Psalms 78

1My people of Israel, listen to my teachings. Listen carefully to what I tell you.

2I, God, will teach you by telling stories. I will tell you about things from the past that are hard to understand.

3Things that we know because our grandfathers told us about them.

4We don’t want to hide them from our children. We want to tell them to the young people who will be the next generation. We want to talk about the wonderful things that the Lord has done with his strength. We will talk about the miracles that He has done for us.

5God made an agreement with Jacob. God gave the law to Israel. God gave the commands to our grandfathers. God told our grandfathers to teach the law to their children.

6That next generation, and the children not yet born, would learn the law. And the grandfathers would be able to teach it to their own children.

7So the next generation would all trust in God, and they shall never forget what God had done and always obey God’s commands.

8Then they will not be like their grandfathers who were stubborn and refused to obey. Their hearts were not devoted to God, and they were not faithful to God.

9The men from Ephraim having their swords and bows, but they ran from the battle

10The men of Ephraim, did not keep their promise with God. The men of Ephraim refused to obey Gods teachings.

11The men of Ephraim forgot the great things God had done and the amazing things God had shown them.

12Their forefathers saw the miracles that God did in the land of Egypt, the land where the town of Zoan is.

13God divided the water and made a way through the sea and let them walk through, while the water was standing like a wall.

14God led his people with a cloud in the day and with the light of a fire in the night.

15God broke open rocks in the desert and God gave his people a lot of water to drink, water that came from deep under the earth.

16God made streams of water come from the rock, and the waters to flow like a river.

17But the people of Ephraim continued to sin against God. The people of Ephraim were rebellious against the Most High God when they were in the desert.

18The people of Ephraim decided to test God and asked God to give them meat to fulfill their lust.

19The people of Ephraim spoke against God and said: God can not give us food to eat in the desert.

20Yes, God broke open a rock and made water flow out of it, so that there was a river of water, but God can not give us bread. God is not able to bring us meat to eat.

21The Lord heard what the children of Israel said and became angry. The LORDS anger was like a fire that burnt in Him against the people of Jacob. The LORD became angry with the descendants of Israel.

22God became angry because his people did not believe that God could save them, and they did not trust in Him to help them.

23But still God told the clouds above to come and He opened the doors of heaven, Psalms 78: 24 God sent manna to fall on them like rain so that they could eat. He gave them bread from heaven. Psalms 78: 25 These people ate the food of angels, God sent plenty of food to satisfy them. Psalms 78: 26 God sent a strong wind from the east, and by his power he made the south wind blow. Psalms 78: 27 God made quail fall like rain until they covered the ground. There were so many birds that they were like sand on the seashore. Psalms 78: 28 God made the quail fall into the camp of the children of Israel and they fell around their tents.

29The children of Israel ate and ate, more than enough. That is how God gave them the food that they wanted to eat.

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

31God became angry with the children of Israel. God killed their strongest men and the young men of Israel.

32But after God had done all of this, the people of Israel continued to sin, and they did not believe that it was God who had done those miracles.

33So God ended their worthless lives. Their lives were full of worries and trouble.

34Every time God punished some of the people and they died, the other people turned to God and said they were sorry for their sins and that the people would do what God wanted.

35Then the people said that God was their Rock and that God was the Most High God, who was their Saviour.

36The people of Israel words were false, and they told lies when they said those things to God.

37The people of Israel hearts were not really with God. The people of Israel were not faithful to the agreement God gave them.

38But God was merciful. God forgave the people of Israel sin, and God did not make them all to die. God was good to the people of Israel again and God did not stay angry with them.

39God remembered that the people of Israel were only people, and they were like the wind that blows away and then is gone.

40The people of Israel often rebelled against God, and they made God sad in the desert.

41The people of Israel tested God again and again, and the people of Israel made the holy God of Israel very sad. Psalms 78::42 The people of Israel did not remember what God did when He saved them from their enemies.

43The people of Israel forgot the signs that God gave in Egypt and the miracles in the fields of Zoan.

44God made the river and streams full of blood and the Egyptians could not drink the water.

45God sent swarms of flies that bit them and made them suffer. God also sent frogs that destroyed their land.

46God gave their crops to grasshoppers and their other plants to locusts.

47God sent hail-stones to destroy their vineyards and frost to destroy their sycamore trees

48God sent hail-stones to kill their cattle and lightning to destroy their sheep and goats.

49God showed them how angry He was. God wanted them to suffer a lot. God sent angels of death to their homes.

50God was angry, very angry, and God showed them how angry He was. God did not save their lives. He caused them to die from disease.

51God killed the firstborn son of each Egyptian family. God killed the first and best of their strength in the land where the people of Ham had lived before.

52But God led his own people away like a shepherd leads his sheep and God led them through the desert.

53God brought them to a place where they would be safe and didn’t have to be afraid. And their enemies drowned in the sea.

54God brought his people into his Holy Land, to mountain Zion which He took with his power.

55God chased other nations away from their land so that his people could live there. He gave their land to the families of Israel and let them live in those other people’s homes.

56But the people of Israel tested the Most High God again and rebelled against Him. The people of Israel did not do what God told them to do.

57The people of Israel turned away from God and they were disobedient like their grandfathers had been. The people of Israel were unfaithful, like a bow that is broken and can not shoot straight.

58The people of Israel made God angry because they built places of sacrifice, and the people of Israel made God jealous because they worshipped idols.

59When God saw what the people of Israel were doing, God became very angry, and God left the people of Israel. So, God rejected the people of Israel completely!

60God also left the temple in Shiloh where God had stayed among the people of Israel.

61God let the enemy capture the Box of the Agreement, the symbol of his power and glory.

62God showed his anger against his people and let them be killed in war.

63Their young men died in fires and there was no one to marry the young girls.

64Their priests died in war and there was no time for their widows to mourn.

65But then the Lord woke up like someone who has been sleeping, like someone who wakes up after he has had too much wine.

66God forced his enemies to turn back defeated. God brought them shame that will last forever.

67God rejected Joseph’s family. God did not accept Ephraim’s family.

68But God chose the tribe of Judah, and God chose Mount Zion, the place he loves.

69God built his holy Temple high on that mountain. Like the earth, God built his Temple to last forever.

70God chose his servant David and took David away from the sheep.

71God took David from tending the mother sheeps with the nursing young. God gave David the job of caring for the descendants of Jacob—Israel, his chosen people.

72David led them with a pure heart and guided them very wisely.