GOD'S WORD Translation GW
New King James Version NKJV
1 Open your ears to my teachings, my people. Turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
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A Contemplation of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth to illustrate points. I will explain what has been hidden long ago,
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I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 things that we have heard and known about, things that our parents have told us.
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Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from our children. We will tell the next generation about the LORD's power and great deeds and the miraculous 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 the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 He established written instructions for Jacob's people. He gave his teachings to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to make them known 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 would know them. Children yet to be born [would learn them]. They will grow up and tell their children
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That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 to trust God, to remember what he has done, and to obey his commands.
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That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation. Their hearts were not loyal. Their spirits were not faithful to God.
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And 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 The men of Ephraim, well-equipped with bows [and arrows], turned [and ran] 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 had not been faithful to God's promise. They refused to follow his teachings.
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They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law,
11 They forgot what he had done-- the miracles that he had shown them.
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And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them.
12 In front of their ancestors he performed miracles in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
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Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through it. He made the waters stand up like a wall.
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He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap.
14 He guided them by a cloud during the day and by a fiery light throughout the night.
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In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.
15 He split rocks in the desert. He gave them plenty to drink, an ocean of water.
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He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
16 He made streams come out of a rock. He made the water flow like rivers.
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He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 They continued to sin against him, to rebel in the desert against the Most High.
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But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 They deliberately tested God by demanding the food they craved.
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And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy.
19 They spoke against God by saying, "Can God prepare a banquet in the desert?
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Yes, they spoke against God: They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he did strike a rock, and water did gush out, and the streams did overflow. But can he also give us bread or provide us, his people, with meat?"
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Behold, 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 When the LORD heard this, he became furious. His fire burned against Jacob and his anger flared up at Israel
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Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,
22 because they did not believe God or trust him to save them.
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Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.
23 In spite of that, he commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven.
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Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven,
24 He rained manna down on them to eat and gave them grain from heaven.
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Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven.
25 Humans ate the bread of the mighty ones, and God sent them plenty of food.
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Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full.
26 He made the east wind blow in the heavens and guided the south wind with his might.
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He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like the sand on the seashore.
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He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
28 He made the birds fall in the middle of his camp, all around his dwelling place.
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And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings.
29 They ate more than enough. He gave them what they wanted,
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So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire.
30 but they still wanted more. While the food was still in their mouths,
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They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God flared up against them. He killed their strongest men and slaughtered the best young men in Israel.
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The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they continued to sin, and they no longer believed in his miracles.
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In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.
33 He brought their days to an end like a whisper in the wind. He brought their years to an end in terror.
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Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear.
34 When he killed [some of] them, [the rest] searched for him. They turned from their sins and eagerly looked for God.
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When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
35 They remembered that God was their rock, that the Most High was their defender.
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Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.
36 They flattered him with their mouths and lied to him with their tongues.
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Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;
37 Their hearts were not loyal to him. They were not faithful to his promise.
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For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38 But he is compassionate. He forgave their sin. He did not destroy them. He restrained his anger many times. He did not display all of his fury.
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But 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 He remembered that they were only flesh and blood, a breeze that blows and does not return.
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For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness! How often they caused him grief in the desert!
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How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!
41 Again and again they tested God, and they pushed the Holy One of Israel to the limit.
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Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power-- the day he freed them from their oppressor,
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They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43 when he performed his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders in the fields of Zoan.
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When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
44 He turned their rivers into blood so that they could not drink from their streams.
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Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, that they could not drink.
45 He sent a swarm of flies that bit them and frogs that ruined them.
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He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to grasshoppers and their produce to locusts.
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He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.
47 He killed their vines with hail and their fig trees with frost.
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He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He let the hail strike their cattle and bolts of lightning strike their livestock.
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He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning.
49 He sent his burning anger, rage, fury, and hostility against them. He sent an army of destroying angels.
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He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, By sending angels of destruction among them.
50 He cleared a path for his anger. He did not spare them. He let the plague take their lives.
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He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague,
51 He slaughtered every firstborn in Egypt, the ones born in the tents of Ham when their fathers were young.
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And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But he led his own people out like sheep and guided them like a flock through the wilderness.
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But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53 He led them safely. They had no fear while the sea covered their enemies.
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And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 He brought them into his holy land, to this mountain that his power had won.
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And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired.
55 He forced nations out of their way and gave them the land of the nations as their inheritance. He settled the tribes of Israel in their own tents.
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He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 They tested God Most High and rebelled against him. They did not obey his written instructions.
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Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies,
57 They were disloyal and treacherous like their ancestors. They were like arrows shot from a defective bow.
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But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 They made him angry because of their illegal worship sites. They made him furious because they worshiped idols.
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For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59 When God heard, he became furious. He completely rejected Israel.
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When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel,
60 He abandoned his dwelling place in Shiloh, the tent where he had lived among humans.
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So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,
61 He allowed his power to be taken captive and handed his glory over to an oppressor.
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And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy's hand.
62 He let swords kill his people. He was furious with those who belonged to him.
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He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance.
63 Fire consumed his best young men, so his virgins heard no wedding songs.
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The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage.
64 His priests were cut down with swords. The widows [of his priests] could not even weep [for them].
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Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord woke up like one who had been sleeping, like a warrior sobering up from [too much] wine.
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Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
66 He struck his enemies from behind and disgraced them forever.
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And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph. He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
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Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
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But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.
69 He built his holy place to be like the high heavens, like the earth which he made to last for a long time.
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And 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 sheep pens.
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He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 He brought him from tending the ewes that had lambs so that David could be the shepherd of the people of Jacob, of Israel, the people who belonged to the LORD.
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From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.
72 With unselfish devotion David became their shepherd. With skill he guided them.
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So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.