1Give ear , O my people , to my law : incline your ears to the words of my mouth . 2I will open my mouth in a parable : I will utter dark sayings of old : 3Which we have heard and known , and our fathers have told us. 4We will not hide them from their children , shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD , and his strength , and his wonderful works that he hath done . 5For 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 : 6That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born ; who should arise and declare them to their children : 7That they might set their hope in God , and not forget the works of God , but keep his commandments : 8And might not be as their fathers , a stubborn and rebellious generation ; a generation that set not their heart aright , and whose spirit was not stedfast with God .
Israel's Rebellion and God's Patience
9The children of Ephraim , being armed , and carrying bows , turned back in the day of battle . 10They kept not the covenant of God , and refused to walk in his law ; 11And forgat his works , and his wonders that he had shewed them. 12Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers , in the land of Egypt , in the field of Zoan . 13He divided the sea , and caused them to pass through ; and he made the waters to stand as an heap . 14In the daytime also he led them with a cloud , and all the night with a light of fire . 15He clave the rocks in the wilderness , and gave them drink as out of the great depths . 16He brought streams also out of the rock , and caused waters to run down like rivers .
The Consequences of Unfaithfulness
17And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness . 18And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust . 19Yea, they spake against God ; they said , Can God furnish a table in the wilderness ? 20Behold, he smote the rock , that the waters gushed out , and the streams overflowed ; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people ? 21Therefore the LORD heard this , and was wroth : so a fire was kindled against Jacob , and anger also came up against Israel ; 22Because they believed not in God , and trusted not in his salvation : 23Though he had commanded the clouds from above , and opened the doors of heaven , 24And had rained down manna upon them to eat , and had given them of the corn of heaven . 25Man did eat angels’ food : he sent them meat to the full . 26He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven : and by his power he brought in the south wind . 27He rained flesh also upon them as dust , and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea : 28And he let it fall in the midst of their camp , round about their habitations . 29So they did eat , and were well filled : for he gave them their own desire ; 30They were not estranged from their lust . But while their meat was yet in their mouths , 31The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel .
God's Sovereignty and Provision
32For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works . 33Therefore their days did he consume in vanity , and their years in trouble . 34When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God . 35And they remembered that God was their rock , and the high God their redeemer . 36Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth , and they lied unto him with their tongues . 37For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant . 38But he, being full of compassion , forgave their iniquity , and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away , and did not stir up all his wrath . 39For he remembered that they were but flesh ; a wind that passeth away , and cometh not again .
The Call to Faithfulness
40How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness , and grieve him in the desert ! 41Yea, they turned back and tempted God , and limited the Holy One of Israel . 42They remembered not his hand , nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy . 43How he had wrought his signs in Egypt , and his wonders in the field of Zoan : 44And had turned their rivers into blood ; and their floods , that they could not drink . 45He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs , which destroyed them. 46He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller , and their labour unto the locust . 47He destroyed their vines with hail , and their sycomore trees with frost . 48He gave up their cattle also to the hail , and their flocks to hot thunderbolts . 49He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger , wrath , and indignation , and trouble , by sending evil angels among them . 50He made a way to his anger ; he spared not their soul from death , but gave their life over to the pestilence ; 51And smote all the firstborn in Egypt ; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham : 52But made his own people to go forth like sheep , and guided them in the wilderness like a flock . 53And he led them on safely , so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies . 54And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary , even to this mountain , which his right hand had purchased . 55He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line , and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents . 56Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God , and kept not his testimonies : 57But turned back , and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers : they were turned aside like a deceitful bow . 58For they provoked him to anger with their high places , and moved him to jealousy with their graven images . 59When God heard this , he was wroth , and greatly abhorred Israel : 60So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh , the tent which he placed among men ; 61And delivered his strength into captivity , and his glory into the enemy’s hand . 62He gave his people over also unto the sword ; and was wroth with his inheritance . 63The fire consumed their young men ; and their maidens were not given to marriage . 64Their priests fell by the sword ; and their widows made no lamentation . 65Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep , and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine . 66And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts : he put them to a perpetual reproach . 67Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph , and chose not the tribe of Ephraim : 68But chose the tribe of Judah , the mount Zion which he loved . 69And he built his sanctuary like high palaces , like the earth which he hath established for ever . 70He chose David also his servant , and took him from the sheepfolds : 71From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people , and Israel his inheritance . 72So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart ; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands .