78:001

Maschil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth

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I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter dark sayings concerning days of old

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That which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us

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We will not hide from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of HaShem, and His strength, and His wondrous works that He hath done

78:005

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

78:006

That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born; who should arise and tell them to their children

78:007

That they might put their confidence in G-d, and not forget the works of G-d, but keep His commandments

78:008

And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with G-d

78:009

The children of Ephraim were as archers handling the bow, that turned back in the day of battle

78:010

They kept not the covenant of G-d, and refused to walk in His law

78:011

And they forgot His doings, and His wondrous works that He had shown them

78:012

Marvellous things did He in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan

78:013

He cleaved the sea, and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters to stand as a heap

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By day also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire

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He cleaved rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the great deep

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He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers

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Yet went they on still to sin against Him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert

78:018

And they tried G-d in their heart by asking food for their craving

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Yea, they spoke against G-d; they said: 'Can G-d prepare a table in the wilderness

78:020

Behold, He smote the rock, that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed; can He give bread also? or will He provide flesh for His people?

78:021

Therefore HaShem heard, and was wroth; and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel

78:022

Because they believed not in G-d, and trusted not in His salvation

78:023

And He commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven

78:024

And He caused manna to rain upon them for food, and gave them of the corn of heaven

78:025

Man did eat the bread of the mighty; He sent them provisions to the full

78:026

He caused the east wind to set forth in heaven; and by His power He brought on the south wind

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He caused flesh also to rain upon them as the dust, and winged fowl as the sand of the seas

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And He let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their dwellings

78:029

So they did eat, and were well filled; and He gave them that which they craved

78:030

They were not estranged from their craving, their food was yet in their mouths

78:031

When the anger of G-d went up against them, and slew of the lustieth among them, and smote down the young men of Israel

78:032

For all this they sinned still, and believed not in His wondrous works

78:033

Therefore He ended their days as a breath, and their years in terror

78:034

When He slew them, then they would inquire after Him, and turn back and seek G-d earnestly

78:035

And they remembered that G-d was their Rock, and the Most High G-d their redeemer

78:036

But they beguiled Him with their mouth, and lied unto Him with their tongue

78:037

For their heart was not stedfast with Him, neither were they faithful in His covenant

78:038

But He, being full of compassion, forgiveth iniquity, and destroyeth not; yea, many a time doth He turn His anger away, and doth not stir up all His wrath

78:039

So He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again

78:040

How oft did they rebel against Him in the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert

78:041

And still again they tried G-d, and set bounds to the Holy One of Israel

78:042

They remembered not His hand, nor the day when He redeemed them from the adversary

78:043

How He set His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan

78:044

And turned their rivers into blood, so that they could not drink their streams

78:045

He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them

78:046

He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust

78:047

He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore-trees with frost

78:048

He gave over their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to fiery bolts

78:049

He sent forth upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, a sending of messengers of evil

78:050

He levelled a path for His anger; He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence

78:051

And smote all the first-born in Egypt, the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham

78:052

But He made His own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock

78:053

And He led them safely, and they feared not; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies

78:054

And He brought them to His holy border, to the mountain, which His right hand had gotten

78:055

He drove out the nations also before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents

78:056

Yet they tried and provoked G-d, the Most High, and kept not His testimonies

78:057

But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow

78:058

For they provoked Him with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images

78:059

G-d heard, and was wroth, and He greatly abhorred Israel

78:060

And He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He had made to dwell among men

78:061

And delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the adversary's hand

78:062

He gave His people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with His inheritance

78:063

Fire devoured their young men; and their virgins had no marriage-song

78:064

Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation

78:065

Then the L-rd awaked as one asleep, like a mighty man recovering from wine

78:066

And He smote His adversaries backward; He put upon them a perpetual reproach

78:067

Moreover He abhorred the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim

78:068

But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which He loved

78:069

And He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which He hath founded for ever

78:070

He chose David also His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds

78:071

From following the ewes that give suck He brought him, to be shepherd over Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance

78:072

So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart; and lead them by the skilfulness of his hands