1 Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; extend your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,

3 which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children, recounting to the following generation the praises of Jehovah, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a Law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should declare them to their children;

6 that the following generation might know them, the children who would be born, that they might arise and recount them to their children,

7 that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of the Mighty God, but keep His commandments;

8 and might not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit has not been faithful to the Mighty God.

9 The sons of Ephraim, being armed to shoot with their bows, turned back in the day of battle.

10 They did not keep the Covenant of God; they refused to walk in His Law,

11 and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.

12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters stand up like a heap.

14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink in abundance from the depths.

16 He also brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 But they sinned even more against Him by rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.

18 And they tested the Mighty God in their heart by asking for food for the lust of their soul.

19 Yes, they spoke against God: They said, Can the Mighty God set a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, He struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide flesh for His people?

21 Therefore Jehovah heard this and was furious; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel,

22 because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation;

23 though He had commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of the heavens,

24 had rained down manna upon them to eat, and given them of the grain of the heavens.

25 Men ate the bread of the mighty; He sent them food to the full.

26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; and by His power He brought in the south wind.

27 He also rained flesh upon them like the dust, and winged birds like the sand of the seas;

28 and He let them fall into the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.

29 So they ate and were abundantly satisfied, for He gave them their own desire.

30 They were not deprived of their lust; but while their food was still in their mouths,

31 the wrath of God came upon them, and killed the fattest of them, and struck down the choice men of Israel.

32 For all this they still sinned, and did not believe in His wondrous works.

33 Therefore He brought an end to their days in vanity, and their years in dismay.

34 When He killed them, then they sought after Him; and they returned and sought earnestly for the Mighty God.

35 Then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God was the One who redeemed them.

36 Nevertheless they deceived Him with their mouths, and they lied to Him with their tongues;

37 for their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant.

38 But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; yea, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath;

39 for He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again.

40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert!

41 Yea, they turned back and tempted the Mighty God, and troubled the Holy One of Israel.

42 They did not remember His hand, the day when He ransomed them from the enemy,

43 when He brought to pass His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the fields of Zoan;

44 turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, so that they could not drink.

45 He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.

48 He also gave up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to lightning.

49 He cast upon them His burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, by sending evil angels.

50 He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the plague,

51 and struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 But He made His own people go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

53 and He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54 And He brought them to the border of His sanctuary, this mountain which His right hand had acquired.

55 He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them an inheritance by a surveyor’s line, and made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, and did not keep His Testimonies,

57 but turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images.

59 When God heard this, He was angry, and greatly despised Israel,

60 so that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He had placed among men,

61 and delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the enemy’s hand.

62 He also gave His people over to the sword, and was angry with His inheritance.

63 The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given in marriage.

64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

65 Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, like a mighty man overcome with wine.

66 And He struck His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach.

67 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

68 but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved.

69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which He has founded forever.

70 He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds;

71 from following the ewes nursing their young He brought him, to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.

72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

1 Povo meu, escute o meu ensino; incline os ouvidos para o que eu tenho a dizer.

2 Em parábolas abrirei a minha boca, proferirei enigmas do passado;

3 o que ouvimos e aprendemos, o que nossos pais nos contaram.

4 Não os esconderemos dos nossos filhos; contaremos à próxima geração os louváveis feitos do Senhor, o seu poder e as maravilhas que fez.

5 Ele decretou estatutos para Jacó, e em Israel estabeleceu a lei, e ordenou aos nossos antepassados que a ensinassem aos seus filhos,

6 de modo que a geração seguinte a conhecesse, e também os filhos que ainda nasceriam, e eles, por sua vez, contassem aos seus próprios filhos.

7 Então eles porão a confiança em Deus; não esquecerão os seus feitos e obedecerão aos seus mandamentos.

8 Eles não serão como os seus antepassados, obstinados e rebeldes, povo de coração desleal para com Deus, gente de espírito infiel.

9 Os homens de Efraim, flecheiros armados, viraram as costas no dia da batalha;

10 não guardaram a aliança de Deus e se recusaram a viver de acordo com a sua lei.

11 Esqueceram o que ele tinha feito, as maravilhas que lhes havia mostrado.

12 Ele fez milagres diante dos seus antepassados, na terra do Egito, na região de Zoã.

13 Dividiu o mar para que pudessem passar; fez a água erguer-se como um muro.

14 Ele os guiou com a nuvem de dia e com a luz do fogo de noite.

15 Fendeu as rochas no deserto e deu-lhes tanta água como a que flui das profundezas;

16 da pedra fez sair regatos e fluir água como um rio.

17 Mas contra ele continuaram a pecar, revoltando-se no deserto contra o Altíssimo.

18 Deliberadamente puseram Deus à prova, exigindo o que desejavam comer.

19 Duvidaram de Deus, dizendo: "Poderá Deus preparar uma mesa no deserto?

20 Sabemos que quando ele feriu a rocha a água brotou e jorrou em torrentes. Mas conseguirá também dar-nos de comer? Poderá suprir de carne o seu povo? "

21 O Senhor os ouviu e enfureceu-se; atacou Jacó com fogo, e sua ira levantou-se contra Israel,

22 pois eles não creram em Deus nem confiaram no seu poder salvador.

23 Contudo, ele deu ordens às nuvens e abriu as portas dos céus;

24 fez chover maná para que o povo comesse, deu-lhe o pão dos céus.

25 Os homens comeram o pão dos anjos; enviou-lhes comida à vontade.

26 Enviou dos céus o vento oriental e pelo seu poder fez avançar o vento sul.

27 Fez chover carne sobre eles como pó, bandos de aves como a areia da praia.

28 Levou-as a cair dentro do acampamento, ao redor das suas tendas.

29 Comeram à vontade, e assim ele satisfez o desejo deles.

30 Mas, antes de saciarem o apetite, quando ainda tinham a comida na boca,

31 acendeu-se contra eles a ira de Deus; e ele feriu de morte os mais fortes dentre eles, matando os jovens de Israel.

32 A despeito disso tudo, continuaram pecando; não creram nos seus prodígios.

33 Por isso ele encerrou os dias deles como um sopro e os anos deles em repentino pavor.

34 Sempre que Deus os castigava com a morte, eles o buscavam; com fervor se voltavam de novo para ele.

35 Lembravam-se de que Deus era a sua Rocha, de que o Deus Altíssimo era o seu Redentor.

36 Com a boca o adulavam, com a língua o enganavam;

37 o coração deles não era sincero; não foram fiéis à sua aliança.

38 Contudo, ele foi misericordioso; perdoou-lhes as maldades e não os destruiu. Vez após vez conteve a sua ira, sem despertá-la totalmente.

39 Lembrou-se de que eram meros mortais, brisa passageira que não retorna.

40 Quantas vezes mostraram-se rebeldes contra ele no deserto e o entristeceram na terra solitária!

41 Repetidas vezes puseram Deus à prova; irritaram o Santo de Israel.

42 Não se lembravam da sua mão poderosa, do dia em que os redimiu do opressor,

43 do dia em que mostrou os seus prodígios no Egito, as suas maravilhas na região de Zoã,

44 quando transformou os rios e os riachos dos egípcios em sangue, e não mais conseguiam beber das suas águas,

45 e enviou enxames de moscas que os devoraram, e rãs que os devastaram;

46 quando entregou as suas plantações às larvas, a produção da terra aos gafanhotos;

47 e destruiu as suas vinhas com a saraiva e as suas figueiras bravas, com a geada;

48 quando entregou o gado deles ao granizo, os seus rebanhos aos raios;

49 quando os atingiu com a sua ira ardente, com furor, indignação e hostilidade, com muitos anjos destruidores.

50 Abriu caminho para a sua ira; não os poupou da morte, mas os entregou à peste.

51 Matou todos os primogênitos do Egito, as primícias do vigor varonil das tendas de Cam.

52 Mas tirou o seu povo como ovelhas e o conduziu como a um rebanho pelo deserto.

53 Ele os guiou em segurança, e não tiveram medo; e os seus inimigos afundaram-se no mar.

54 Assim os trouxe à fronteira da sua terra santa, aos montes que a sua mão direita conquistou.

55 Expulsou nações que lá estavam, distribuiu-lhes as terras por herança e deu suas tendas às tribos de Israel para que nelas habitassem.

56 Mas eles puseram Deus à prova e foram rebeldes contra o Altíssimo; não obedeceram aos seus testemunhos.

57 Foram desleais e infiéis, como os seus antepassados, confiáveis como um arco defeituoso.

58 Eles o irritaram com os altares idólatras; com os seus ídolos lhe provocaram ciúmes.

59 Sabendo-o Deus, enfureceu-se e rejeitou totalmente a Israel;

60 abandonou o tabernáculo de Siló, a tenda onde habitava entre os homens.

61 Entregou o símbolo do seu poder ao cativeiro, e o seu esplendor, nas mãos do adversário.

62 Deixou que o seu povo fosse morto à espada, pois enfureceu-se com a sua herança.

63 O fogo consumiu os seus jovens, e as suas moças não tiveram canções de núpcias;

64 os sacerdotes foram mortos à espada! As viúvas já nem podiam chorar!

65 Então o Senhor despertou como que de um sono, como um guerreiro exaltado pelo vinho.

66 Fez retroceder a golpes os seus adversários e os entregou a permanente humilhação.

67 Também rejeitou as tendas de José, e não escolheu a tribo de Efraim;

68 ao contrário, escolheu a tribo de Judá e o monte Sião, o qual amou.

69 Construiu o seu santuário como as alturas; como a terra o firmou para sempre.

70 Escolheu o seu servo Davi e o tirou do aprisco das ovelhas,

71 do pastoreio de ovelhas para ser o pastor de Jacó, seu povo, de Israel, sua herança.

72 E de coração íntegro Davi os pastoreou, com mãos experientes os conduziu.