| 1 | A Contemplation of Asaph. 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. | |