aListen, O my people, to my 1instruction; bIncline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2I will aopen my mouth in a parable; I will utter bdark sayings of old,
3Which we have heard and known, And aour fathers have told us.
4We will anot conceal them from their children, But btell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His cwondrous works that He has done.
5For He established a atestimony in Jacob And appointed a blaw in Israel, Which He ccommanded our fathers That they should 1 dteach them to their children,
6aThat the generation to come might know, even bthe children yet to be born, That they may arise and ctell them to their children,
7That they should put their confidence in God And anot forget the works of God, But bkeep His commandments,
8And anot be like their fathers, A bstubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that cdid not 1prepare its heart And whose spirit was not dfaithful to God.
9The sons of Ephraim 1were aarchers equipped with bows, Yet bthey turned back in the day of battle.
10They adid not keep the covenant of God And refused to bwalk in His law;
11They aforgot His deeds And His 1miracles that He had shown them.
12aHe wrought wonders before their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the bfield of Zoan.
13He adivided the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand bup like a heap.
14Then He led them with the cloud by aday And all the night with a blight of fire.
15He asplit the rocks in the wilderness And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.
16He abrought forth streams also from the rock And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To arebel against the Most High in the desert.
18And in their heart they aput God to the test By asking bfood according to their desire.
19Then they spoke against God; They said, " aCan God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20"Behold, He astruck the rock so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide 1 bmeat for His people?"
21Therefore the LORD heard and 1was afull of wrath; And a fire was kindled against Jacob And anger also mounted against Israel,
22Because they adid not believe in God And did not trust in His salvation.
23Yet He commanded the clouds above And aopened the doors of heaven;
24He arained down manna upon them to eat And gave them 1 bfood from heaven.
25Man did eat the bread of 1angels; He sent them 2food 3 ain abundance.
26He acaused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His 1power He directed the south wind.
27When He rained 1meat upon them like the dust, Even awinged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28Then He let them fall in the midst of 1their camp, Round about their dwellings.
29So they aate and were well filled, And their desire He gave to them.
301Before they had satisfied their desire, aWhile their food was in their mouths,
31The aanger of God rose against them And killed 1some of their bstoutest ones, And 2subdued the choice men of Israel.
32In spite of all this they astill sinned And bdid not believe in His wonderful works.
33So He brought atheir days to an end in 1futility And their years in sudden terror.
34When He killed them, then they asought Him, And returned and searched bdiligently for God;
35And they remembered that God was their arock, And the Most High God their bRedeemer.
36But they adeceived Him with their mouth And blied to Him with their tongue.
37For their heart was not asteadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38But He, being acompassionate, 1 bforgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He 2 crestrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath.
39Thus aHe remembered that they were but bflesh, A 1 cwind that passes and does not return.
40How often they arebelled against Him in the wilderness And bgrieved Him in the cdesert!
41Again and again they 1 atempted God, And pained the bHoly One of Israel.
42They adid not remember bHis 1power, The day when He credeemed them from the adversary,
43When He performed His asigns in Egypt And His bmarvels in the field of Zoan,
44And aturned their rivers to blood, And their streams, they could not drink.
45He sent among them swarms of aflies which devoured them, And bfrogs which destroyed them.
46He gave also their crops to the agrasshopper And the product of their labor to the blocust.
47He 1destroyed their vines with ahailstones And their sycamore trees with frost.
48He gave over their acattle also to the hailstones And their herds to bolts of lightning.
49He asent upon them His burning anger, Fury and indignation and trouble, 1A band of destroying angels.
50He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But agave over their life to the plague,
51And asmote all the firstborn in Egypt, The bfirst issue of their virility in the tents of cHam.
52But He aled forth His own people like sheep And guided them in the wilderness blike a flock;
53He led them asafely, so that they did not fear; But bthe sea engulfed their enemies.
54So aHe brought them to His holy 1land, To this 2 bhill country cwhich His right hand had gained.
55He also adrove out the nations before them And bapportioned them for an inheritance by measurement, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56Yet they 1 atempted and brebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies,
57But turned back and aacted treacherously like their fathers; They bturned aside like a treacherous bow.
58For they aprovoked Him with their bhigh places And caroused His jealousy with their dgraven images.
59When God heard, He 1was filled with awrath And greatly babhorred Israel;
60So that He aabandoned the bdwelling place at Shiloh, The tent 1which He had pitched among men,
61And gave up His astrength to captivity And His glory binto the hand of the adversary.
62He also adelivered His people to the sword, And 1was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63aFire devoured 1His young men, And 1His bvirgins had no wedding songs.
641His apriests fell by the sword, And 1His bwidows could not weep.
65Then the Lord aawoke as if from sleep, Like a bwarrior 1overcome by wine.
66He 1 adrove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach.
67He also arejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount aZion which He loved.
69And He abuilt His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever.
70He also achose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds;
71From 1 athe care of the 2ewes bwith suckling lambs He brought him To cshepherd Jacob His people, And Israel dHis inheritance.
72So he shepherded them according to the aintegrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.