the tents of Ham when their fathers were young.

52 But he led his own people out like sheep
and guided them like a flock through the wilderness.
53 He led them safely.
They had no fear while the sea covered their enemies.
54 He brought them into his holy land,
to this mountain that his power had won.
55 He forced nations out of their way
and gave them the land of the nations as their inheritance.
He settled the tribes of Israel in their own tents.

56 They tested God Most High and rebelled against him.
They did not obey his written instructions.
57 They were disloyal and treacherous like their ancestors.
They were like arrows shot from a defective bow.
58 They made him angry because of their illegal worship sites.
They made him furious because they worshiped idols.

59 When God heard, he became furious.
He completely rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned his dwelling place in Shiloh,
the tent where he had lived among humans.
61 He allowed his power to be taken captive
and handed his glory over to an oppressor.
62 He let swords kill his people.
He was furious with those who belonged to him.
63 Fire consumed his best young men,
so his virgins heard no wedding songs.
64 His priests were cut down with swords.
The widows ⌞of his priests⌟ could not even weep ⌞for them⌟.
65 Then the Lord woke up like one who had been sleeping,
like a warrior sobering up from ⌞too much⌟ wine.
66 He struck his enemies from behind
and disgraced them forever.

67 He rejected the tent of Joseph.
He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which he loved.
69 He built his holy place to be like the high heavens,
like the earth which he made to last for a long time.

70 He chose his servant David.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He brought him from tending the ewes that had lambs
so that David could be the shepherd of the people of Jacob,
of Israel, the people who belonged to the Lord.
72 With unselfish devotion David became their shepherd.
With skill he guided them.

A psalm by Asaph.

79 O God, the nations have invaded the land that belongs to you.
They have dishonored your holy temple.
They have left Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the dead bodies of your servants
to the birds for food.
They have given the flesh of your godly ones
to the animals.
They have shed the blood of your people around Jerusalem
as though it were water.
There is no one to bury your people.

We have become a disgrace to our neighbors,
an object of ridicule and contempt to those around us.
How long, O Lord?
Will you remain angry forever?
Will your fury continue to burn like fire?
Pour your fury on the nations that do not know you,
on the kingdoms that have not called you.
They have devoured Jacob.
They have destroyed his home.
Do not hold the crimes of our ancestors against us.
Reach out to us soon with your compassion,
because we are helpless.
Help us, O God, our savior, for the glory of your name.
Rescue us, and forgive our sins for the honor of your name.

10 Why should the nations ⌞be allowed to⌟ say,
“Where is their God?”
Let us watch as the nations learn
that there is punishment for shedding the blood of your servants.
11 Let the groans of prisoners come into your presence.
With your powerful arm rescue those who are condemned to death.
12 Pay each one of our neighbors back
with seven times the number of insults they used to insult you, O Lord.
13 Then we, your people, the flock in your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever.
We will praise you throughout every generation.

For the choir director; according to shoshannim eduth; by Asaph; a psalm.

80 Open your ears, O Shepherd of Israel,
the one who leads ⌞the descendants of⌟ Joseph like sheep,
the one who is enthroned over the angels.[b]
Appear in front of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Wake up your power, and come to save us.

O God, restore us and smile on us
so that we may be saved.

O Lord God, commander of armies, how long will you smolder in anger
against the prayer of your people?
You made them eat tears as food.
You often made them drink ⌞their own⌟ tears.
You made us a source of conflict to our neighbors,
and our enemies made fun of us.

O God, commander of armies, restore us and smile on us
so that we may be saved.

You brought a vine from Egypt.
You forced out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it
so that it took root and filled the land.
10 Its shade covered the mountains.
Its branches covered the mighty cedars.
11 It reached out with its branches to the Mediterranean Sea.
Its shoots reached the Euphrates River.

12 Why did you break down the stone fences around this vine?
All who pass by are picking its fruit.
13 Wild boars from the forest graze on it.
Wild animals devour it.
14 O God, commander of armies, come back!
Look from heaven and see!
Come to help this vine.
15 Take care of what your right hand planted,
the son you strengthened for yourself.
16 The vine has been cut down and burned.
Let them be destroyed by the threatening look on your face.

17 Let your power rest on the man you have chosen,
the son of man you strengthened for yourself.
18 Then we will never turn away from you.
Give us life again, and we will call on you.

19 O Lord God, commander of armies, restore us, and smile on us
so that we may be saved.

For the choir director; on the gittith; [c] by Asaph.

81 Sing joyfully to God, our strength.
Shout happily to the God of Jacob.
Begin a psalm, and strike a tambourine.
Play lyres and harps with their pleasant music.
Blow the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,
on the day of the full moon,
on our festival days.
This is a law for Israel,
a legal decision from the God of Jacob.
These are the instructions God set in place for Joseph
when Joseph rose to power over Egypt.

I heard a message I did not understand:
“I removed the burden from his shoulder.
His hands were freed from the basket.
When you were in trouble, you called out ⌞to me⌟, and I rescued you.
I was hidden in thunder, but I answered you.
I tested your ⌞loyalty⌟ at the oasis of Meribah. Selah
Listen, my people, and I will warn you.
Israel, if you would only listen to me!
Never keep any strange god among you.
Never worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel wanted nothing to do with me.
12 So I let them go their own stubborn ways
and follow their own advice.
13 If only my people would listen to me!
If only Israel would follow me!
14 I would quickly defeat their enemies.
I would turn my power against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe in front of him,
and their time ⌞for punishment⌟ would last forever.
16 But I would feed Israel with the finest wheat
and satisfy them with honey from a rock.”

A psalm by Asaph.

82 God takes his place in his own assembly.
He pronounces judgment among the gods:
“How long are you going to judge unfairly?
How long are you going to side with wicked people?” Selah

Defend weak people and orphans.
Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor.
Rescue weak and needy people.
Help them escape the power of wicked people.

Wicked people do not know or understand anything.
As they walk around in the dark,
all the foundations of the earth shake.
I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of the Most High.
You will certainly die like humans
and fall like any prince.”

Arise, O God!
Judge the earth, because all the nations belong to you.

Footnotes

  1. 78:10 Or “covenant.”
  2. 80:1 Or “cherubim.”
  3. 81:0 Unknown musical term.

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