Psalm 75-78

New International Version

² You say, “I choose the appointed time;^(C)
    it is I who judge with equity.^(D)
3 When the earth and all its people quake,^(E)
    it is I who hold its pillars^(F) firm.^[b]
4 To the arrogant^(G) I say, ‘Boast no more,’^(H)
    and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.^[c](I)
5 Do not lift your horns against heaven;
    do not speak so defiantly.^(J)’”

⁶ No one from the east or the west
    or from the desert can exalt themselves.
⁷ It is God who judges:^(K)
    He brings one down, he exalts another.^(L)
8 In the hand of the Lord is a cup
    full of foaming wine mixed^(M) with spices;
he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth
    drink it down to its very dregs.^(N)

⁹ As for me, I will declare^(O) this forever;
    I will sing^(P) praise to the God of Jacob,^(Q)
10 who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,
    but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”^(R)

⁴ You are radiant with light,^(X)
    more majestic than mountains rich with game.
⁵ The valiant^(Y) lie plundered,
    they sleep their last sleep;^(Z)
not one of the warriors
    can lift his hands.
⁶ At your rebuke,^(AA) God of Jacob,
    both horse and chariot^(AB) lie still.

⁷ It is you alone who are to be feared.^(AC)
    Who can stand^(AD) before you when you are angry?^(AE)
8 From heaven you pronounced judgment,
    and the land feared^(AF) and was quiet—
⁹ when you, God, rose up to judge,^(AG)
    to save all the afflicted^(AH) of the land.
¹⁰ Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,^(AI)
    and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.^[f]

¹¹ Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;^(AJ)
    let all the neighboring lands
    bring gifts^(AK) to the One to be feared.
¹² He breaks the spirit of rulers;
    he is feared by the kings of the earth.

³ I remembered^(AQ) you, God, and I groaned;^(AR)
    I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.^[h](AS)
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
    I was too troubled to speak.^(AT)
5 I thought about the former days,^(AU)
    the years of long ago;
⁶ I remembered my songs in the night.
    My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

⁷ “Will the Lord reject forever?^(AV)
    Will he never show his favor^(AW) again?
⁸ Has his unfailing love^(AX) vanished forever?
    Has his promise^(AY) failed for all time?
⁹ Has God forgotten to be merciful?^(AZ)
    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?^(BA)”

¹⁰ Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.^(BB)
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles^(BC) of long ago.
¹² I will consider^(BD) all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”^(BE)

¹³ Your ways, God, are holy.
    What god is as great as our God?^(BF)
14 You are the God who performs miracles;^(BG)
    you display your power among the peoples.
¹⁵ With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,^(BH)
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

¹⁶ The waters^(BI) saw you, God,
    the waters saw you and writhed;^(BJ)
    the very depths were convulsed.
¹⁷ The clouds poured down water,^(BK)
    the heavens resounded with thunder;^(BL)
    your arrows^(BM) flashed back and forth.
¹⁸ Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,^(BN)
    your lightning^(BO) lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and quaked.^(BP)
19 Your path^(BQ) led through the sea,^(BR)
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰ You led your people^(BS) like a flock^(BT)
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.^(BU)

⁹ The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,^(CK)
    turned back on the day of battle;^(CL)
10 they did not keep God’s covenant^(CM)
    and refused to live by his law.^(CN)
11 They forgot what he had done,^(CO)
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹² He did miracles^(CP) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,^(CQ) in the region of Zoan.^(CR)
13 He divided the sea^(CS) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.^(CT)
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.^(CU)
15 He split the rocks^(CV) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ But they continued to sin^(CW) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
¹⁸ They willfully put God to the test^(CX)
    by demanding the food they craved.^(CY)
19 They spoke against God;^(CZ)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰ True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,^(DA)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat^(DB) for his people?”
²¹ When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out^(DC) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
²² for they did not believe in God
    or trust^(DD) in his deliverance.
²³ Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;^(DE)
24 he rained down manna^(DF) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵ Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
²⁶ He let loose the east wind^(DG) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
²⁷ He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds^(DH) like sand on the seashore.
²⁸ He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
²⁹ They ate till they were gorged—^(DI)
    he had given them what they craved.
³⁰ But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,^(DJ)
31 God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest^(DK) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;^(DL)
    in spite of his wonders,^(DM) they did not believe.^(DN)
33 So he ended their days in futility^(DO)
    and their years in terror.
³⁴ Whenever God slew them, they would seek^(DP) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
³⁵ They remembered that God was their Rock,^(DQ)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.^(DR)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,^(DS)
    lying to him with their tongues;
³⁷ their hearts were not loyal^(DT) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he was merciful;^(DU)
    he forgave^(DV) their iniquities^(DW)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger^(DX)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
³⁹ He remembered that they were but flesh,^(DY)
    a passing breeze^(DZ) that does not return.

⁴⁰ How often they rebelled^(EA) against him in the wilderness^(EB)
    and grieved him^(EC) in the wasteland!
⁴¹ Again and again they put God to the test;^(ED)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.^(EE)
42 They did not remember^(EF) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,^(EG)
43 the day he displayed his signs^(EH) in Egypt,
    his wonders^(EI) in the region of Zoan.
⁴⁴ He turned their river into blood;^(EJ)
    they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵ He sent swarms of flies^(EK) that devoured them,
    and frogs^(EL) that devastated them.
⁴⁶ He gave their crops to the grasshopper,^(EM)
    their produce to the locust.^(EN)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail^(EO)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
⁴⁸ He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock^(EP) to bolts of lightning.
⁴⁹ He unleashed against them his hot anger,^(EQ)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.^(ER)
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,^(ES)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.^(ET)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;^(EU)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
⁵³ He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed^(EV) their enemies.^(EW)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand^(EX) had taken.
⁵⁵ He drove out nations^(EY) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;^(EZ)
    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^(FA) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.^(FB)
58 They angered him^(FC) with their high places;^(FD)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.^(FE)
59 When God heard^(FF) them, he was furious;^(FG)
    he rejected Israel^(FH) completely.
⁶⁰ He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,^(FI)
    the tent he had set up among humans.^(FJ)
61 He sent the ark of his might^(FK) into captivity,^(FL)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
⁶² He gave his people over to the sword;^(FM)
    he was furious with his inheritance.^(FN)
63 Fire consumed^(FO) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;^(FP)
64 their priests were put to the sword,^(FQ)
    and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,^(FR)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
⁶⁶ He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.^(FS)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;^(FT)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,^(FU)
    Mount Zion,^(FV) which he loved.
⁶⁹ He built his sanctuary^(FW) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
⁷⁰ He chose David^(FX) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
⁷¹ from tending the sheep^(FY) he brought him
    to be the shepherd^(FZ) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
⁷² And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;^(GA)
    with skillful hands he led them.