New American Standard Bible 1995

New Living Translation

1A Maskil of Asaph. Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

1O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying,

2I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

2for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—

3Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.

3stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us.

4We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

4We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders.

5For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children,

5For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,

6That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children,

6so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children.

7That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments,

7So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.

8And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

8Then they will not be like their ancestors— stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.

9The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, Yet they turned back in the day of battle.

9The warriors of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned their backs and fled on the day of battle.

10They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk in His law;

10They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his instructions.

11They forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them.

11They forgot what he had done— the great wonders he had shown them,

12He wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

12the miracles he did for their ancestors on the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.

13He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand up like a heap.

13For he divided the sea and led them through, making the water stand up like walls!

14Then He led them with the cloud by day And all the night with a light of fire.

14In the daytime he led them by a cloud, and all night by a pillar of fire.

15He split the rocks in the wilderness And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.

15He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them water, as from a gushing spring.

16He brought forth streams also from the rock And caused waters to run down like rivers.

16He made streams pour from the rock, making the waters flow down like a river!

17Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

17Yet they kept on sinning against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

18And in their heart they put God to the test By asking food according to their desire.

18They stubbornly tested God in their hearts, demanding the foods they craved.

19Then they spoke against God; They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

19They even spoke against God himself, saying, “God can’t give us food in the wilderness.

20"Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?"

20Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out, but he can’t give his people bread and meat.”

21Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob And anger also mounted against Israel,

21When the LORD heard them, he was furious. The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob. Yes, his anger rose against Israel,

22Because they did not believe in God And did not trust in His salvation.

22for they did not believe God or trust him to care for them.

23Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of heaven;

23But he commanded the skies to open; he opened the doors of heaven.

24He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them food from heaven.

24He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them bread from heaven.

25Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.

25They ate the food of angels! God gave them all they could hold.

26He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His power He directed the south wind.

26He released the east wind in the heavens and guided the south wind by his mighty power.

27When He rained meat upon them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas,

27He rained down meat as thick as dust— birds as plentiful as the sand on the seashore!

28Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings.

28He caused the birds to fall within their camp and all around their tents.

29So they ate and were well filled, And their desire He gave to them.

29The people ate their fill. He gave them what they craved.

30Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths,

30But before they satisfied their craving, while the meat was yet in their mouths,

31The anger of God rose against them And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel.

31the anger of God rose against them, and he killed their strongest men. He struck down the finest of Israel’s young men.

32In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works.

32But in spite of this, the people kept sinning. Despite his wonders, they refused to trust him.

33So He brought their days to an end in futility And their years in sudden terror.

33So he ended their lives in failure, their years in terror.

34When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God;

34When God began killing them, they finally sought him. They repented and took God seriously.

35And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.

35Then they remembered that God was their rock, that God Most High was their redeemer.

36But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue.

36But all they gave him was lip service; they lied to him with their tongues.

37For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

37Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep his covenant.

38But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath.

38Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury!

39Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.

39For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns.

40How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!

40Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland.

41Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel.

41Again and again they tested God’s patience and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,

42They did not remember his power and how he rescued them from their enemies.

43When He performed His signs in Egypt And His marvels in the field of Zoan,

43They did not remember his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders on the plain of Zoan.

44And turned their rivers to blood, And their streams, they could not drink.

44For he turned their rivers into blood, so no one could drink from the streams.

45He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them.

45He sent vast swarms of flies to consume them and hordes of frogs to ruin them.

46He gave also their crops to the grasshopper And the product of their labor to the locust.

46He gave their crops to caterpillars; their harvest was consumed by locusts.

47He destroyed their vines with hailstones And their sycamore trees with frost.

47He destroyed their grapevines with hail and shattered their sycamore-figs with sleet.

48He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones And their herds to bolts of lightning.

48He abandoned their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning.

49He sent upon them His burning anger, Fury and indignation and trouble, A band of destroying angels.

49He loosed on them his fierce anger— all his fury, rage, and hostility. He dispatched against them a band of destroying angels.

50He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave over their life to the plague,

50He turned his anger against them; he did not spare the Egyptians’ lives but ravaged them with the plague.

51And smote all the firstborn in Egypt, The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham.

51He killed the oldest son in each Egyptian family, the flower of youth throughout the land of Egypt.

52But He led forth His own people like sheep And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

52But he led his own people like a flock of sheep, guiding them safely through the wilderness.

53He led them safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea engulfed their enemies.

53He kept them safe so they were not afraid; but the sea covered their enemies.

54So He brought them to His holy land, To this hill country which His right hand had gained.

54He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this land of hills he had won for them.

55He also drove out the nations before them And apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

55He drove out the nations before them; he gave them their inheritance by lot. He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.

56Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies,

56But they kept testing and rebelling against God Most High. They did not obey his laws.

57But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow.

57They turned back and were as faithless as their parents. They were as undependable as a crooked bow.

58For they provoked Him with their high places And aroused His jealousy with their graven images.

58They angered God by building shrines to other gods; they made him jealous with their idols.

59When God heard, He was filled with wrath And greatly abhorred Israel;

59When God heard them, he was very angry, and he completely rejected Israel.

60So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men,

60Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh, the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people.

61And gave up His strength to captivity And His glory into the hand of the adversary.

61He allowed the Ark of his might to be captured; he surrendered his glory into enemy hands.

62He also delivered His people to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance.

62He gave his people over to be butchered by the sword, because he was so angry with his own people—his special possession.

63Fire devoured His young men, And His virgins had no wedding songs.

63Their young men were killed by fire; their young women died before singing their wedding songs.

64His priests fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep.

64Their priests were slaughtered, and their widows could not mourn their deaths.

65Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, Like a warrior overcome by wine.

65Then the Lord rose up as though waking from sleep, like a warrior aroused from a drunken stupor.

66He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach.

66He routed his enemies and sent them to eternal shame.

67He also rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

67But he rejected Joseph’s descendants; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.

68But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.

68He chose instead the tribe of Judah, and Mount Zion, which he loved.

69And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever.

69There he built his sanctuary as high as the heavens, as solid and enduring as the earth.

70He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds;

70He chose his servant David, calling him from the sheep pens.

71From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.

71He took David from tending the ewes and lambs and made him the shepherd of Jacob’s descendants— God’s own people, Israel.

72So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.

72He cared for them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.