| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, | 1A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth. |
| 2for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past— | 2I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning, |
| 3stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. | 3that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us. |
| 4We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders. | 4We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed. |
| 5For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, | 5For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, |
| 6so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children. | 6that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children |
| 7So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands. | 7that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments. |
| 8Then they will not be like their ancestors— stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God. | 8Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God. |
| 9The warriors of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned their backs and fled on the day of battle. | 9The archers of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle. |
| 10They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his instructions. | 10They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law. |
| 11They forgot what he had done— the great wonders he had shown them, | 11They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them. |
| 12the miracles he did for their ancestors on the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt. | 12He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. |
| 13For he divided the sea and led them through, making the water stand up like walls! | 13He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall. |
| 14In the daytime he led them by a cloud, and all night by a pillar of fire. | 14He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night. |
| 15He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them water, as from a gushing spring. | 15He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas. |
| 16He made streams pour from the rock, making the waters flow down like a river! | 16He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers. |
| 17Yet they kept on sinning against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. | 17But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High. |
| 18They stubbornly tested God in their hearts, demanding the foods they craved. | 18They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved. |
| 19They even spoke against God himself, saying, “God can’t give us food in the wilderness. | 19They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness? |
| 20Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out, but he can’t give his people bread and meat.” | 20When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?” |
| 21When the LORD heard them, he was furious. The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob. Yes, his anger rose against Israel, | 21Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel, |
| 22for they did not believe God or trust him to care for them. | 22because they did not believe God or rely on His salvation. |
| 23But he commanded the skies to open; he opened the doors of heaven. | 23Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens. |
| 24He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them bread from heaven. | 24He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven. |
| 25They ate the food of angels! God gave them all they could hold. | 25Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. |
| 26He released the east wind in the heavens and guided the south wind by his mighty power. | 26He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might. |
| 27He rained down meat as thick as dust— birds as plentiful as the sand on the seashore! | 27He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea. |
| 28He caused the birds to fall within their camp and all around their tents. | 28He felled them in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. |
| 29The people ate their fill. He gave them what they craved. | 29So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved. |
| 30But before they satisfied their craving, while the meat was yet in their mouths, | 30Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths, |
| 31the anger of God rose against them, and he killed their strongest men. He struck down the finest of Israel’s young men. | 31God’s anger flared against them, and He put to death their strongest and subdued the young men of Israel. |
| 32But in spite of this, the people kept sinning. Despite his wonders, they refused to trust him. | 32In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe. |
| 33So he ended their lives in failure, their years in terror. | 33So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror. |
| 34When God began killing them, they finally sought him. They repented and took God seriously. | 34When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God. |
| 35Then they remembered that God was their rock, that God Most High was their redeemer. | 35And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer. |
| 36But all they gave him was lip service; they lied to him with their tongues. | 36But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues. |
| 37Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep his covenant. | 37Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant. |
| 38Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury! | 38And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath. |
| 39For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns. | 39He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return. |
| 40Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland. | 40How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! |
| 41Again and again they tested God’s patience and provoked the Holy One of Israel. | 41Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel. |
| 42They did not remember his power and how he rescued them from their enemies. | 42They did not remember His power—the day He redeemed them from the adversary, |
| 43They did not remember his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders on the plain of Zoan. | 43when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan. |
| 44For he turned their rivers into blood, so no one could drink from the streams. | 44He turned their rivers to blood, and from their streams they could not drink. |
| 45He sent vast swarms of flies to consume them and hordes of frogs to ruin them. | 45He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them. |
| 46He gave their crops to caterpillars; their harvest was consumed by locusts. | 46He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust. |
| 47He destroyed their grapevines with hail and shattered their sycamore-figs with sleet. | 47He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet. |
| 48He abandoned their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning. | 48He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning. |
| 49He loosed on them his fierce anger— all his fury, rage, and hostility. He dispatched against them a band of destroying angels. | 49He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels. |
| 50He turned his anger against them; he did not spare the Egyptians’ lives but ravaged them with the plague. | 50He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague. |
| 51He killed the oldest son in each Egyptian family, the flower of youth throughout the land of Egypt. | 51He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham. |
| 52But he led his own people like a flock of sheep, guiding them safely through the wilderness. | 52He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness. |
| 53He kept them safe so they were not afraid; but the sea covered their enemies. | 53He led them safely, so they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their enemies. |
| 54He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this land of hills he had won for them. | 54He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had acquired. |
| 55He drove out the nations before them; he gave them their inheritance by lot. He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes. | 55He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. |
| 56But they kept testing and rebelling against God Most High. They did not obey his laws. | 56But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees. |
| 57They turned back and were as faithless as their parents. They were as undependable as a crooked bow. | 57They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow. |
| 58They angered God by building shrines to other gods; they made him jealous with their idols. | 58They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols. |
| 59When God heard them, he was very angry, and he completely rejected Israel. | 59On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely. |
| 60Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh, the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people. | 60He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men. |
| 61He allowed the Ark of his might to be captured; he surrendered his glory into enemy hands. | 61He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary. |
| 62He gave his people over to be butchered by the sword, because he was so angry with his own people—his special possession. | 62He surrendered His people to the sword because He was enraged by His heritage. |
| 63Their young men were killed by fire; their young women died before singing their wedding songs. | 63Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs. |
| 64Their priests were slaughtered, and their widows could not mourn their deaths. | 64His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament. |
| 65Then the Lord rose up as though waking from sleep, like a warrior aroused from a drunken stupor. | 65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine. |
| 66He routed his enemies and sent them to eternal shame. | 66He beat back His foes; He put them to everlasting shame. |
| 67But he rejected Joseph’s descendants; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. | 67He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim. |
| 68He chose instead the tribe of Judah, and Mount Zion, which he loved. | 68But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved. |
| 69There he built his sanctuary as high as the heavens, as solid and enduring as the earth. | 69He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth He has established forever. |
| 70He chose his servant David, calling him from the sheep pens. | 70He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; |
| 71He took David from tending the ewes and lambs and made him the shepherd of Jacob’s descendants— God’s own people, Israel. | 71from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance. |
| 72He cared for them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands. | 72So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands. |
|
