1 G ive ear, O my people, to my law; 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 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.

5 F or 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;

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

7 T hat they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;

8 A nd 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.

9 T he children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.

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

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

12 M arvelous things He did in the sight of 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 I n the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.

15 H e split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

16 H e also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

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

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

19 Y es, they spoke against God: They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

20 B ehold, 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?”

21 T herefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31 T he wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel.

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

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

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

35 T hen they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.

36 N evertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;

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

38 B ut 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;

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

40 H ow often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!

41 Y es, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.

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

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

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

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

46 H e also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

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

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

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

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

51 A nd destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

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

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

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

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

56 Y et they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies,

57 B ut turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

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

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

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

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

62 H e also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance.

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

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

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

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

67 M oreover He 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 established forever.

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

71 F rom following the ewes that had young 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 by the skillfulness of his hands.