New King James Version

New Living Translation

1A Contemplation of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; 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 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.

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 make them known 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 them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare 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 may set their hope 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 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.

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

9The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, 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; They refused to walk in His law,

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

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

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

12Marvelous things He did in the sight of 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!

14In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, 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 drink in abundance like the depths.

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

16He also brought streams out of 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!

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

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

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

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

19Yes, 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.

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?”

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

21Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up 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 had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down 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 this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.

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

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

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

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

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

35Then 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.

36Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they 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 with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

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

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;

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!

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

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

40How often they provoked 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.

41Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited 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 enemy,

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

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

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

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

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

45He sent swarms of flies among them, 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 also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

51And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength 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 made His own people go forth 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.

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

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

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

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, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, 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 tested and provoked 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 unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

67Moreover He 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 established 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 following the ewes that had young 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 by the skillfulness of his hands.

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

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

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.