| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1Maschil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. | 1A maskil of Asaph. My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. |
| 2I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: | 2I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old-- |
| 3Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. | 3things we have heard and known, things 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 them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders 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 decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, |
| 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 the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. |
| 7That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: | 7Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep 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. | 8They would not be like their ancestors-- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him. |
| 9The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. | 9The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; |
| 10They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; | 10they did not keep God's covenant and refused to live by his law. |
| 11And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them. | 11They forgot what he had done, the wonders 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 miracles 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 through; he made the water stand up like a wall. |
| 14In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. | 14He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night. |
| 15He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. | 15He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas; |
| 16He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. | 16he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers. |
| 17And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. | 17But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High. |
| 18And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. | 18They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. |
| 19Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? | 19They spoke against God; they said, "Can God really spread a table 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? | 20True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply 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 them, he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel, |
| 22Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: | 22for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance. |
| 23Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, | 23Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; |
| 24And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. | 24he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. |
| 25Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. | 25Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. |
| 26He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. | 26He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow. |
| 27He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: | 27He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore. |
| 28And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. | 28He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents. |
| 29So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; | 29They ate till they were gorged-- he had given them what they craved. |
| 30They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, | 30But before they turned from what they craved, even while the 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. | 31God's anger rose against them; he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel. |
| 32For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. | 32In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe. |
| 33Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. | 33So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror. |
| 34When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God. | 34Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again. |
| 35And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. | 35They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer. |
| 36Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. | 36But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues; |
| 37For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. | 37their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful 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 was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath. |
| 39For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. | 39He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that 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 grieved him in the wasteland! |
| 41Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. | 41Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel. |
| 42They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. | 42They did not remember his power-- the day he redeemed them from the oppressor, |
| 43How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan: | 43the day he displayed his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan. |
| 44And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. | 44He turned their river into blood; 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 flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them. |
| 46He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust. | 46He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust. |
| 47He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost. | 47He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet. |
| 48He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. | 48He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning. |
| 49He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. | 49He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility-- a band of destroying angels. |
| 50He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; | 50He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague. |
| 51And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: | 51He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham. |
| 52But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. | 52But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness. |
| 53And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. | 53He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies. |
| 54And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. | 54And so he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken. |
| 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 out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes. |
| 56Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: | 56But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes. |
| 57But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. | 57Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow. |
| 58For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. | 58They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols. |
| 59When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: | 59When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely. |
| 60So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; | 60He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans. |
| 61And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. | 61He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy. |
| 62He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. | 62He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance. |
| 63The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. | 63Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs; |
| 64Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. | 64their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep. |
| 65Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. | 65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine. |
| 66And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. | 66He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame. |
| 67Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: | 67Then he rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; |
| 68But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. | 68but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved. |
| 69And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever. | 69He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever. |
| 70He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: | 70He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; |
| 71From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. | 71from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. |
| 72So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. | 72And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. |
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