Out of the Depths (130)

`Hear my teaching, / my~ people.

`Turn your ears_ to the words_ / of my mouth.

`I will open my mouth in a / parable.

`I will speak dark sayings / of~ old,

`things_ we have / heard and known,

`and our fathers have_ / told~ us.

We `will not hide them / from their children, • • `telling to the generation to_ come the praises / of the LORD,

his `strength_, and his wondrous deeds that / he has done.

(Ref)

`For_ he esta_ blished a covenant in / Ja~ cob, 

`and appointed a teaching in / Israel,

which `he commanded / our~ fathers, 

that `they should make them known_ / to their children;

`that the generation to_ / come might know, • • the `children yet_ / to be born;

who `should arise and / tell their children,

that `they might set their / hope in God,

and `not forget God’s deeds, but keep_ / his commandments,

and `might not be_ / as their fathers—

a `stubborn and rebellious / generation,

a `generation that did not make / their hearts loyal, 

whose `spirit was not steadfast / with~ God.

(Ref)

The `men of Ephraim, though / armed with bows,

turned `back_ in the / day of battle.

They `did not keep God’s / covenant,

`and refused to walk_ / in his law.

`They for / got his works,

his `wondrous deeds 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.

He `split the sea, and caused them / to pass through.

He `made the waters stand_ / as a heap.

`In the daytime he_ led them / with a cloud,

and `all night with a / light of fire.

(Ref)

`He split rocks_ in the / wilderness,

and `gave them drink abundantly as out of / the~ depths.

`He brought streams out / of the rock,

`and caused waters to run / down like rivers.

`Yet they still went on to / sin against him,

`to rebel against the Most High / in the desert.

They `tested God_ / in their heart

`by demanding the_ / food they craved.

They `spoke a / gainst~ God.

They `said, “Can God prepare a table in the / wilderness?

He `struck the rock_, so that waters gushed out, and_ streams_ / overflowed.

`Can he also / give~ bread? • • Will `he provide_ meat_ / for his people?”

(Ref)

`When the LORD_ heard them, / he was angry.

A `fire_ was_ kindled / against Jacob, • `anger also went up against / Israel,

be `cause_ they did not be / lieve in God,

and `did not trust in / his salvation.

Yet `he commanded the_ / skies above,

and `opened the_ / doors of heaven.

He `rained down manna on them / to~ eat,

and `gave them food_ / from the sky.

`Mortals ate the / bread of angels.

He `sent them food_ / to the full.

He `caused the east_ wind to blow_ / in the sky.

`By his power he guided the / south~ wind.

(Ref)

`He also rained meat on them_ / as the dust,

`wing’d birds as the sand_ / of the seas.

He `let them fall_ in the middle / of their camp,

a `round their / habitations.

`So they ate_, and were / well~ filled. • He `gave them / their desire.

They `did not turn_ / from their cravings.

Their `food was yet_ / in their mouths, 

`when the anger of God went_ up a / gainst~ them. 

He `killed some of their / strong~ est,

and `struck down the young men of / Israel.

For `all this / they still sinned,

`and did not believe_ in his / wondrous works.

(Ref)

`Therefore he consumed their days_ in fu / tility,

`and their / years in terror.

`When he killed them, then they / sought~ him.

`They returned and sought God / earnestly.

`They remembered that God / was their rock,

the `Most High God_, / their redeemer.

`But they flattered him_ / with their mouth,

and `lied to him_ / with their tongue.

`For their heart_ was not / right with him,

`neither were they faithful in his / covenant.

But `he_, being merciful, forgave in / iquity, 

`and did / not destroy them.

(Ref)

`Many times he turned his anger / a~ way,

and `did not stir up / all his wrath.

`He remembered that they / were but flesh,

a `wind that passes away, and does not_ / come again.

How `often they rebelled against him in the / wilderness,

and `grieved him / in the desert!

They `tested God again_ / and again,

`and provoked the Holy One of / Israel.

`They did not remember / his~ hand,

`nor the day when he redeemed them from the / adversary;

`how he set his / signs in Egypt,

his `wonders in the / field of Zoan.

(Ref)

He `turned their rivers / into blood,

`and their streams, so that they / could not drink.

He `sent among them swarms of flies_, which de / voured~ them;

and `frogs_, which de / stroyed~ them.

He `also gave their crops_ to the / caterpillar,

`and their labor / to the locust.

`He destroyed their / vines with hail,

their `sycamore fig trees_ / with~ frost.

He `also gave over their livestock / to the hail,

`and their flocks to / thunderbolts.

He `threw on them the fierceness of his anger, wrath_, indignation, / and~ trouble,

`and a band_ of de / stroying angels.

(Ref)

He `made a path_ / for his anger. • • He `did not spare them / from~ death,

but `gave their life_ over to the / pestilence,

`and struck all the first_ / born in Egypt,

the `first fruits of their strength_ in the / tents of Ham.

`But he led out his own people / like~ sheep,

and `guided them_ in the wilderness_ / like a flock.

He `led them safely, so that they were / not afraid,

`but the sea_ overwhelmed their / enemies.

He `brought them to the border of his / holy land,

`to this mountain, which his right_ / hand had taken.

`He drove out the nations be_ / fore~ them,

ap `portioned their inheri / tance by line, • and `made the tribes of Israel to dwell_ / in their tents.

(Ref)

`Yet they tested and rebelled against the / Most High God,

`and did not keep / his decrees,

`but turned back_, and dealt treacherously / like their fathers.

`They were twisted like_ a de / ceitful bow.

For `they provoked_ him to anger with their / high~ places,

`and moved him to jealousy with their engraved_ / images.

`When God heard them, / he was angry,

and `utterly rejected / Israel,

`so that he abandoned the_ / tent of Shiloh,

the `tent_ which he placed a / mong mankind,

`and delivered his_ strength into cap / tivity,

his `glory into the hand / of the foe.

(Ref)

He `gave his people over / to the sword,

`and was angry with_ his in / heritance.

`Fire_ de_ voured_ / their young men.

`Their young women had no / wedding song. +

Their `priests fell / by the sword,

`and their widows / could not weep.

`Then the Lord awakened as_ one_ / out of sleep,

`like a warrior from the ef / fects of wine.

`He beat back his / adversaries.

`He put them to ever / lasting shame.

`He rejected the_ / tent of Joseph,

and `did not choose the tribe of / Ephraim,

But `chose the / tribe of Judah,

Mount `Zion / which he loved.

(Ref)

He `built his sanctuary / like the heights,

`like the earth_ which he has established for_ / e~ ver.

`He chose David / his~ servant,

and `took him / from the sheepfolds;

from `following the ewes that / have their young,

`he brought him to be the shepherd / of~ Jacob, • • his `people, and Israel, his in / heritance.

`So he was their shepherd with an / upright heart,

and `guided them_ with his / skillful hands.