New International Version NIV
New Century Version NCV
1 My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
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My people, listen to my teaching; listen to what I say.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
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I will speak using stories; I will tell secret things from long ago.
3 things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.
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We have heard them and known them by what our ancestors have told us.
4 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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We will not keep them from our children; we will tell those who come later about the praises of the Lord. We will tell about his power and the miracles he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
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The Lord made an agreement with Jacob and gave the teachings to Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children.
6 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 their children would know them, even their children not yet born. And they would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
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So they would all trust God and would not forget what he had done but would obey his commands.
8 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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They would not be like their ancestors who were stubborn and disobedient. Their hearts were not loyal to God, and they were not true to him.
9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle;
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The men of Ephraim had bows for weapons, but they ran away on the day of battle.
10 they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.
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They didn't keep their agreement with God and refused to live by his teachings.
11 They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
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They forgot what he had done and the miracles he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
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He did miracles while their ancestors watched, in the fields of Zoan in Egypt.
13 He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand up like a wall.
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He divided the Red Sea and led them through. He made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
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He led them with a cloud by day and by the light of a fire by night.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
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He split the rocks in the desert and gave them more than enough water, as if from the deep ocean.
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
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He brought streams out of the rock and caused water to flow down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
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But the people continued to sin against him; in the desert they turned against God Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.
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They decided to test God by asking for the food they wanted.
19 They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?
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Then they spoke against God, saying, "Can God prepare food in the desert?
20 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 he hit the rock, water poured out and rivers flowed down. But can he give us bread also? Will he provide his people with meat?"
21 When the LORD heard them, he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel,
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When the Lord heard them, he was very angry. His anger was like fire to the people of Jacob; his anger grew against the people of Israel.
22 for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.
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They had not believed God and had not trusted him to save them.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens;
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But he gave a command to the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven.
24 he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.
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He rained manna down on them to eat; he gave them grain from heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
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So they ate the bread of angels. He sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow.
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He sent the east wind from heaven and led the south wind by his power.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore.
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He rained meat on them like dust. The birds were as many as the sand of the sea.
28 He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents.
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He made the birds fall inside the camp, all around the tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged— he had given them what they craved.
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So the people ate and became very full. God had given them what they wanted.
30 But before they turned from what they craved, even while the food was still in their mouths,
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While they were still eating, and while the food was still in their mouths,
31 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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God became angry with them. He killed some of the healthiest of them; he struck down the best young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
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But they kept on sinning; they did not believe even with the miracles.
33 So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.
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So he ended their days without meaning and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again.
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Anytime he killed them, they would look to him for help; they would come back to God and follow him.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
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They would remember that God was their Rock, that God Most High had saved them.
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues;
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But their words were false, and their tongues lied to him.
37 their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.
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Their hearts were not really loyal to God; they did not keep his agreement.
38 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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Still God was merciful. He forgave their sins and did not destroy them. Many times he held back his anger and did not stir up all his anger.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
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He remembered that they were only human, like a wind that blows and does not come back.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland!
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They turned against God so often in the desert and grieved him there.
41 Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
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Again and again they tested God and brought pain to the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power— the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
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They did not remember his power or the time he saved them from the enemy.
43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan.
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They forgot the signs he did in Egypt and his wonders in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood; they could not drink from their streams.
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He turned their rivers to blood so no one could drink the water.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
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He sent flies that bit the people. He sent frogs that destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust.
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He gave their crops to grasshoppers and what they worked for to locusts.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
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He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning.
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He killed their animals with hail and their cattle with lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility— a band of destroying angels.
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He showed them his hot anger. He sent his strong anger against them, his destroying angels.
50 He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.
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He found a way to show his anger. He did not keep them from dying but let them die by a terrible disease.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.
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God killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt, the oldest son of each family of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
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But God led his people out like sheep and he guided them like a flock through the desert.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies.
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He led them to safety so they had nothing to fear, but their enemies drowned in the sea.
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken.
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So God brought them to his holy land, to the mountain country he took with his own power.
55 He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
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He forced out the other nations, and he had his people inherit the land. He let the tribes of Israel settle there in tents.
56 But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes.
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But they tested God and turned against God Most High; they did not keep his rules.
57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow.
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They turned away and were disloyal just like their ancestors. They were like a crooked bow that does not shoot straight.
58 They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
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They made God angry by building places to worship gods; they made him jealous with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.
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When God heard them, he became very angry and rejected the people of Israel completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans.
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He left his dwelling at Shiloh, the Tent where he lived among the people.
61 He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
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He let the Ark, his power, be captured; he let the Ark, his glory, be taken by enemies.
62 He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance.
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He let his people be killed; he was very angry with his children.
63 Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs;
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The young men died by fire, and the young women had no one to marry.
64 their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.
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Their priests fell by the sword, but their widows were not allowed to cry.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
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Then the Lord got up as if he had been asleep; he awoke like a man who had been drunk with wine.
66 He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame.
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He struck down his enemies and disgraced them forever.
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
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But God rejected the family of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.
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Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.
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And he built his Temple high like the mountains. Like the earth, he built it to last forever.
70 He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens;
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He chose David to be his servant and took him from the sheep pens.
71 from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance.
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He brought him from tending the sheep so he could lead the flock, the people of Jacob, his own people, the people of Israel.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
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And David led them with an innocent heart and guided them with skillful hands. A psalm of Asaph.