1 L isten, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

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

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

4 W e 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.

5 F or 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,

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

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

8 A nd 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

19 T hen they spoke against God; They said, “ Can God prepare a table 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?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

47 H e destroyed their vines with hailstones And their sycamore trees with frost.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

55 H e 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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