The understanding of Asaph. O my people, attend to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth
I will open my mouth in parables. I will speak about concepts that are from the beginning
We have heard and known such great things, as our fathers have described to us
These things have not been hidden from their sons in any generation: declaring the praises of the Lord, and his virtues, and the wonders that he has done
And he has received testimony with Jacob, and he has set a law within Israel. Such great things, he has commanded our fathers, so as to make these things known to their sons
so that another generation might know them, and so that the sons, who will be born and who will grow up, shall describe them to their sons
So then, may they put their hope in God, and may they not forget the works of God, and may they seek his commandments
May they not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation: a generation that does not straighten their heart and whose spirit is not trustworthy with God
The sons of Ephraim, who bend and shoot the bow, have been turned back in the day of battle
They have not kept the covenant of God. And they were not willing to walk in his law
And they have been forgetful of his benefits, and of his miracle, which he revealed to them
He performed miracles in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis
He broke the sea and he led them through. And he stationed the waters, as if in a vessel
And he led them with a cloud by day, and with illumination by fire throughout the night
He broke through the rock in the wasteland, and he gave them to drink, as if from the great abyss
He brought forth water from the rock, and he conducted the waters, as if they were rivers
And yet, they continued to sin against him. In a waterless place, they provoked the Most High with resentment
And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking for food according to their desires
And they spoke badly about God. They said, “Would God be able to prepare a table in the desert
He struck the rock, and so waters flowed and the torrents flooded, but would even he be able to provide bread, or provide a table, for his people?
Therefore, the Lord heard, and he was dismayed, and a fire was kindled within Jacob, and an anger ascended into Israel
For they neither put their trust in God, nor did they hope in his salvation
And he commanded the clouds from above, and he opened the doors of heaven
And he rained down manna upon them to eat, and he gave them the bread of heaven
Man ate the bread of Angels. He sent them provisions in abundance
He transferred the south wind from heaven, and, in his virtue, he brought in the Southwest wind
And he rained down flesh upon them, as if it were dust, and feathered birds, as if they were the sand of the sea
And they fell down in the midst of their camp, encircling their tabernacles
And they ate until they were greatly satisfied, and he brought to them according to their desires
They were not cheated out of what they wanted. Their food was still in their mouth
and then the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones among them, and he impeded the elect of Israel
In all these things, they continued to sin, and they were not trustworthy with his miracles
And their days faded away into vanity, and their years with haste
When he slew them, then they sought him. And they returned, and they drew near to him in the early morning
And they were mindful that God is their helper and that the Most High God is their redeemer
And they chose him with their mouth, and then they lied to him with their tongue
For their heart was not upright with him, nor have they been living faithfully in his covenant
Yet he is merciful, and he will pardon their sins. And he will not destroy them. And he has abundantly turned aside his own wrath. And he did not enflame his wrath entirely
And he remembered that they are flesh: with a spirit that goes forth and does not return
How often did they provoke him in the desert and stir him to wrath in a waterless place
And they turned back and tempted God, and they exasperated the Holy One of Israel
They did not remember his hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of the one troubling them
Thus, he positioned his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Tanis
And he turned their rivers into blood, along with their rain showers, so that they could not drink
He sent among them the common fly, and it devoured them, and the frog, and it scattered them
And he gave up their fruits to mold and their labors to the locust
And he slew their vineyards with hail and their mulberry trees with severe frost
And he delivered their cattle to the hail and their possessions to fire
And he sent the wrath of his indignation among them: indignation and wrath and tribulation, sent forth by evil angels
He made way for the path of his anger. He did not spare their souls from death. And he enclosed their beasts of burden in death
And he struck all the first-born in the land of Egypt: the first-fruits of all their labor in the tabernacles of Ham
And he took away his own people like sheep, and he led them through the wilderness like a flock
And he led them out in hope, and they did not fear. And the sea covered their enemies
And he led them to the mountain of his sanctification: the mountain that his right hand had acquired. And he cast out the Gentiles before their face. And he divided their land by lot to them, with a line of distribution
And he caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles
Yet they tempted and aggravated God Most High, and they did not keep his testaments
And they turned themselves aside, and they did not serve the covenant. In the same manner as their fathers, they were turned backwards, like a crooked bow
They impelled him to anger on their hills, and they provoked him to rivalry with their graven images
God listened, and he spurned them, and he reduced Israel greatly, almost to nothing
And he rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, his tabernacle where he had dwelt among men
And he delivered their virtue into captivity, and their beauty into the hands of the enemy
And he enclosed his people with the sword, and he spurned his inheritance
Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins were not lamented
Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows did not weep
And the Lord was awakened, as if out of sleep, and like a powerful man impaired by wine
And he struck his enemies on the back. He gave them over to everlasting disgrace
And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim
But he chose the tribe of Judah: mount Zion, which he loved
And he built up his sanctuary, like a single-horned beast, in the land that he founded for all ages
And he chose his servant David, and he took him from the flocks of the sheep: he received him from following the ewes with their young
in order to pasture Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance
And he fed them with the innocence of his heart. And he led them with the understanding of his hands