| King James Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Maschil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. | 1A well-written song by Asaph. Pay attention, my people, to my instruction! Listen to the words I speak! |
| 2I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: | 2I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past. |
| 3Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. | 3What we have heard and learned--that which our ancestors have told us-- |
| 4We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. | 4we will not hide from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the LORD's praiseworthy acts, about his strength and the amazing things he has done. |
| 5For 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: | 5He established a rule in Jacob; he set up a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors to make his deeds known to their descendants, |
| 6That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: | 6so that the next generation, children yet to be born, might know about them. They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. |
| 7That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: | 7Then they will place their confidence in God. They will not forget the works of God, and they will obey his commands. |
| 8And 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 God. | 8Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God. |
| 9The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. | 9The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they retreated in the day of battle. |
| 10They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; | 10They did not keep their covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law. |
| 11And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them. | 11They forgot what he had done, the amazing things he had shown them. |
| 12Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. | 12He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. |
| 13He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap. | 13He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the water stand in a heap. |
| 14In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. | 14He led them with a cloud by day, and with the light of a fire all night long. |
| 15He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. | 15He broke open rocks in the wilderness, and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. |
| 16He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. | 16He caused streams to flow from the rock, and made the water flow like rivers. |
| 17And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. | 17Yet they continued to sin against him, and rebelled against the sovereign One in the desert. |
| 18And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. | 18They willfully challenged God by asking for food to satisfy their appetite. |
| 19Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? | 19They insulted God, saying, "Is God really able to give us food in the wilderness? |
| 20Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? | 20Yes, he struck a rock and water flowed out, streams gushed forth. But can he also give us food? Will he provide meat for his people?" |
| 21Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; | 21When the LORD heard this, he was furious. A fire broke out against Jacob, and his anger flared up against Israel, |
| 22Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: | 22because they did not have faith in God, and did not trust his ability to deliver them. |
| 23Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, | 23He gave a command to the clouds above, and opened the doors in the sky. |
| 24And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. | 24He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them the grain of heaven. |
| 25Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. | 25Man ate the food of the mighty ones. He sent them more than enough to eat. |
| 26He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. | 26He brought the east wind through the sky, and by his strength led forth the south wind. |
| 27He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: | 27He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores. |
| 28And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. | 28He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp, all around their homes. |
| 29So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; | 29They ate until they were stuffed; he gave them what they desired. |
| 30They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, | 30They were not yet filled up, their food was still in their mouths, |
| 31The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. | 31when the anger of God flared up against them. He killed some of the strongest of them; he brought the young men of Israel to their knees. |
| 32For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. | 32Despite all this, they continued to sin, and did not trust him to do amazing things. |
| 33Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. | 33So he caused them to die unsatisfied and filled with terror. |
| 34When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God. | 34When he struck them down, they sought his favor; they turned back and longed for God. |
| 35And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. | 35They remembered that God was their protector, and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. |
| 36Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. | 36But they deceived him with their words, and lied to him. |
| 37For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. | 37They were not really committed to him, and they were unfaithful to his covenant. |
| 38But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. | 38Yet he is compassionate. He forgives sin and does not destroy. He often holds back his anger, and does not stir up his fury. |
| 39For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. | 39He remembered that they were made of flesh, and were like a wind that blows past and does not return. |
| 40How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! | 40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and insulted him in the desert! |
| 41Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. | 41They again challenged God, and offended the Holy One of Israel. |
| 42They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. | 42They did not remember what he had done, how he delivered them from the enemy, |
| 43How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan: | 43when he performed his awesome deeds in Egypt, and his acts of judgment in the region of Zoan. |
| 44And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. | 44He turned their rivers into blood, and they could not drink from their streams. |
| 45He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. | 45He sent swarms of biting insects against them, as well as frogs that overran their land. |
| 46He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust. | 46He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust. |
| 47He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost. | 47He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain. |
| 48He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. | 48He rained hail down on their cattle, and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock. |
| 49He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. | 49His raging anger lashed out against them, He sent fury, rage, and trouble as messengers who bring disaster. |
| 50He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; | 50He sent his anger in full force; he did not spare them from death; he handed their lives over to destruction. |
| 51And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: | 51He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their reproductive power in the tents of Ham. |
| 52But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. | 52Yet he brought out his people like sheep; he led them through the wilderness like a flock. |
| 53And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. | 53He guided them safely along, while the sea covered their enemies. |
| 54And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. | 54He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountainous land which his right hand acquired. |
| 55He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. | 55He drove the nations out from before them; he assigned them their tribal allotments and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. |
| 56Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: | 56Yet they challenged and defied the sovereign God, and did not obey his commands. |
| 57But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. | 57They were unfaithful and acted as treacherously as their ancestors; they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. |
| 58For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. | 58They made him angry with their pagan shrines, and made him jealous with their idols. |
| 59When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: | 59God heard and was angry; he completely rejected Israel. |
| 60So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; | 60He abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh, the tent where he lived among men. |
| 61And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. | 61He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; he gave the symbol of his splendor into the hand of the enemy. |
| 62He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. | 62He delivered his people over to the sword, and was angry with his chosen nation. |
| 63The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. | 63Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins remained unmarried. |
| 64Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. | 64Their priests fell by the sword, but their widows did not weep. |
| 65Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. | 65But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. |
| 66And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. | 66He drove his enemies back; he made them a permanent target for insults. |
| 67Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: | 67He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. |
| 68But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. | 68He chose the tribe of Judah, and Mount Zion, which he loves. |
| 69And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever. | 69He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. |
| 70He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: | 70He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. |
| 71From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. | 71He took him away from following the mother sheep, and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation. |
| 72So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. | 72David cared for them with pure motives; he led them with skill. |
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