Psalm 78 – NIRV & OL

New International Reader’s Version

Psalm 78:1-72

Psalm 78

A maskil of Asaph.

1My people, listen to my teaching.

Pay attention to what I say.

2I will open my mouth and tell a story.

I will speak about things that were hidden.

They happened a long time ago.

3We have heard about them and we know them.

Our people who lived before us have told us about them.

4We 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.

5He 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.

6Then those born later would know his laws.

Even their children yet to come would know them.

And they in turn would tell their children.

7Then they would put their trust in God.

They would not forget what he had done.

They would obey his commands.

8They 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.

9The soldiers of Ephraim were armed with bows.

But they ran away on the day of battle.

10They didn’t keep the covenant God had made with them.

They refused to live by his law.

11They forgot what he had done.

They didn’t remember the wonders he had shown them.

12He 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.

13God parted the Red Sea and led them through it.

He made the water stand up like a wall.

14He guided them with the cloud during the day.

He led them with the light of a fire all night long.

15He broke the rocks open in the desert.

He gave them as much water as there is in the oceans.

16He brought streams out of a rocky cliff.

He made water flow down like rivers.

17But they continued to sin against him.

In the desert they refused to obey the Most High God.

18They were stubborn and tested God.

They ordered him to give them the food they wanted.

19They spoke against God. They said,

“Can God really put food on a table in the desert?

20It 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?”

21When 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.

22That was because they didn’t believe in God.

They didn’t trust in his power to save them.

23But he gave a command to the skies above.

He opened the doors of the heavens.

24He rained down manna for the people to eat.

He gave them the grain of heaven.

25Mere human beings ate the bread of angels.

He sent them all the food they could eat.

26He made the east wind blow from the heavens.

By his power he caused the south wind to blow.

27He rained down meat on them like dust.

He sent them birds like sand on the seashore.

28He made the birds come down inside their camp.

The birds fell all around their tents.

29People ate until they couldn’t eat any more.

He gave them what they had wanted.

30But even before they had finished eating, God acted.

He did it while the food was still in their mouths.

31His anger rose up against them.

He put to death the strongest among them.

He struck down Israel’s young men.

32But even after all that, they kept on sinning.

Even after the wonderful things he had done, they still didn’t believe.

33So he brought their days to an end like a puff of smoke.

He ended their years with terror.

34Every time God killed some of them, the others would seek him.

They gladly turned back to him again.

35They remembered that God was their Rock.

They remembered that God Most High had set them free.

36But they didn’t mean it when they praised him.

They lied to him when they spoke.

37They turned away from him.

They weren’t faithful to the covenant he had made with them.

38But 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.

39He remembered that they were only human.

He remembered they were only a breath of air

that drifts by and doesn’t return.

40How often they refused to obey him in the desert!

How often they caused him sorrow in that dry and empty land!

41Again and again they tested God.

They made the Holy One of Israel sad and angry.

42They didn’t remember his power.

They forgot the day he set them free

from those who had treated them so badly.

43They forgot how he had shown them his signs in Egypt.

They forgot his miracles in the area of Zoan.

44He turned the river of Egypt into blood.

The people of Egypt couldn’t drink water from their streams.

45He sent large numbers of flies that bit them.

He sent frogs that destroyed their land.

46He gave their crops to the grasshoppers.

He gave their food to the locusts.

47He destroyed their vines with hail.

He destroyed their fig trees with sleet.

48He killed their cattle with hail.

Their livestock were struck by lightning.

49Because he was so angry with Egypt, he caused them to have great trouble.

In his great anger he sent destroying angels against them.

50God prepared a path for his anger.

He didn’t spare their lives.

He gave them over to the plague.

51He killed the oldest son of each family in Egypt.

He struck down the oldest son in every house in the land of Ham.

52But he brought his people out like a flock.

He led them like sheep through the desert.

53He guided them safely, and they weren’t afraid.

But the Red Sea swallowed up their enemies.

54And 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.

55He 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.

56But they tested God.

They refused to obey the Most High God.

They didn’t keep his laws.

57They 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.

58They made God angry by going to their high places.

They made him jealous by worshiping the statues of their gods.

59When God saw what the people were doing, he was very angry.

He turned away from them completely.

60He deserted the holy tent at Shiloh.

He left the tent he had set up among his people.

61He allowed the ark to be captured.

Into the hands of his enemies he sent the ark where his glory rested.

62He let his people be killed by swords.

He was very angry with them.

63Fire destroyed their young men.

Their young women had no one to marry.

64Their priests were killed by swords.

Their widows weren’t able to weep.

65Then the Lord woke up as if he had been sleeping.

He was like a warrior waking up from the deep sleep caused by wine.

66He drove back his enemies.

He put them to shame that will last forever.

67He turned his back on the tents of the people of Joseph.

He didn’t choose to live in the tribe of Ephraim.

68Instead, he chose to live in the tribe of Judah.

He chose Mount Zion, which he loved.

69There he built his holy place as secure as the heavens.

He built it to last forever, like the earth.

70He chose his servant David.

He took him from the sheep pens.

71He brought him from tending sheep

to be the shepherd of his people Jacob.

He made him the shepherd of Israel, his special people.

72David cared for them with a faithful and honest heart.

With skilled hands he led them.

O Livro

Salmos 78:1-72

Salmo 78

Cântico didático de Asafe.

1Meu povo, presta atenção ao meu ensino;

abre os ouvidos às palavras da minha boca.

2Falarei por parábolas;

explicarei mistérios desde a antiguidade.

3Os problemas que os nossos pais enfrentaram

e que servem para nos ensinar a nós;

coisas que ouvimos e sabemos,

que os nossos pais nos contaram.

4Também não deixaremos de contar

e de mostrar às gerações futuras

as coisas pelas quais o Senhor deve ser louvado,

o seu poder e todos os seus milagres.

5Deus deu o seu testemunho a Jacob,

e estabeleceu a sua Lei em Israel;

mandou que os nossos pais

os dessem a conhecer aos seus filhos.

6Para que as gerações futuras os conhecessem;

foi assim que passaram de geração em geração.

7Pois era necessário que confiassem em Deus;

não esquecessem as suas obras maravilhosas

e sempre guardassem os seus mandamentos.

8Que não fossem como os seus antepassados,

gente teimosa e rebelde,

que não soube entregar o seu coração a Deus

nem submeter-lhe fielmente o seu espírito.

9O povo de Efraim, completamente armado,

virou as costas à batalha, tomado de medo.

10Não se manteve fiel à aliança de Deus

e recusou andar na sua Lei.

11Esqueceu-se das obras

e dos milagres que fizera na sua frente.

12E também na frente dos seus pais,

lá no Egito e em Zoã.

13Dividiu o mar em dois e fê-los passar;

fez com que as águas se amontoassem e atravessaram.

14De dia guiava-os com uma nuvem branca

e de noite com um clarão de fogo.

15Fez as rochas abrirem-se para lhes dar água

que correu com a abundância de um rio.

16Fez com que fontes saíssem das rochas,

donde brotaram caudais de água.

17Mesmo assim, continuaram a pecar;

não tiveram medo de, ali no deserto,

desafiar o Altíssimo.

18Queixaram-se, exigindo que Deus lhes desse outra comida,

pois apetecia-lhes carne.

19Revoltavam-se, dizendo: “Será Deus capaz

de servir-nos à mesa no deserto?

20É verdade que ele bateu na rocha e dela saiu água;

tanta que formava um rio!

Mas poderá ele dar-nos também pão,

e preparar carne verdadeira para o seu povo?”

21Ouvindo isto, acendeu-se a ira do Senhor,

que lançou fogo

contra Jacob e também se indignou contra Israel.

22Pois não creram em Deus,

nem na sua capacidade para os salvar.

23Isto apesar do Senhor já ter ordenado

que se abrissem as janelas do céu.

24Fez chover sobre eles o maná,

que era o pão do céu, para se alimentarem.

25Assim puderam comer a comida dos anjos,

tanta quanto quiseram, até fartar!

26Contudo, Deus fez que soprasse com força

um vento de oriente e também do sul.

27Este trouxe sobre eles bandos de aves

que mais pareciam nuvens de pó ou de areia,

como quando se levanta o vento na praia.

28As aves vieram parar-lhes mesmo às mãos,

ali onde estavam, no meio das suas tendas.

29E o povo comeu até se fartar;

tiveram o que desejavam.

30Contudo, mal tinham satisfeito o seu apetite,

ainda tinham aquela comida na boca.

31A ira de Deus caiu sobre eles

e matou os mais fortes, a elite de Israel!

32Pois nem mesmo assim deixaram de pecar;

continuaram sem acreditar,

sem ligar aos milagres do Senhor.

33Por isso, reduziu as suas vidas a dias sem sentido,

a anos cheios de angústia.

34Sempre que Deus os deixava sentir o terror da morte,

voltavam-se para ele e buscavam-no com ansiedade.

35Lembravam-se que Deus era como um rochedo firme

e que o Deus altíssimo era o seu Redentor.

36No entanto, o culto que lhe prestavam era só de boca;

no fundo mentiam-lhe!

37Os seus corações não eram retos para com Deus;

não foram fiéis à sua aliança.

38Mas Deus, que é extremamente misericordioso,

perdoou-lhes a sua maldade e não os destruiu;

frequentemente suspendeu o rigor da sua justiça e indignação.

39Porque se lembrava que eram meros humanos;

mortais que desaparecem num momento,

como um vento que sopra e não volta.

40Oh! Quantas vezes ofenderam a Deus no deserto

e na solidão o provocaram!

41Quantas vezes puseram Deus à prova;

irritaram constantemente o Santo de Israel.

42Esqueceram-se da força que tem a sua mão;

de tudo o que já tinha feito para livrá-los dos adversários.

43Esqueceram-se dos milagres que fez no Egito,

e das maravilhas que fez acontecer nos campos de Zoã.

44Como transformou em sangue as águas dos rios,

de modo que ninguém podia matar a sede.

45Como mandou grandes enxames de moscas,

que cobriram a terra,

e também rãs que encheram todo o Egito!

46As lagartas comeram-lhes as plantas

e os gafanhotos levaram o produto de todo o seu trabalho.

47Destruiu-lhes as vinhas e as figueiras bravas com a saraiva.

48Também o gado foi morto pelo granizo

e os rebanhos desvastados pelos raios.

49Soltou sobre eles a intensidade

de toda a sua severidade e indignação;

mandou-lhes angústias.

50Deu livre curso à sua cólera, não lhes poupou a vida;

deixou-os entregues às doenças e às pestes.

51Tirou a vida ao filho mais velho das famílias egípcias,

aqueles que constituíam os descendentes de Cam.

52Contudo, conduziu o seu povo através do deserto,

como um pastor que leva o rebanho.

53Guiou-os com segurança,

para não terem de recear coisa alguma;

aos adversários do seu povo, porém, o mar os cobriu.

54Conduziu-os até à entrada daquela terra santa,

que lhes tinha destinado;

até ao monte que, com o seu poder, lhes tinha reservado.

55Expulsou as nações que ocupavam essa terra

e repartiu-a por cada uma das tribos de Israel.

56Contudo, continuaram a revoltar-se,

e puseram à prova o Deus altíssimo;

recusaram obedecer aos seus mandamentos.

57Desviaram-se de Deus e foram-lhe infiéis

e foram desobedientes como os seus pais;

portaram-se como um arco cuja flecha se vira contra o atirador.

58Fizeram suscitar a cólera de Deus,

levantando altares a outros deuses

e fazendo imagens para adorarem.

59Ao ouvir isto Deus ficou altamente indignado

e rejeitou Israel.

60Por isso, abandonou a sua morada em Silo,

onde habitara no meio dos homens.

61Permitiu que a sua arca,

que representava a sua força e esplendor, fosse capturada pelo inimigo.

62Deixou que o seu povo fosse chacinado,

porque estava intensamente irado.

63Os seus jovens foram mortos pelo fogo

e as raparigas calaram as canções de noivado,

antes de atingirem a idade do casamento.

64Os sacerdotes foram assassinados

e as suas viúvas não puderam chorá-los.

65Até que o Senhor se levantou,

como se despertasse dum sono,

ou como um guerreiro que recobra os sentidos,

depois de uma noite de festa.

66Dispersou os seus inimigos,

que se puseram em fuga,

entregues a um desprezo permanente.

67Depois o Senhor entendeu por bem

não considerar a família de José, a tribo de Efraim.

68Em seu lugar escolheu a tribo de Judá

e o monte Sião que ele amava.

69Ali construiu um célebre templo,

como a Terra que estabeleceu para sempre.

70Também escolheu David para o servir,

quando este era pastor de ovelhas.

71David deixou as ovelhas e os cordeirinhos,

para ser o pastor de Jacob, o povo de Deus,

e de Israel, a sua propriedade.

72Ele conduziu esse rebanho do Senhor,

com integridade de coração e mãos hábeis.