1: Listen, dear friends, to God's truth, bend your ears to what I tell you.
2: I'm chewing on the morsel of a proverb; I'll let you in on the sweet old truths,
3: Stories we heard from our fathers, counsel we learned at our mother's knee.
4: We're not keeping this to ourselves, we're passing it along to the next generation--GOD's fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done.
5: He planted a witness in Jacob, set his Word firmly in Israel, Then commanded our parents to teach it to their children
6: So the next generation would know, and all the generations to come--Know the truth and tell the stories so their children
7: can trust in God, Never forget the works of God but keep his commands to the letter.
8: Heaven forbid they should be like their parents, bullheaded and bad, A fickle and faithless bunch who never stayed true to God.
9: The Ephraimites, armed to the teeth, ran off when the battle began.
10: They were cowards to God's Covenant, refused to walk by his Word.
11: They forgot what he had done--marvels he'd done right before their eyes.
12: He performed miracles in plain sight of their parents in Egypt, out on the fields of Zoan.
13: He split the Sea and they walked right through it; he piled the waters to the right and the left.
14: He led them by day with a cloud, led them all the night long with a fiery torch.
15: He split rocks in the wilderness, gave them all they could drink from underground springs;
16: He made creeks flow out from sheer rock, and water pour out like a river.
17: All they did was sin even more, rebel in the desert against the High God.
18: They tried to get their own way with God, clamored for favors, for special attention.
19: They whined like spoiled children, "Why can't God give us a decent meal in this desert?
20: Sure, he struck the rock and the water flowed, creeks cascaded from the rock. But how about some fresh-baked bread? How about a nice cut of meat?"
21: When GOD heard that, he was furious--his anger flared against Jacob, he lost his temper with Israel.
22: It was clear they didn't believe God, had no intention of trusting in his help.
23: But God helped them anyway, commanded the clouds and gave orders that opened the gates of heaven.
24: He rained down showers of manna to eat, he gave them the Bread of Heaven.
25: They ate the bread of the mighty angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
26: He let East Wind break loose from the skies, gave a strong push to South Wind.
27: This time it was birds that rained down--succulent birds, an abundance of birds.
28: He aimed them right for the center of their camp; all round their tents there were birds.
29: They ate and had their fill; he handed them everything they craved on a platter.
30: But their greed knew no bounds; they stuffed their mouths with more and more.
31: Finally, God was fed up, his anger erupted--he cut down their brightest and best, he laid low Israel's finest young men.
32: And--can you believe it?-they kept right on sinning; all those wonders and they still wouldn't believe!
33: So their lives dribbled off to nothing--nothing to show for their lives but a ghost town.
34: When he cut them down, they came running for help; they turned and pled for mercy.
35: They gave witness that God was their rock, that High God was their redeemer,
36: But they didn't mean a word of it; they lied through their teeth the whole time.
37: They could not have cared less about him, wanted nothing to do with his Covenant.
38: And God? Compassionate! Forgave the sin! Didn't destroy! Over and over he reined in his anger, restrained his considerable wrath.
39: He knew what they were made of; he knew there wasn't much to them,
40: How often in the desert they had spurned him, tried his patience in those wilderness years.
41: Time and again they pushed him to the limit, provoked Israel's Holy God.
42: How quickly they forgot what he'd done, forgot their day of rescue from the enemy,
43: When he did miracles in Egypt, wonders on the plain of Zoan.
44: He turned the River and its streams to blood--not a drop of water fit to drink.
45: He sent flies, which ate them alive, and frogs, which bedeviled them.
46: He turned their harvest over to caterpillars, everything they had worked for to the locusts.
47: He flattened their grapevines with hail; a killing frost ruined their orchards.
48: He pounded their cattle with hail, let thunderbolts loose on their herds.
49: His anger flared, a wild firestorm of havoc, An advance guard of disease-carrying angels
50: to clear the ground, preparing the way before him. He didn't spare those people, he let the plague rage through their lives.
51: He killed all the Egyptian firstborns, lusty infants, offspring of Ham's virility.
52: Then he led his people out like sheep, took his flock safely through the wilderness.
53: He took good care of them; they had nothing to fear. The Sea took care of their enemies for good.
54: He brought them into his holy land, this mountain he claimed for his own.
55: He scattered everyone who got in their way; he staked out an inheritance for them--the tribes of Israel all had their own places.
56: But they kept on giving him a hard time, rebelled against God, the High God, refused to do anything he told them.
57: They were worse, if that's possible, than their parents: traitors--crooked as a corkscrew.
58: Their pagan orgies provoked God's anger, their obscene idolatries broke his heart.
59: When God heard their carryings-on, he was furious; he posted a huge No over Israel.
60: He walked off and left Shiloh empty, abandoned the shrine where he had met with Israel.
61: He let his pride and joy go to the dogs, turned his back on the pride of his life.
62: He turned them loose on fields of battle; angry, he let them fend for themselves.
63: Their young men went to war and never came back; their young women waited in vain.
64: Their priests were massacred, and their widows never shed a tear.
65: Suddenly the Lord was up on his feet like someone roused from deep sleep, shouting like a drunken warrior.
66: He hit his enemies hard, sent them running, yelping, not daring to look back.
67: He disqualified Joseph as leader, told Ephraim he didn't have what it takes,
68: And chose the Tribe of Judah instead, Mount Zion, which he loves so much.
69: He built his sanctuary there, resplendent, solid and lasting as the earth itself.
70: Then he chose David, his servant, handpicked him from his work in the sheep pens.
71: One day he was caring for the ewes and their lambs, the next day God had him shepherding Jacob, his people Israel, his prize possession.
72: His good heart made him a good shepherd; he guided the people wisely and well. An Asaph psalm