Psalm 78:1-25

New King James Version

God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel

A ^(A)Contemplation^[a] of Asaph.

78 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
²I will open my mouth in a ^(B)parable;
I will utter ^[b]dark sayings of old,
³Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
⁴^(C)We will not hide them from their children,
^(D)Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

⁵For ^(E)He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That ^(F)they should make them known to their children;
⁶^(G)That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
⁷That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
⁸And ^(H)may not be like their fathers,
^(I)A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation ^(J)that did not ^[c]set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The children of Ephraim, being armed and ^[d]carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
¹⁰^(K)They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,
¹¹And ^(L)forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.

¹²^(M)Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, ^(N)in the field of Zoan.
¹³^(O)He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
And ^(P)He made the waters stand up like a heap.
¹⁴^(Q)In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
¹⁵^(R)He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
¹⁶He also brought ^(S)streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹⁷But they sinned even more against Him
By ^(T)rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
¹⁸And ^(U)they tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.
¹⁹^(V)Yes, they spoke against God:
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
²⁰^(W)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?”

²¹Therefore the Lord heard this and ^(X)was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,
²²Because they ^(Y)did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
²³Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
^(Z)And opened the doors of heaven,
²⁴^(AA)Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the ^[e]bread of ^(AB)heaven.
²⁵Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to ^[f]the full.