Psalm 78 | New International Reader’s Version

A maskil of Asaph.

1 My people, listen to my teaching. Pay attention to what I say. 2 I will open my mouth and tell a story. I will speak about things that were hidden. They happened a long time ago. 3 We have heard about them and we know them. Our people who lived before us have told us about them. 4 We won’t hide them from our children. We will tell them to those who live after us. We will tell them what the LORD has done that is worthy of praise. We will talk about his power and the wonderful things he has done. 5 He gave laws to the people of Jacob. He gave Israel their law. He commanded our people who lived before us to teach his laws to their children. 6 Then those born later would know his laws. Even their children yet to come would know them. And they in turn would tell their children. 7 Then they would put their trust in God. They would not forget what he had done. They would obey his commands. 8 They would not be like their people who lived long ago. Those people were stubborn. They refused to obey God. They turned away from him. Their spirits were not faithful to him. 9 The soldiers of Ephraim were armed with bows. But they ran away on the day of battle. 10 They didn’t keep the covenant God had made with them. They refused to live by his law. 11 They forgot what he had done. They didn’t remember the wonders he had shown them. 12 He did miracles right in front of their people who lived long ago. At that time they were living in Egypt, in the area of Zoan. 13 God parted the Red Sea and led them through it. He made the water stand up like a wall. 14 He guided them with the cloud during the day. He led them with the light of a fire all night long. 15 He broke the rocks open in the desert. He gave them as much water as there is in the oceans. 16 He brought streams out of a rocky cliff. He made water flow down like rivers. 17 But they continued to sin against him. In the desert they refused to obey the Most High God. 18 They were stubborn and tested God. They ordered him to give them the food they wanted. 19 They spoke against God. They said, ‘Can God really put food on a table in the desert? 20 It is true that he struck the rock, and streams of water poured out. Huge amounts of water flowed down. But can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?’ 21 When the LORD heard what they said, he was very angry. His anger broke out like fire against the people of Jacob. He became very angry with Israel. 22 That was because they didn’t believe in God. They didn’t trust in his power to save them. 23 But he gave a command to the skies above. He opened the doors of the heavens. 24 He rained down manna for the people to eat. He gave them the corn of heaven. 25 Mere human beings ate the bread of angels. He sent them all the food they could eat. 26 He made the east wind blow from the heavens. By his power he caused the south wind to blow. 27 He rained down meat on them like dust. He sent them birds like sand on the seashore. 28 He made the birds come down inside their camp. The birds fell all around their tents. 29 People ate until they couldn’t eat any more. He gave them what they had wanted. 30 But even before they had finished eating, God acted. He did it while the food was still in their mouths. 31 His anger rose up against them. He put to death the strongest among them. He struck down Israel’s young men. 32 But even after all that, they kept on sinning. Even after the wonderful things he had done, they still didn’t believe. 33 So he brought their days to an end like a puff of smoke. He ended their years with terror. 34 Every time God killed some of them, the others would seek him. They gladly turned back to him again. 35 They remembered that God was their Rock. They remembered that God Most High had set them free. 36 But they didn’t mean it when they praised him. They lied to him when they spoke. 37 They turned away from him. They weren’t faithful to the covenant he had made with them. 38 But he was full of tender love. He forgave their sins and didn’t destroy his people. Time after time he held back his anger. He didn’t let all his burning anger blaze out. 39 He remembered that they were only human. He remembered they were only a breath of air that drifts by and doesn’t return. 40 How often they refused to obey him in the desert! How often they caused him sorrow in that dry and empty land! 41 Again and again they tested God. They made the Holy One of Israel sad and angry. 42 They didn’t remember his power. They forgot the day he set them free from those who had treated them so badly. 43 They forgot how he had shown them his signs in Egypt. They forgot his miracles in the area of Zoan. 44 He turned the river of Egypt into blood. The people of Egypt couldn’t drink water from their streams. 45 He sent large numbers of flies that bit them. He sent frogs that destroyed their land. 46 He gave their crops to the grasshoppers. He gave their food to the locusts. 47 He destroyed their vines with hail. He destroyed their fig-trees with sleet. 48 He killed their cattle with hail. Their livestock were struck by lightning. 49 Because he was so angry with Egypt, he caused them to have great trouble. In his great anger he sent destroying angels against them. 50 God prepared a path for his anger. He didn’t spare their lives. He gave them over to the plague. 51 He killed the eldest son of each family in Egypt. He struck down the eldest son in every house in the land of Ham. 52 But he brought his people out like a flock. He led them like sheep through the desert. 53 He guided them safely, and they weren’t afraid. But the Red Sea swallowed up their enemies. 54 And so he brought his people to the border of his holy land. He led them to the central hill country he had taken by his power. 55 He drove out the nations to make room for his people. He gave to each family a piece of land to pass on to their children. He gave the tribes of Israel a place to make their homes. 56 But they tested God. They refused to obey the Most High God. They didn’t keep his laws. 57 They were like their people who lived long ago. They turned away from him and were not faithful. They were like a bow that doesn’t shoot straight. They couldn’t be trusted. 58 They made God angry by going to their high places. They made him jealous by worshipping the statues of their gods. 59 When God saw what the people were doing, he was very angry. He turned away from them completely. 60 He deserted the holy tent at Shiloh. He left the tent he had set up among his people. 61 He allowed the ark to be captured. Into the hands of his enemies he sent the ark where his glory rested. 62 He let his people be killed by swords. He was very angry with them. 63 Fire destroyed their young men. Their young women had no one to marry. 64 Their priests were killed by swords. Their widows weren’t able to weep. 65 Then the Lord woke up as if he had been sleeping. He was like a warrior waking up from the deep sleep caused by wine. 66 He drove back his enemies. He put them to shame that will last for ever. 67 He turned his back on the tents of the people of Joseph. He didn’t choose to live in the tribe of Ephraim. 68 Instead, he chose to live in the tribe of Judah. He chose Mount Zion, which he loved. 69 There he built his holy place as secure as the heavens. He built it to last for ever, like the earth. 70 He chose his servant David. He took him from the sheepfolds. 71 He brought him from tending sheep to be the shepherd of his people Jacob. He made him the shepherd of Israel, his special people. 72 David cared for them with a faithful and honest heart. With skilled hands he led them.

Nuova Riveduta 2006

Fedeltà di Dio nella storia d’Israele

1 Cantico di Asaf. Ascolta, popolo mio, il mio insegnamento; porgete orecchio alle parole della mia bocca! 2 Io aprirò la mia bocca per esprimere parabole, esporrò i misteri dei tempi antichi. 3 Quel che abbiamo udito e conosciuto, e che i nostri padri ci hanno raccontato, 4 non lo nasconderemo ai loro figli; diremo alla generazione futura le lodi del Signore, la sua potenza e le meraviglie che egli ha operate. 5 Egli stabilì una testimonianza in Giacobbe, istituì una legge in Israele e ordinò ai nostri padri di farle conoscere ai loro figli, 6 perché fossero note alla generazione futura, ai figli che sarebbero nati. Questi le avrebbero così raccontate ai loro figli, 7 perché ponessero in Dio la loro speranza e non dimenticassero le opere di Dio, ma osservassero i suoi comandamenti. 8 Tutto ciò per non essere come i loro padri, una generazione ostinata e ribelle, una generazione dal cuore incostante, il cui spirito non fu fedele a Dio. 9 I figli di Efraim, gente di guerra, buoni arcieri, voltarono le spalle il dì della battaglia. 10 Non osservarono il patto di Dio e rifiutarono di camminare secondo la sua legge; 11 dimenticarono le sue opere e i prodigi che egli aveva mostrati loro. 12 Egli aveva compiuto meraviglie in presenza dei loro padri, nel paese d’Egitto, nelle campagne di Soan*. 13 Divise il mare, li fece passare e fermò le acque come in un mucchio. 14 Di giorno li guidò con una nuvola, e tutta la notte con un fuoco fiammeggiante. 15 Spaccò le rocce nel deserto e li dissetò abbondantemente, come da sorgenti d’acque profonde. 16 Fece scaturire ruscelli dalla rupe, fece sgorgare acque come fiumi. 17 Ma essi continuarono a peccare contro di lui, a ribellarsi contro l’Altissimo, nel deserto. 18 Tentarono Dio in cuor loro, chiedendo cibo secondo le proprie voglie. 19 Parlarono contro Dio, dicendo: «Potrebbe Dio imbandirci una mensa nel deserto? 20 Ecco, egli percosse la roccia e ne sgorgarono acque, ne strariparono torrenti; potrebbe darci anche del pane e provvedere di carne il suo popolo?» 21 Perciò il Signore, quando l’udì, si adirò aspramente e un fuoco si accese contro Giacobbe; l’ira sua si infuriò contro Israele, 22 perché non avevano creduto in Dio, né avevano avuto fiducia nella sua salvezza. 23 Eppure egli comandò alle nuvole dall’alto, aprì le porte del cielo, 24 fece piovere su di essi la manna per nutrimento e diede loro il frumento del cielo. 25 Essi mangiarono il pane dei potenti; egli mandò loro cibo a sazietà. 26 Scatenò in cielo il vento orientale, e con la sua potenza fece alzare il vento del mezzogiorno; 27 fece piovere su di loro carne come polvere, uccelli alati, numerosi come sabbia del mare; 28 li fece cadere in mezzo al loro accampamento, intorno alle loro tende. 29 Così essi mangiarono, furono saziati e Dio mandò loro quel che avevano desiderato. 30 Non era ancora stata soddisfatta la loro ingordigia, avevano ancora il cibo in bocca, 31 quando l’ira di Dio si scatenò contro di loro, uccise i più vigorosi e abbatté i giovani d’Israele. 32 Con tutto ciò peccarono ancora, non prestando fede ai suoi prodigi. 33 Perciò egli consumò i loro giorni in un niente e i loro anni con un terrore improvviso. 34 Quando li faceva perire, essi lo cercavano e ritornavano desiderosi di ritrovare Dio; 35 e si ricordavano che Dio era la loro rocca, che il Dio altissimo era il loro liberatore. 36 Essi però lo adulavano con la bocca e gli mentivano con la lingua. 37 Il loro cuore non era sincero con lui e non erano fedeli al suo patto. 38 Ma egli, che è pietoso, perdona l’iniquità e non distrugge il peccatore. Più volte trattenne la sua ira e non lasciò divampare tutto il suo sdegno, 39 ricordando che essi erano carne, un soffio che va e non ritorna. 40 Quante volte si ribellarono a lui nel deserto e lo rattristarono in quella solitudine! 41 Ma ricominciarono a tentare Dio e a provocare il Santo d’Israele. 42 Non si ricordarono più della sua mano, del giorno in cui egli li liberò dal nemico, 43 quando operò i suoi miracoli in Egitto e i suoi prodigi nelle campagne di Soan. 44 Egli mutò i loro fiumi e i loro ruscelli in sangue, perché non vi potessero più bere. 45 Mandò contro di loro mosche velenose a divorarli e rane a molestarli. 46 Diede il loro raccolto ai bruchi e il frutto della loro fatica alle cavallette. 47 Distrusse le loro vigne con la grandine e i loro sicomori con i grossi chicchi d’essa. 48 Abbandonò il loro bestiame alla grandine e le loro greggi ai fulmini. 49 Scatenò su di loro il furore del suo sdegno, ira, indignazione e tribolazione, una moltitudine di messaggeri di sventure. 50 Diede sfogo alla sua ira; non preservò dalla morte la loro anima, ma abbandonò la loro vita alla peste. 51 Percosse tutti i primogeniti d’Egitto, le primizie del vigore nelle tende di Cam*; 52 ma fece partire il suo popolo come un gregge e lo guidò attraverso il deserto come una mandria. 53 Li condusse sicuri e senza timore, mentre il mare inghiottiva i loro nemici. 54 Li fece arrivare alla sua terra santa, al monte che la sua destra aveva conquistato. 55 Scacciò le nazioni davanti a loro, assegnò loro a sorte il territorio come eredità e fece abitare le tribù d’Israele nelle tende di quelli. 56 Ma essi tentarono il Dio altissimo, si ribellarono e non osservarono i suoi statuti. 57 Si sviarono e furono sleali come i loro padri; si rivoltarono come un arco fallace; 58 lo provocarono a ira con i loro alti luoghi, lo resero geloso con i loro idoli. 59 Dio udì, si adirò, ed ebbe per Israele grande avversione, 60 abbandonò il tabernacolo di Silo, la tenda in cui aveva abitato fra gli uomini; 61 lasciò condurre la sua forza in schiavitù e lasciò cadere la sua gloria in mano al nemico. 62 Abbandonò il suo popolo alla spada e si adirò contro la sua eredità. 63 Il fuoco consumò i loro giovani e le loro vergini non ebbero canto nuziale. 64 I loro sacerdoti caddero di spada e le loro vedove non fecero lamento. 65 Poi il Signore si risvegliò come dal sonno, simile a un prode che grida eccitato dal vino. 66 Colpì i suoi nemici alle spalle, li coprì di eterna vergogna. 67 Ripudiò la tenda di Giuseppe e non scelse la tribù di Efraim; 68 ma elesse la tribù di Giuda, il monte Sion che egli amava. 69 Costruì il suo tempio, simile a luoghi altissimi, come la terra che egli ha fondata per sempre. 70 Scelse Davide, suo servo, lo prese dagli ovili; 71 lo portò via alle pecore che allattavano, per pascere Giacobbe, suo popolo, e Israele, sua eredità. 72 Ed egli si curò di loro con un cuore integro e li guidò con mano sapiente.

Psalm 78 | New International Reader’s Version Nuova Riveduta 2006

A maskil of Asaph.

Fedeltà di Dio nella storia d’Israele