Psalm 78 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel

Psa 78:1A Contemplation[fn] of Asaph.

Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

Psa 78:2I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,

Psa 78:3Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.

Psa 78:4We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

Psa 78:5

Psa 78:5For 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;

Psa 78:6

Psa 78:6That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,

Psa 78:7

Psa 78:7That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;

Psa 78:8

Psa 78:8And may not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Psa 78:9

Psa 78:9The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.

Psa 78:10

Psa 78:10They did not keep the covenant of God;
They refused to walk in His law,

Psa 78:11

Psa 78:11And forgot His works
And His wonders that He had shown them.

Psa 78:12

Psa 78:12Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

Psa 78:13

Psa 78:13He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
And He made the waters stand up like a heap.

Psa 78:14

Psa 78:14In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.

Psa 78:15

Psa 78:15He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

Psa 78:16

Psa 78:16He also brought streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

Psa 78:17

Psa 78:17But they sinned even more against Him
By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.

Psa 78:18

Psa 78:18And they tested God in their heart
By asking for the food of their fancy.

Psa 78:19

Psa 78:19Yes, they spoke against God:
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

Psa 78:20

Psa 78:20Behold, He struck the rock,
So that the waters gushed out,
And the streams overflowed.
Can He give bread also?
Can He provide meat for His people?”

Psa 78:21

Psa 78:21Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious;
So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also came up against Israel,

Psa 78:22

Psa 78:22Because they did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.

Psa 78:23

Psa 78:23Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
And opened the doors of heaven,

Psa 78:24

Psa 78:24Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the bread of heaven.

Psa 78:25

Psa 78:25Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to the full.

Psa 78:26

Psa 78:26He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by His power He brought in the south wind.

Psa 78:27

Psa 78:27He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;

Psa 78:28

Psa 78:28And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.

Psa 78:29

Psa 78:29So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.

Psa 78:30

Psa 78:30They were not deprived of their craving;
But while their food was still in their mouths,

Psa 78:31

Psa 78:31The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.

Psa 78:32

Psa 78:32In spite of this they still sinned,
And did not believe in His wondrous works.

Psa 78:33

Psa 78:33Therefore their days He consumed in futility,
And their years in fear.

Psa 78:34

Psa 78:34When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.

Psa 78:35

Psa 78:35Then they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.

Psa 78:36

Psa 78:36Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;

Psa 78:37

Psa 78:37For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

Psa 78:38

Psa 78:38But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time He turned His anger away,
And did not stir up all His wrath;

Psa 78:39

Psa 78:39For He remembered that they were but flesh,
A breath that passes away and does not come again.

Psa 78:40

Psa 78:40How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!

Psa 78:41

Psa 78:41Yes, again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.

Psa 78:42

Psa 78:42They did not remember His power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,

Psa 78:43

Psa 78:43When He worked His signs in Egypt,
And His wonders in the field of Zoan;

Psa 78:44

Psa 78:44Turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, that they could not drink.

Psa 78:45

Psa 78:45He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them,
And frogs, which destroyed them.

Psa 78:46

Psa 78:46He also gave their crops to the caterpillar,
And their labor to the locust.

Psa 78:47

Psa 78:47He destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamore trees with frost.

Psa 78:48

Psa 78:48He also gave up their cattle to the hail,
And their flocks to fiery lightning.

Psa 78:49

Psa 78:49He cast on them the fierceness of His anger,
Wrath, indignation, and trouble,
By sending angels of destruction among them.

Psa 78:50

Psa 78:50He made a path for His anger;
He did not spare their soul from death,
But gave their life over to the plague,

Psa 78:51

Psa 78:51And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt,
The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

Psa 78:52

Psa 78:52But He made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

Psa 78:53

Psa 78:53And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

Psa 78:54

Psa 78:54And He brought them to His holy border,
This mountain which His right hand had acquired.

Psa 78:55

Psa 78:55He also drove out the nations before them,
Allotted them an inheritance by survey,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

Psa 78:56

Psa 78:56Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,

Psa 78:57

Psa 78:57But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

Psa 78:58

Psa 78:58For they provoked Him to anger with their high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.

Psa 78:59

Psa 78:59When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,

Psa 78:60

Psa 78:60So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent He had placed among men,

Psa 78:61

Psa 78:61And delivered His strength into captivity,
And His glory into the enemy’s hand.

Psa 78:62

Psa 78:62He also gave His people over to the sword,
And was furious with His inheritance.

Psa 78:63

Psa 78:63The fire consumed their young men,
And their maidens were not given in marriage.

Psa 78:64

Psa 78:64Their priests fell by the sword,
And their widows made no lamentation.

Psa 78:65

Psa 78:65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.

Psa 78:66

Psa 78:66And He beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.

Psa 78:67

Psa 78:67Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

Psa 78:68

Psa 78:68But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which He loved.

Psa 78:69

Psa 78:69And He built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.

Psa 78:70

Psa 78:70He also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;

Psa 78:71

Psa 78:71From following the ewes that had young He brought him,
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.

Psa 78:72

Psa 78:72So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(78:1)

Hebrew Maschil

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.