23  ^d“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name ^eImmanuel”

1  ⁱGive ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

2  ^jI will open my mouth ^kin a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

3  things that we have heard and known,

that our ^lfathers have told us.

4  We will not ^mhide them from their children,

but ⁿtell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and ^othe wonders that he has done.

5  He established ^pa testimony in ^qJacob

and appointed a law in ^qIsrael,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

6  that ^rthe next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children,

7  so that they should set their hope in God

and not forget ^sthe works of God,

but ^tkeep his commandments;

8  and that they should not be ^ulike their fathers,

^va stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation ^wwhose heart was not steadfast,

whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9  The Ephraimites, armed with² the bow,

^xturned back on the day of battle.

10  They ^ydid not keep God’s covenant,

but refused to walk according to his law.

11  They ^zforgot his works

and ^athe wonders that he had shown them.

12  In the sight of their fathers ^bhe performed wonders

in the land of Egypt, in ^cthe fields of Zoan.

13  He ^ddivided the sea and let them pass through it,

and made the waters ^estand like a heap.

14  ^fIn the daytime he led them with a cloud,

and all the night with a fiery light.

15  He ^gsplit rocks in the wilderness

and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

16  He made streams come out of ^hthe rock

and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

17  Yet they sinned still more against him,

ⁱrebelling against the Most High in the desert.

18  They ^jtested God in their heart

by demanding the food they craved.

19  They spoke against God, saying,

^k“Can God ^lspread a table in the wilderness?

20  ^mHe struck the rock so that water gushed out

and streams overflowed.

Can he also give bread

or provide meat for his people?”

21  Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;

ⁿa fire was kindled against Jacob;

his anger rose against Israel,

22  because they ^odid not believe in God

and did not trust his saving power.

23  Yet he commanded the skies above

and ^popened the doors of heaven,

24  and he ^qrained down on them manna to eat

and gave them ^rthe grain of heaven.

25  Man ate of the bread of ^sthe angels;

he sent them food ^tin abundance.

26  He ^ucaused the east wind to blow in the heavens,

and by his power he led out the south wind;

27  he rained meat on them like ^vdust,

winged birds like ^wthe sand of the seas;

28  he ^xlet them fall in the midst of their camp,

all around their dwellings.

29  And they ^yate and were well filled,

for he gave them what they ^zcraved.

30  But before they had satisfied their craving,

^awhile the food was still in their mouths,

31  the anger of God rose against them,

and he killed ^bthe strongest of them

and laid low ^cthe young men of Israel.

32  In spite of all this, they ^dstill sinned;

^edespite his wonders, they did not believe.

33  So he made ^ftheir days ^gvanish like³ a breath,⁴

and their years in terror.

34  When he killed them, they ^hsought him;

they repented and sought God earnestly.

35  They remembered that God was their ⁱrock,

the Most High God their ^jredeemer.

36  But they ^kflattered him with their mouths;

they ^llied to him with their tongues.

37  Their ^mheart was not ⁿsteadfast toward him;

they were not faithful to his covenant.

38  Yet he, being ^ocompassionate,

^patoned for their iniquity

and did not destroy them;

he restrained his anger often

and did not stir up all his wrath.

39  He ^qremembered that they were but ^rflesh,

^sa wind that passes and comes not again.

40  How often they ^trebelled against him in the wilderness

and ^ugrieved him in ^vthe desert!

41  They ^wtested God again and again

and provoked ^xthe Holy One of Israel.

42  They ^ydid not remember his power⁵

or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,

43  ^zwhen he performed his ^asigns in Egypt

and his ^bmarvels in ^cthe fields of Zoan.

44  He ^dturned their rivers to blood,

so that they could not drink of their streams.

45  He sent among them swarms of ^eflies, which devoured them,

and ^ffrogs, which destroyed them.

46  He gave their crops to ^gthe destroying locust

and the fruit of their labor to the locust.

47  He destroyed their vines with ^hhail

and their sycamores with frost.

48  He gave over their ⁱcattle to the hail

and their flocks to thunderbolts.

49  He let loose on them his burning anger,

wrath, indignation, and distress,

a company of ^jdestroying angels.

50  He made a path for his anger;

he did not spare them from death,

but gave their lives over to the plague.

51  He struck down every ^kfirstborn in Egypt,

the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of ^lHam.

52  Then he led out his people ^mlike sheep

and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53  ⁿHe led them in safety, so that they ^owere not afraid,

but ^pthe sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54  And he brought them to his ^qholy land,

^rto the mountain which his right hand had ^swon.

55  He ^tdrove out nations before them;

he ^uapportioned them for a possession

and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56  Yet they ^vtested and ^wrebelled against the Most High God

and did not keep his testimonies,

57  but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;

they twisted like ^xa deceitful bow.

58  For they ^yprovoked him to anger with their ^zhigh places;

they ^amoved him to jealousy with their ^bidols.

59  When God heard, he was full of ^cwrath,

and he utterly rejected Israel.

60  He ^dforsook his dwelling at ^eShiloh,

the tent where he dwelt among mankind,

61  and delivered his ^fpower to captivity,

his ^gglory to the hand of the foe.

62  He ^hgave his people over to the sword

and ⁱvented his wrath on his heritage.

63  ^jFire devoured their young men,

and their young women had no ^kmarriage song.

64  Their ^lpriests fell by the sword,

and their ^mwidows made no lamentation.

65  Then the Lord ⁿawoke as from sleep,

like a strong man shouting because of wine.

66  And he ^oput his adversaries to rout;

he put them to everlasting shame.

67  He rejected the tent of ^pJoseph;

he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

68  but he chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion, which he ^qloves.

69  He ^rbuilt his sanctuary like the high heavens,

like the earth, which he has founded forever.

70  He ^schose David his servant

and took him from the sheepfolds;

71  from ^tfollowing the nursing ewes he brought him

to ^ushepherd Jacob his people,

Israel his ^vinheritance.

72  With ^wupright heart he shepherded them

and ^xguided them with his skillful hand.