A maskil of Asaph.
1 My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
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I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
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things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.
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We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.
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He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
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so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
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Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
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They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
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The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle;
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they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.
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They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
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He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
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He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand up like a wall.
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He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
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He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
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he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
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But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
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They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.
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They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?
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True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?”
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When the LORD heard them, he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel,
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for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.
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Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens;
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he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.
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Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
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He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow.
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He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore.
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He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents.
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They ate till they were gorged— he had given them what they craved.
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But before they turned from what they craved, even while the food was still in their mouths,
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God’s anger rose against them; he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel.
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In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
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So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.
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Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again.
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They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
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But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues;
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their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.
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Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.
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He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.