78:41 They again challenged God, 1
and offended 2 the Holy One of Israel. 3
78:42 They did not remember what he had done, 4
how he delivered them from the enemy, 5
78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds 6 in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment 7 in the region of Zoan.
78:44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.
78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, 8
as well as frogs that overran their land. 9
78:46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.
78:48 He rained hail down on their cattle, 10
and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock. 11
78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, 12
He sent fury, rage, and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster. 13
78:50 He sent his anger in full force; 14
he did not spare them from death;
he handed their lives over to destruction. 15
78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power 16 in the tents of Ham.
78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;
he led them through the wilderness like a flock.
78:53 He guided them safely along,
while the sea covered their enemies.
78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land 17 which his right hand 18 acquired.
78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;
he assigned them their tribal allotments 19
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. 20
78:56 Yet they challenged and defied 21 the sovereign God, 22
and did not obey 23 his commands. 24
78:57 They were unfaithful 25 and acted as treacherously as 26 their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. 27
78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, 28
and made him jealous with their idols.
78:59 God heard and was angry;
he completely rejected Israel.
78:60 He abandoned 29 the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; 30
he gave the symbol of his splendor 31 into the hand of the enemy. 32
78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation. 33
78:63 Fire consumed their 34 young men,
and their 35 virgins remained unmarried. 36
78:64 Their 37 priests fell by the sword,
but their 38 widows did not weep. 39
78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; 40
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. 41
78:66 He drove his enemies back;
he made them a permanent target for insults. 42
78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; 43
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 44
78:70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, 45
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation. 46
78:72 David 47 cared for them with pure motives; 48
he led them with skill. 49