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78:1  O my people, hear my teaching. Listen to the words of my mouth.
78:2  I will open my mouth in picture-stories. I will tell things which have been kept secret from long ago,
78:3  which we have heard and known because our fathers have told us.
78:4  We will not hide them from their children. But we will tell the children-to-come the praises of the Lord, and of His power and the great things He has done.
78:5  For He has made His will known to Jacob. He made the Law in Israel, which He told our fathers to teach their children.
78:6  So the children-to-come might know, even the children yet to be born. So they may rise up and tell it to their children.
78:7  Then they would put their trust in God and not forget the works of God. And they would keep His Law.
78:8  They would not be like their fathers, who were not right with God and would not obey Him or be faithful to Him.
78:9  The sons of Ephraim were ready with their bows. But they turned away in the day of fighting.
78:10  They did not keep the agreement of God. And they would not walk in His Law.
78:11  They forgot what He had done and His great works that He had shown them.
78:12  He did powerful works in front of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
78:13  He divided the sea and made them pass through it. He made the water stand up like a wall.
78:14  He led them with the cloud during the day, and with a light of fire during the night.
78:15  He broke the rocks in the desert, and gave them water as if it flowed from the sea.
78:16  He made water come out of the rock. He made the water flow down like rivers.
78:17  But they still kept on sinning against Him. They did not obey the Most High in the desert.
78:18  They tested God in their hearts by asking for the food they wanted.
78:19  Then they spoke against God, saying, “Can God set a table in the desert?
78:20  See, He hit the rock and water poured out and rivers flowed over. Can He give bread also? Will He give meat to His people?”
78:21  The Lord was full of anger when He heard them. And a fire was set against Jacob. His anger went up against Israel,
78:22  because they did not believe in God. They did not trust in Him to save them.
78:23  Yet He spoke to the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven.
78:24  He sent down bread from heaven for them to eat. He gave them food from heaven.
78:25  Men ate the bread of angels. He sent them all the food they could eat.
78:26  He made the east wind blow in the heavens. And He brought in the south wind by His power.
78:27  He sent meat down on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the sea.
78:28  He let them fall in the place where they were staying, all around their tents.
78:29  So they ate until they were full. He gave them what they wanted.
78:30  But before they had eaten all they wanted, even while it was still in their mouths,
78:31  the anger of God came upon them. And He killed the strongest of them. He cut down the young men of Israel.
78:32  But still they kept on sinning. They did not believe in His powerful works.
78:33  So He made their days come to nothing. He made their years end in fear all at once.
78:34  When He killed some of them, the others would look for Him. They returned and looked for God.
78:35  They remembered that God was their rock, and that the Most High God was the One Who set them free.
78:36  But they gave Him false honor with their mouth. They lied to Him with their tongue.
78:37  For their heart was not right toward Him. They were not faithful to His agreement.
78:38  But He showed them loving-kindness and forgave their sins. He did not destroy them. He held back His anger many times. He did not let all of His anger loose.
78:39  He remembered that they were only flesh, a wind that passes and does not return.
78:40  How many times they went against Him in the desert, and gave Him sorrow in that empty land!
78:41  They put God to the test again and again, and troubled the Holy One of Israel.
78:42  They did not remember His power and the day He saved them from those who hated them,
78:43  when He did His powerful works in Egypt and showed His greatness in the field of Zoan.
78:44  He changed their rivers into blood. They could not drink from their rivers.
78:45  He sent many flies among them that ate them, and frogs that destroyed them.
78:46  He gave their fields of food to the grasshopper, and all they worked for to the locust.
78:47  He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with cold.
78:48  He killed their cattle with hail and lightning.
78:49  He sent them His burning anger and trouble. He sent a group of angels to bring trouble and sorrow to them.
78:50  He made a straight path for His anger. He did not save their soul from death. But He gave their lives over to all these troubles.
78:51  He killed all the first-born in Egypt, the first children of their strength in the tents of Ham.
78:52  But He brought His people out like sheep. And He led them like a flock in the desert.
78:53  He led them and kept them safe, so they were not afraid. But the sea covered those who hated them.
78:54  He brought them to His holy land, to the hill country His right hand had taken.
78:55  He drove out the nations before them. He gave them parts of the land for a gift. And He made the families of Israel live in their tents.
78:56  But they tempted and went against the Most High God. They did not keep His Law.
78:57  They turned away and acted without faith like their fathers. They were like a bow that cannot be trusted.
78:58  They made Him angry with their sinful places of worship. And they made Him jealous with their false gods.
78:59  God was very angry when He heard them, and He hated Israel.
78:60  He left the holy tent at Shiloh, the tent He had set up among men.
78:61  And He let His strength be taken. He put His greatness into the hands of those who hated Israel.
78:62  He allowed His people to be killed with the sword. And He was very angry with those who belong to Him.
78:63  Fire burned up their young men. And their young women had no wedding songs.
78:64  Their religious leaders fell by the sword. And the women who lost their husbands could not cry.
78:65  Then the Lord woke up as if from sleep, like a strong man wild with wine.
78:66  He beat back those who hated Him. And He put them to shame forever.
78:67  He turned away from the tent of Joseph. He did not choose the family of Ephraim,
78:68  but chose the family of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.
78:69  He built His holy place like the high mountains, like the earth He has built forever.
78:70  He chose David, His servant and took him from the flocks of sheep.
78:71  He brought him from caring for the sheep and their lambs to being the shepherd of Jacob His people, and Israel who belongs to Him.
78:72  So David was their shepherd with a heart that was right, and led them with good hands and wisdom.