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That the Generation to Come Might Know

^1 (C1)Give ear, O my people, to my ^(F1)instruction;
^(C2)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

² I will ^(C1)open my mouth in a parable;
I will pour forth ^(C2)dark sayings of old,

³ Which we have heard and known,
And ^(C1)our fathers have recounted to us.

⁴ We will ^(C1)not conceal them from their children,
But ^(C2)recount to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh,
And His strength and His ^(C3)wondrous deeds that He has done.

⁵ For He established a ^(C1)testimony in Jacob
And set a ^(C2)law in Israel,
Which He ^(C3)commanded our fathers
That they should ^(F1)(C4)teach them to their children,

^6 (C1)That the generation to come might know, even ^(C2)the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and ^(C3)recount them to their children,

⁷ That they should set their confidence in God
And ^(C1)not forget the deeds of God,
But ^(C2)observe His commandments,

⁸ And ^(C1)not be like their fathers,
A ^(C2)stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that ^(C3)did not ^(F1)prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not ^(C4)faithful to God.

⁹ The sons of Ephraim ^(F1)were ^(C1)archers equipped with bows,
Yet ^(C2)they turned back in the day of battle.

¹⁰ They ^(C1)did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to ^(C2)walk in His law;

¹¹ So they ^(C1)forgot His acts
And His ^(F1)wondrous deeds that He had shown them.

^12 (C1)He did wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the ^(C2)field of Zoan.

¹³ He ^(C1)split the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand ^(C2)up like a heap.

¹⁴ Then He led them with the cloud by ^(C1)day
And all the night with a ^(C2)light of fire.

¹⁵ He was ^(C1)splitting the rocks in the wilderness
And so gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.

¹⁶ He ^(C1)brought forth streams also from the cliff face
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹⁷ Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To ^(C1)rebel against the Most High in the desert.

¹⁸ And in their heart they ^(C1)put God to the test
By asking for ^(C2)food according to their desire.

¹⁹ Then they spoke against God;
They said, "^(C1)Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

²⁰ "Behold, He ^(C1)struck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He give bread also?
Will He prepare ^(F1)(C2)meat for His people?"

²¹ Therefore Yahweh heard and ^(F1)was ^(C1)full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob
And anger also mounted against Israel,

²² Because they ^(C1)did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.

²³ Yet He commanded the skies above
And ^(C1)opened the doors of heaven;

²⁴ He ^(C1)rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them ^(C2)grain from heaven.

²⁵ Man ate the bread of ^(F1)angels;
He sent them provision ^(C1)to satisfy.

²⁶ He ^(C1)led forth the east wind in the heavens
And by His strength He guided the south wind.

²⁷ Then He rained ^(F1)meat upon them like the dust,
Even ^(C1)winged fowl like the sand of the seas,

²⁸ He caused them to fall in the midst of His camp,
All around His dwelling places.

²⁹ So they ^(C1)ate and were very satisfied,
And their desire He brought to them.

^30 (F1)Before they had satisfied their desire,
^(C1)While their food was in their mouths,

³¹ The ^(C1)anger of God rose against them
And killed ^(F1)some of their ^(C2)stoutest ones,
And ^(F2)subdued the choice men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this they ^(C1)still sinned
And ^(C2)did not believe in His wondrous deeds.

³³ So He brought ^(C1)their days to an end in ^(F1)futility
And their years in sudden terror.

³⁴ When He killed them, then they ^(C1)sought Him,
And returned and sought ^(C2)earnestly for God;

³⁵ And they remembered that God was their ^(C1)rock,
And the Most High God their ^(C2)Redeemer.

³⁶ But they ^(C1)deceived Him with their mouth
And ^(C2)lied to Him with their tongue.

³⁷ For their heart was not ^(C1)prepared to remain with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

³⁸ But He, being ^(C1)compassionate, ^(C2)atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them;
And He abounded in ^(C3)turning back His anger
And did not arouse all His wrath.

³⁹ Thus ^(C1)He remembered that they were but ^(C2)flesh,
A ^(F1)(C3)wind that goes and does not return.

⁴⁰ How often they ^(C1)rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And ^(C2)grieved Him in the ^(C3)wasteland!

⁴¹ Again and again they ^(F1)(C1)tested God,
And pained the ^(C2)Holy One of Israel.

⁴² They ^(C1)did not remember ^(C2)His ^(F1)power,
The day when He ^(C3)redeemed them from the adversary,

⁴³ When He performed His ^(C1)signs in Egypt
And His ^(C2)miracles in the field of Zoan,

⁴⁴ And ^(C1)turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, they could not drink.

⁴⁵ He sent among them swarms of ^(C1)flies which devoured them,
And ^(C2)frogs which destroyed them.

⁴⁶ He gave also their crops to the ^(C1)grasshopper
And the fruit of their labor to the ^(C2)locust.

⁴⁷ He killed their vines with ^(C1)hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.

⁴⁸ He gave over their ^(C1)cattle also to the hailstones
And their herds to bolts of lightning.

⁴⁹ He ^(C1)sent upon them His burning anger,
Fury and indignation and ^(F1)distress,
^(F2)A band of destroying angels.

⁵⁰ He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not hold back their soul from death,
But ^(C1)gave over their life to the plague,

⁵¹ So He ^(C1)struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
The ^(C2)first of their vigor in the tents of ^(C3)Ham.

⁵² But He ^(C1)led forth His own people like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness ^(C2)like a flock;

⁵³ He led them ^(C1)safely, so that they did not fear;
But ^(C2)the sea covered their enemies.

⁵⁴ So ^(C1)He brought them to His holy ^(F1)land,
To this ^(F2)(C2)hill country ^(C3)which His right hand had acquired.

⁵⁵ He also ^(C1)drove out the nations before them
And ^(C2)apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

⁵⁶ Yet they ^(F1)(C1)tested and ^(C2)rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,

⁵⁷ But turned back and ^(C1)acted treacherously like their fathers;
They ^(C2)turned aside like a treacherous bow.

⁵⁸ For they ^(C1)provoked Him with their ^(C2)high places
And ^(C3)aroused His jealousy with their ^(C4)graven images.

⁵⁹ God heard and ^(F1)was filled with ^(C1)wrath
And greatly ^(C2)rejected Israel;

⁶⁰ So that He ^(C1)abandoned the ^(C2)dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent ^(F1)which He caused to dwell among men,

⁶¹ And gave up His ^(C1)strength to captivity
And His beauty ^(C2)into the hand of the adversary.

⁶² He also ^(C1)gave over His people to the sword,
And ^(F1)was filled with wrath at His inheritance.

^63 (C1)Fire devoured ^(F1)His choice men,
And ^(F1)His ^(C2)virgins had no wedding songs.

^64 (F1)His ^(C1)priests fell by the sword,
And ^(F2)His ^(C2)widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord ^(C1)awoke as if from sleep,
As if He were a ^(C2)warrior ^(F1)overcome by wine.

⁶⁶ He ^(C1)struck His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting reproach.

⁶⁷ He also ^(C1)rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

⁶⁸ But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount ^(C1)Zion which He loved.

⁶⁹ And He ^(C1)built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has founded forever.

⁷⁰ He also ^(C1)chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹ From ^(C1)following the ^(F1)(C2)nursing ewes He brought him
To ^(C3)shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel ^(C4)His inheritance.

⁷² So he shepherded them according to the ^(C1)integrity of his heart,
And led them with his skillful hands.