| 1 | An Instruction of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law, Incline your ear to sayings of my mouth. |
| 2 | I open with a simile my mouth, I bring forth hidden things of old, |
| 3 | That we have heard and do know, And our fathers have recounted to us. |
| 4 | We do not hide from their sons, To a later generation recounting praises of Jehovah, And His strength, and His wonders that He hath done. |
| 5 | And He raiseth up a testimony in Jacob, And a law hath placed in Israel, That He commanded our fathers, To make them known to their sons. |
| 6 | So that a later generation doth know, Sons who are born, do rise and recount to their sons, |
| 7 | And place in God their confidence, And forget not the doings of God, But keep His commands. |
| 8 | And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God [is] its spirit. |
| 9 | Sons of Ephraim—armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict. |
| 10 | They have not kept the covenant of God, And in His law they have refused to walk, |
| 11 | And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He shewed them. |
| 12 | Before their fathers He hath done wonders, In the land of Egypt—the field of Zoan. |
| 13 | He cleft a sea, and causeth them to pass over, Yea, He causeth waters to stand as a heap. |
| 14 | And leadeth them with a cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire. |
| 15 | He cleaveth rocks in a wilderness, And giveth drink—as the great deep. |
| 16 | And bringeth out streams from a rock, And causeth waters to come down as rivers. |
| 17 | And they add still to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place. |
| 18 | And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust. |
| 19 | And they speak against God—they said: 'Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?' |
| 20 | Lo, He hath smitten a rock, And waters flow, yea, streams overflow. 'Also—bread [is] He able to give? Doth He prepare flesh for His people?' |
| 21 | Therefore hath Jehovah heard, And He sheweth Himself wroth, And fire hath been kindled against Jacob, And anger also hath gone up against Israel, |
| 22 | For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation. |
| 23 | And He commandeth clouds from above, Yea, doors of the heavens He hath opened. |
| 24 | And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them. |
| 25 | Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety. |
| 26 | He causeth an east wind to journey in the heavens, And leadeth by His strength a south wind, |
| 27 | And He raineth on them flesh as dust, And as sand of the seas—winged fowl, |
| 28 | And causeth [it] to fall in the midst of His camp, Round about His tabernacles. |
| 29 | And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And their desire He bringeth to them. |
| 30 | They have not been estranged from their desire, Yet [is] their food in their mouth, |
| 31 | And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend. |
| 32 | With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders. |
| 33 | And He consumeth in vanity their days, And their years in trouble. |
| 34 | If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and sought God earnestly, |
| 35 | And they remember that God [is] their rock, And God Most High their redeemer. |
| 36 | And—they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him, |
| 37 | And their heart hath not been right with Him, And they have not been stedfast in His covenant. |
| 38 | And He—the Merciful One, Pardoneth iniquity, and destroyeth not, And hath often turned back His anger, And waketh not up all His fury. |
| 39 | And He remembereth that they [are] flesh, A wind going on —and it returneth not. |
| 40 | How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place? |
| 41 | Yea, they turn back, and try God, And the Holy One of Israel have limited. |
| 42 | They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary. |
| 43 | When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan, |
| 44 | And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not. |
| 45 | He sendeth among them the beetle, and it consumeth them, And the frog, and it destroyeth them, |
| 46 | And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust. |
| 47 | He destroyeth with hail their vine, And their sycamores with frost, |
| 48 | And delivereth up to the hail their beasts, And their cattle to the burning flames. |
| 49 | He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress—A discharge of evil messengers. |
| 50 | He pondereth a path for His anger, He kept not back their soul from death, Yea, their life to the pestilence He delivered up. |
| 51 | And He smiteth every first-born in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham. |
| 52 | And causeth His people to journey as a flock, And guideth them as a drove in a wilderness, |
| 53 | And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered. |
| 54 | And He bringeth them in unto the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had got, |
| 55 | And casteth out nations from before them, And causeth them to fall in the line of inheritance, And causeth the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents, |
| 56 | And they tempt and provoke God Most High, And His testimonies have not kept. |
| 57 | And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow, |
| 58 | And make Him angry with their high places, And with their graven images make Him zealous, |
| 59 | God hath heard, and sheweth Himself wroth. And kicketh exceedingly against Israel. |
| 60 | And He leaveth the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men, |
| 61 | And He giveth His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of an adversary, |
| 62 | And delivereth up to the sword His people, And with His inheritance shewed Himself angry. |
| 63 | His young men hath fire consumed, And His virgins have not been praised. |
| 64 | His priests by the sword have fallen, And their widows weep not. |
| 65 | And the Lord waketh as a sleeper, As a mighty one crying aloud from wine. |
| 66 | And He smiteth His adversaries backward, A reproach age-during He hath put on them, |
| 67 | And He kicketh against the tent of Joseph, And on the tribe of Ephraim hath not fixed. |
| 68 | And He chooseth the tribe of Judah, With mount Zion that He loved, |
| 69 | And buildeth His sanctuary as a high place, Like the earth, He founded it to the age. |
| 70 | And He fixeth on David His servant, And taketh him from the folds of a flock, |
| 71 | From behind suckling ones He hath brought him in, To rule over Jacob His people, And over Israel His inheritance. |
| 72 | And he ruleth them according to the integrity of his heart, And by the skilfulness of his hands leadeth them! |