Psalms 78:17-42
17
But they continued to sin against him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
18
They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.
19
They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the desert?
20
When he struck the rock, water gushed out,
and streams flowed abundantly.
But can he also give us food?
Can he supply meat for his people?”
21
When the Lord heard them, he was very angry;
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel,
22
for they did not believe in God
or trust in his deliverance.
23
Yet he gave a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens;
24
he rained down manna for the people to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.
25
Men ate the bread of angels;
he sent them all the food they could eat.
26
He let loose the east wind from the heavens
and led forth the south wind by his power.
27
He rained meat down on them like dust,
flying birds like sand on the seashore.
28
He made them come down inside their camp,
all around their tents.
29
They ate till they had more than enough,
for he had given them what they craved.
30
But before they turned from the food they craved,
even while it was still in their mouths,
31
God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest among them,
cutting down the young men of Israel.
32
In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
33
So he ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
34
Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35
They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36
But then they would flatter him with their mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;
37
their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38
Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.
39
He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.
40
How often they rebelled against him in the desert
and grieved him in the wasteland!
41
Again and again they put God to the test;
they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
42
They did not remember his power—
the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,