Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 Listen, my people, to my teaching, and pay attention to what I say.
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<<A contemplation by Asaph.>> Hear my law, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I am going to use wise sayings and explain mysteries from the past,
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I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 things we have heard and known, things that our ancestors told us.
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Which we have heard and known, Our fathers have told us.
4 We will not keep them from our children; we will tell the next generation about the Lord's power and his great deeds and the wonderful things he has done.
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We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, His strength, and his wondrous works that he has done.
5 He gave laws to the people of Israel and commandments to the descendants of Jacob. He instructed our ancestors to teach his laws to their children,
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For 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 so that the next generation might learn them and in turn should tell their children.
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That the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; Who should arise and tell their children,
7 In this way they also will put their trust in God and not forget what he has done, but always obey his commandments.
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That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments,
8 They will not be like their ancestors, a rebellious and disobedient people, whose trust in God was never firm and who did not remain faithful to him.
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And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that didn't make their hearts loyal, Whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with bows and arrows, ran away on the day of battle.
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The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.
10 They did not keep their covenant with God; they refused to obey his law.
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They didn't keep the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law.
11 They forgot what he had done, the miracles they had seen him perform.
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They forgot his doings, His wondrous works that he had shown them.
12 While their ancestors watched, God performed miracles in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.
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Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and took them through it; he made the waters stand like walls.
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He split the sea, and caused them to pass through; He made the waters stand as a heap.
14 By day he led them with a cloud and all night long with the light of a fire.
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In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, All the night with a light of fire.
15 He split rocks open in the desert and gave them water from the depths.
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He split rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
16 He caused a stream to come out of the rock and made water flow like a river.
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He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against God, and in the desert they rebelled against the Most High.
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Yet they still went on to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 They deliberately put God to the test by demanding the food they wanted.
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They tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.
19 They spoke against God and said, "Can God supply food in the desert?
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Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 It is true that he struck the rock, and water flowed out in a torrent; but can he also provide us with bread and give his people meat?"
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Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, Streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?"
21 And so the Lord was angry when he heard them; he attacked his people with fire, and his anger against them grew,
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Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, Anger also went up against Israel,
22 because they had no faith in him and did not believe that he would save them.
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Because they didn't believe in God, And didn't trust in his salvation.
23 But he spoke to the sky above and commanded its doors to open;
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Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven.
24 he gave them grain from heaven, by sending down manna for them to eat.
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He rained down manna on them to eat, And gave them food from the sky.
25 So they ate the food of angels, and God gave them all they wanted.
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Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.
26 He also caused the east wind to blow, and by his power he stirred up the south wind;
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He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind.
27 and to his people he sent down birds, as many as the grains of sand on the shore;
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He rained also flesh on them as the dust; Winged birds as the sand of the seas.
28 they fell in the middle of the camp all around the tents.
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He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Around their habitations.
29 So the people ate and were satisfied; God gave them what they wanted.
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So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire.
30 But they had not yet satisfied their craving and were still eating,
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They didn't turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths,
31 when God became angry with them and killed their strongest men, the best young men of Israel.
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When the anger of God went up against them, And killed some of the fattest of them, And struck down the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this the people kept sinning; in spite of his miracles they did not trust him.
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For all this they still sinned, And didn't believe in his wondrous works.
33 So he ended their days like a breath and their lives with sudden disaster.
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Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in terror.
34 Whenever he killed some of them, the rest would turn to him; they would repent and pray earnestly to him.
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When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their protector, that the Almighty came to their aid.
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They remembered that God was their rock, The Most High God their redeemer.
36 But their words were all lies; nothing they said was sincere.
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But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied to him with their tongue.
37 They were not loyal to him; they were not faithful to their covenant with him.
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For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
38 But God was merciful to his people. He forgave their sin and did not destroy them. Many times he held back his anger and restrained his fury.
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But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, And didn't stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were only mortal beings, like a wind that blows by and is gone.
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He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the desert; how many times they made him sad!
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How often did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!
41 Again and again they put God to the test and brought pain to the Holy God of Israel.
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They turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They forgot his great power and the day when he saved them from their enemies
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They didn't remember his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
43 and performed his mighty acts and miracles in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.
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How he set his signs in Egypt, His wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 He turned the rivers into blood, and the Egyptians had no water to drink.
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Turned their rivers into blood, Their streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He sent flies among them, that tormented them, and frogs that ruined their land.
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He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; Frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He sent locusts to eat their crops and to destroy their fields.
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He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, Their labor to the locust.
47 He killed their grapevines with hail and their fig trees with frost.
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He destroyed their vines with hail, Their sycamore-fig trees with frost.
48 He killed their cattle with hail and their flocks with lightning.
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He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He caused them great distress by pouring out his anger and fierce rage, which came as messengers of death.
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He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, And a band of angels of evil.
50 He did not restrain his anger or spare their lives, but killed them with a plague.
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He made a path for his anger. He didn't spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence,
51 He killed the first-born sons of all the families of Egypt.
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And struck all the firstborn in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 Then he led his people out like a shepherd and guided them through the desert.
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But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them safely, and they were not afraid; but the sea came rolling over their enemies.
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He led them safely, so that they weren't afraid, But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 He brought them to his holy land, to the mountains which he himself conquered.
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He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
55 He drove out the inhabitants as his people advanced; he divided their land among the tribes of Israel and gave their homes to his people.
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He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 But they rebelled against Almighty God and put him to the test. They did not obey his commandments,
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Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And didn't keep his testimonies;
57 but were rebellious and disloyal like their ancestors, unreliable as a crooked arrow.
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But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 They angered him with their heathen places of worship, and with their idols they made him furious.
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For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
59 God was angry when he saw it, so he rejected his people completely.
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When God heard this, he was angry, And greatly abhorred Israel;
60 He abandoned his tent in Shiloh, the home where he had lived among us.
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So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men;
61 He allowed our enemies to capture the Covenant Box, the symbol of his power and glory.
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And delivered his strength into captivity, His glory into the adversary's hand.
62 He was angry with his own people and let them be killed by their enemies.
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He also gave his people over to the sword, And was angry with his inheritance.
63 Young men were killed in war, and young women had no one to marry.
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Fire devoured their young men; Their virgins had no wedding song.
64 Priests died by violence, and their widows were not allowed to mourn.
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Their priests fell by the sword; Their widows made no lamentation.
65 At last the Lord woke up as though from sleep; he was like a strong man excited by wine.
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Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.
66 He drove his enemies back in lasting and shameful defeat.
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He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 But he rejected the descendants of Joseph; he did not select the tribe of Ephraim.
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Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, And didn't choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 Instead he chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion, which he dearly loves.
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But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
69 There he built his Temple like his home in heaven; he made it firm like the earth itself, secure for all time.
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He built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he has established forever.
70 He chose his servant David; he took him from the pastures,
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He also chose David his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 where he looked after his flocks, and he made him king of Israel, the shepherd of the people of God.
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From following the ewes that have their young he brought him To be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.
72 David took care of them with unselfish devotion and led them with skill.
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So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.