Listen, O my people, to my teaching;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth [and be willing to learn].
I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples];
I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]— [Matt 13:34, 35]
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.
¶For He established a testimony (a specific precept) in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel],
That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born
May arise and recount them to their children,
That they should place their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
And not be like their fathers—
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
¶The sons of Ephraim were armed as archers and carrying bows,
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
They did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to walk according to His law;
And they forgot His [incredible] works
And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them.
He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].
He divided the [Red] Sea and allowed them to pass through it,
And He made the waters stand up like [water behind] a dam. [Ex 14:22]
In the daytime He led them with a cloud
And all the night with a light of fire. [Ex 13:21; 14:24]
He split rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant [water to] drink like the ocean depths.
He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]
And caused waters to run down like rivers. [Ex 17:6; Num 20:11]
¶Yet they still continued to sin against Him
By rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
And in their hearts they put God to the test
By asking for food according to their [selfish] appetite.
Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness?
“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”
¶Therefore, when the LORD heard, He was full of wrath;
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
And His anger mounted up against Israel,
Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him],
And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).
Yet He commanded the clouds from above
And opened the doors of heaven;
And He rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them the grain of heaven. [Ex 16:14; John 6:31]
Man ate the bread of angels;
God sent them provision in abundance.
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind.
He rained meat upon them like the dust,
And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas. [Num 11:31]
And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Around their tents.
So they ate and were well filled,
He gave them what they craved.
Before they had satisfied their desire,
And while their food was in their mouths, [Num 11:33]
The wrath of God rose against them
And killed some of the strongest of them,
And subdued the choice young men of Israel.
In spite of all this they still sinned,
For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works.
Therefore He consumed their days like a breath [in emptiness and futility]
And their years in sudden terror.
¶When He killed [some of] them, then those remaining sought Him,
And they returned [to Him] and searched diligently for God [for a time].
And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
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