Psalm 77-78

New International Version

Psalm 77^[a]

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

¹I cried out to God^(A) for help;
    I cried out to God to hear me.
²When I was in distress,^(B) I sought the Lord;
    at night^(C) I stretched out untiring hands,^(D)
    and I would not be comforted.^(E)

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

⁷“Will the Lord reject forever?^(K)
    Will he never show his favor^(L) again?
⁸Has his unfailing love^(M) vanished forever?
    Has his promise^(N) failed for all time?
⁹Has God forgotten to be merciful?^(O)
    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?^(P)”

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

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

¹⁶The waters^(X) saw you, God,
    the waters saw you and writhed;^(Y)
    the very depths were convulsed.
¹⁷The clouds poured down water,^(Z)
    the heavens resounded with thunder;^(AA)
    your arrows^(AB) flashed back and forth.
¹⁸Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,^(AC)
    your lightning^(AD) lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and quaked.^(AE)
¹⁹Your path^(AF) led through the sea,^(AG)
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰You led your people^(AH) like a flock^(AI)
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.^(AJ)

Psalm 78

A maskil^[c] of Asaph.

¹My people, hear my teaching;^(AK)
    listen to the words of my mouth.
²I will open my mouth with a parable;^(AL)
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
³things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.^(AM)
⁴We will not hide them from their descendants;^(AN)
    we will tell the next generation^(AO)
the praiseworthy deeds^(AP) of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders^(AQ) he has done.
⁵He decreed statutes^(AR) for Jacob^(AS)
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
⁶so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,^(AT)
    and they in turn would tell their children.
⁷Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget^(AU) his deeds
    but would keep his commands.^(AV)
⁸They would not be like their ancestors^(AW)—
    a stubborn^(AX) and rebellious^(AY) generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.

⁹The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,^(AZ)
    turned back on the day of battle;^(BA)
¹⁰they did not keep God’s covenant^(BB)
    and refused to live by his law.^(BC)
¹¹They forgot what he had done,^(BD)
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹²He did miracles^(BE) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,^(BF) in the region of Zoan.^(BG)
¹³He divided the sea^(BH) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.^(BI)
¹⁴He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.^(BJ)
¹⁵He split the rocks^(BK) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

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

³²In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;^(CA)
    in spite of his wonders,^(CB) they did not believe.^(CC)
³³So he ended their days in futility^(CD)
    and their years in terror.
³⁴Whenever God slew them, they would seek^(CE) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
³⁵They remembered that God was their Rock,^(CF)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.^(CG)
³⁶But then they would flatter him with their mouths,^(CH)
    lying to him with their tongues;
³⁷their hearts were not loyal^(CI) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸Yet he was merciful;^(CJ)
    he forgave^(CK) their iniquities^(CL)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger^(CM)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,^(CN)
    a passing breeze^(CO) that does not return.

⁴⁰How often they rebelled^(CP) against him in the wilderness^(CQ)
    and grieved him^(CR) in the wasteland!
⁴¹Again and again they put God to the test;^(CS)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.^(CT)
⁴²They did not remember^(CU) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,^(CV)
⁴³the day he displayed his signs^(CW) in Egypt,
    his wonders^(CX) in the region of Zoan.
⁴⁴He turned their river into blood;^(CY)
    they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies^(CZ) that devoured them,
    and frogs^(DA) that devastated them.
⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper,^(DB)
    their produce to the locust.^(DC)
⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail^(DD)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
⁴⁸He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock^(DE) to bolts of lightning.
⁴⁹He unleashed against them his hot anger,^(DF)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.^(DG)
⁵⁰He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
⁵¹He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,^(DH)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.^(DI)
⁵²But he brought his people out like a flock;^(DJ)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
⁵³He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed^(DK) their enemies.^(DL)
⁵⁴And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand^(DM) had taken.
⁵⁵He drove out nations^(DN) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;^(DO)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
⁵⁷Like their ancestors^(DP) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.^(DQ)
⁵⁸They angered him^(DR) with their high places;^(DS)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.^(DT)
⁵⁹When God heard^(DU) them, he was furious;^(DV)
    he rejected Israel^(DW) completely.
⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,^(DX)
    the tent he had set up among humans.^(DY)
⁶¹He sent the ark of his might^(DZ) into captivity,^(EA)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
⁶²He gave his people over to the sword;^(EB)
    he was furious with his inheritance.^(EC)
⁶³Fire consumed^(ED) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;^(EE)
⁶⁴their priests were put to the sword,^(EF)
    and their widows could not weep.

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

Footnotes

Psalm 77:1 In Hebrew texts 77:1-20 is numbered 77:2-21.
Psalm 77:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 9 and 15.
Psalm 78:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term

Romans 10

New International Version

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire^(A) and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ²For I can testify about them that they are zealous^(B) for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.^(C) ⁴Christ is the culmination of the law^(D) so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.^(E)

⁵Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”^[a]^(F) ⁶But the righteousness that is by faith^(G) says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”^[b]^(H) (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷“or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”^[c]^(I) (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).^(J) ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”^[d]^(K) that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹If you declare^(L) with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”^(M) and believe^(N) in your heart that God raised him from the dead,^(O) you will be saved.^(P) ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^[e]^(Q) ¹²For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile^(R)—the same Lord is Lord of all^(S) and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord^(T) will be saved.”^[f]^(U)

¹⁴How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”^[g]^(V)

¹⁶But not all the Israelites accepted the good news.^(W) For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”^[h]^(X) ¹⁷Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,^(Y) and the message is heard through the word about Christ.^(Z) ¹⁸But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: