Psalm 78 - Easy To Read Version

¹ My people, listen to my teachings.\par Listen to the things I say.\par

² I will tell you this story.\par I will tell you this old story.\par

³ We heard the story, and we know it well.\par Our fathers told this story.\par

⁴ And we will not forget the story.\par Our people will be telling the story to the last generation.\par We will all praise the Lord,\par and tell about the amazing things he did.\par

⁵ The Lord made an Agreement with Jacob. {\cf2\super [440]} \par God gave the Law to Israel.\par God gave the commands to our ancestors. {\cf2\super [441]} \par He told our ancestors {\cf2\super [442]} to teach the Law\par to their descendants. {\cf2\super [443]} \par

⁶ New children will be born.\par They will grow to become adults.\par And they will tell the stories\par to their children.\par In this is the way, people will know\par the Law, even to the last generation.\par

⁷ So all those people will trust God.\par They will not forget what God did.\par They will carefully obey his commands.\par

⁸ If the people teach their God’s commands\par to their children,\par then the children will not be like\par their ancestors. {\cf2\super [444]} \par Their ancestors turned against God.\par They refused to obey him.\par Those people were stubborn.\par They were not loyal to God’s Spirit.\par

⁹ The men from Ephraim had their weapons,\par but they ran away from the battle.\par

¹⁰ They didn’t keep their Agreement with God.\par They refused to obey his teachings.\par

¹¹ Those men from Ephraim\par forgot the great things God did.\par They forgot the amazing things\par he showed them.\par

¹² God showed their fathers\par his great power at Zoan in Egypt.\par

¹³ God split the Red Sea\par and led the people across.\par The water stood like a solid wall\par on both sides of them.\par

¹⁴ Each day God led them with the tall cloud.\par And each night God led them with\par the light from the column of fire.\par

¹⁵ God split the rock in the desert.\par He gave those people water from\par deep in the ground.\par

¹⁶ God brought the water streaming\par from the rock like a river!\par

¹⁷ But the people continued to sin against God.\par They turned against God Most-High even in the desert.\par

¹⁸ Then those people decided to test God.\par They asked God for food, just to satisfy their appetites.\par

¹⁹ They complained about God and said,\par “Can God give us food in the desert?\par

²⁰ He hit the rock\par and a flood of water came out.\par Surely he can give us some bread and meat!”\par

²¹ The Lord heard what those people said.\par God was very angry at Jacob. {\cf2\super [445]} \par God was very angry at Israel.\par

^22-24 Why? Because the people did not trust him.\par They did not believe God could save them.\par

^25-27 People ate the food of angels.\par God sent plenty of food to satisfy them.\par

²⁸ The birds fell right in the middle of camp,\par all around those people’s tents.\par

²⁹ They had plenty to eat,\par but they let their appetites\par make them sin.\par

³⁰ They did not control their appetites,\par so they ate the quail before draining\par the blood from the birds.\par

³¹ God became very angry at those people,\par and he killed many of them.\par God caused many healthy young people to die.\par

³² But the people still sinned again!\par They didn’t depend on the amazing things\par that God could do.\par

³³ So God ended their worthless lives\par with some disaster.\par

³⁴ Whenever God killed some of them,\par the others would turn back to him.\par They would come running back to God.\par

³⁵ Those people would remember\par that God was their Rock, {\cf2\super [448]} \par They would remember\par that God Most-High saved them.\par

³⁶ \{They said they loved him,\} but they lied.\par Those people were not serious.\par

³⁷ Their hearts were not really with God.\par They were not faithful to the Agreement. {\cf2\super [449]} \par

³⁸ But God was merciful.\par He forgave them for their sins.\par And he did not destroy them.\par Many times God controlled his anger.\par He didn‘t let himself become too angry.\par

³⁹ God remembered they were only people.\par People are like a wind that blows,\par and then it is gone.\par

⁴⁰ Oh, those people caused God\par so many troubles in the desert!\par They made him so sad!\par

⁴¹ Again and again those people\par tested God’s patience.\par They really hurt the Holy One of Israel.\par

⁴² Those people forgot about God’s power.\par They forgot the many times that God\par saved them from the enemy.\par

⁴³ They forgot the miracles in Egypt,\par the miracles in the fields of Zoan.\par

⁴⁴ God turned the rivers to blood!\par The Egyptians could not drink the water.\par

⁴⁵ God sent swarms of flies\par that bit the people of Egypt.\par God sent the frogs\par that ruined the Egyptians’ lives.\par

⁴⁶ God gave their crops to the grasshoppers,\par and their other plants to the locusts.\par

⁴⁷ God used hail to destroy their vines.\par And he used sleet to destroy their trees.\par

⁴⁸ God killed their animals with hail,\par and their cattle with lightning.\par

⁴⁹ God showed the Egyptian people his anger.\par He sent his destroying angels against them.\par

⁵⁰ God found a way to show his anger.\par He did not let any of those people live.\par He let them die with a deadly disease.\par

⁵¹ God killed all the firstborn {\cf2\super [450]} sons in Egypt.\par He killed every firstborn in Ham’s {\cf2\super [451]} family.\par

⁵² Then God led Israel like a shepherd.\par He led his people like sheep into the desert.\par

⁵³ He guided his people safely.\par His people had nothing to be afraid of.\par He drowned their enemies\par in the Red Sea.\par

⁵⁴ God led his people to his holy land,\par to the mountain he took with his power.\par

⁵⁵ God forced the other nations\par to leave that land.\par God gave each family its share of the land.\par God gave each family group of Israel\par its home to live in.\par

⁵⁶ But they tested God Most-High\par and made him very sad.\par Those people didn‘t obey God’s commands.\par

⁵⁷ The people of Israel turned away from God.\par They turned against him\par just like their fathers did.\par They changed directions like a boomerang. {\cf2\super [452]} \par

⁵⁸ The people of Israel built high places {\cf2\super [453]} \par and made God angry.\par They built statues of false gods\par and made God very jealous.\par

⁵⁹ God heard this and became very angry.\par And He rejected Israel completely!\par

⁶⁰ God abandoned the Holy Tent at Shiloh. {\cf2\super [454]} \par God lived in that tent among the people.\par

⁶¹ God let other nations capture his people.\par Enemies took God’s “beautiful jewel.”\par

⁶² God showed his anger against his people.\par He let them be killed in war.\par

⁶³ The young men were burned to death,\par and the girls they were to marry\par sang no wedding songs.\par

⁶⁴ The priests were killed,\par but the widows did not cry for them.\par

⁶⁵ Finally, our Master got up\par like a man waking from his sleep,\par like a soldier after drinking\par too much wine.\par

⁶⁶ God forced his enemy back\par and defeated them.\par God defeated his enemies\par and disgraced them forever.\par

⁶⁷ But God rejected Joseph’s family.\par God did not accept Ephraim’s family.\par

⁶⁸ No, God chose Judah’s family group.\par God chose Zion, the mountain\par he loves.\par

⁶⁹ God built his holy temple\par high on that mountain.\par God built his holy temple to last forever,\par just like the earth.\par

⁷⁰ God chose David to be his special servant.\par David was guarding the sheep pens,\par but God took him away from that job.\par

⁷¹ David was caring for sheep,\par but God took him away from that job.\par God gave David the job of caring for\par his people,\par the people of Jacob,\par the people of Israel,\par God’s property.\par

⁷² And David led them with a pure heart.\par He led them very wisely.\par