Font Size
Psalm 78:40-72
Amplified Bible
Psalm 78:40-72
Amplified Bible
40
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
41
Again and again they tempted God,
And distressed the Holy One of Israel.
42
They did not remember [the miracles worked by] His [powerful] hand,
Nor the day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43
How He worked His miracles in Egypt
And His wonders in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided],
44
And turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45
He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.
46
He also gave their crops to the grasshopper,
And the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47
He destroyed their vines with [great] hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48
He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones,
And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts.(A)
49
He sent upon them His burning anger,(B)
His fury and indignation and distress,
A band of angels of destruction [among them].
50
He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run];
He did not spare their souls from death,
But turned over their lives to the plague.
51
He killed all the firstborn in Egypt,
The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.
52
But God led His own people forward like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness like [a good shepherd with] a flock.
53
He led them safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea engulfed their enemies.(C)
54
So He brought them to His holy land,
To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.
55
He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel
And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;
And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].
56
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies (laws).
57
They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim].
58
For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship]
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].
59
When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath;
And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways],
60
So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
The tent in which He had dwelled among men,
61
And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity,
And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines).(D)
62
He also handed His people over to the sword,
And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).(E)
63
The fire [of war] devoured His young men,
And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs.
64
His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.(F)
65
Then the Lord awakened as from sleep,
Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].
66
He drove His enemies backward;
He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor.
67
Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood].
68
But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader],
Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].
69
And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens],
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70
He also chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;(G)
71
[a]From [b]tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.(H)
72
So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;
And guided them with his skillful hands.
Footnotes
- Psalm 78:71 The first impression one might receive from this passage is that God elevated David from the lowliest position in Israel to the highest. But the ancient rabbis said that God tested David’s skills and wisdom as a shepherd. For example, it is said that David held back the bigger sheep from the pasture and brought out the smaller ones first to graze on the tender grass. The rabbis represented God as saying, “He who knows how to shepherd the sheep, each one in proportion to its strength, shall come and shepherd My people.”
- Psalm 78:71 Lit following.
Psalm 78:40-72
New International Version
Psalm 78:40-72
New International Version
40 How often they rebelled(A) against him in the wilderness(B)
and grieved him(C) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(D)
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(E)
42 They did not remember(F) his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,(G)
43 the day he displayed his signs(H) in Egypt,
his wonders(I) in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;(J)
they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies(K) that devoured them,
and frogs(L) that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,(M)
their produce to the locust.(N)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail(O)
and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
their livestock(P) to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,(Q)
his wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.(R)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,(S)
the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.(T)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;(U)
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed(V) their enemies.(W)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right hand(X) had taken.
55 He drove out nations(Y) before them
and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;(Z)
he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
56 But they put God to the test
and rebelled against the Most High;
they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors(AA) they were disloyal and faithless,
as unreliable as a faulty bow.(AB)
58 They angered him(AC) with their high places;(AD)
they aroused his jealousy with their idols.(AE)
59 When God heard(AF) them, he was furious;(AG)
he rejected Israel(AH) completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,(AI)
the tent he had set up among humans.(AJ)
61 He sent the ark of his might(AK) into captivity,(AL)
his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;(AM)
he was furious with his inheritance.(AN)
63 Fire consumed(AO) their young men,
and their young women had no wedding songs;(AP)
64 their priests were put to the sword,(AQ)
and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,(AR)
as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
he put them to everlasting shame.(AS)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;(AT)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,(AU)
Mount Zion,(AV) which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary(AW) like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David(AX) his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep(AY) he brought him
to be the shepherd(AZ) of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;(BA)
with skillful hands he led them.
Amplified Bible (AMP) 
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.