Psalms 78:12-43

12the miracles he did for their ancestors on the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.

13For he divided the sea and led them through, making the water stand up like walls!

14In the daytime he led them by a cloud, and all night by a pillar of fire.

15He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them water, as from a gushing spring.

16He made streams pour from the rock, making the waters flow down like a river!

17Yet they kept on sinning against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

18They stubbornly tested God in their hearts, demanding the foods they craved.

19They even spoke against God himself, saying, “God can’t give us food in the wilderness.

20Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out, but he can’t give his people bread and meat.”

21When the Lord heard them, he was furious. The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob. Yes, his anger rose against Israel,

22for they did not believe God or trust him to care for them.

23But he commanded the skies to open; he opened the doors of heaven.

24He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them bread from heaven.

25They ate the food of angels! God gave them all they could hold.

26He released the east wind in the heavens and guided the south wind by his mighty power.

27He rained down meat as thick as dust— birds as plentiful as the sand on the seashore!

28He caused the birds to fall within their camp and all around their tents.

29The people ate their fill. He gave them what they craved.

30But before they satisfied their craving, while the meat was yet 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.

32But in spite of this, the people kept sinning. Despite his wonders, they refused to trust him.

33So he ended their lives in failure, their years in terror.

34When God began killing them, they finally sought him. They repented and took God seriously.

35Then 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.

37Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep 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!

39For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns.

40Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland.

41Again and again they tested God’s patience and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42They did not remember his power and how he rescued them from their enemies.

43They did not remember his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders on the plain of Zoan.