1 Attend, my people, to my law;thereto give thou an ear;The words that from my mouth proceedattentively do hear.
2 My mouth shall speak a parable,and sayings dark of old;
3 The same which we have heard and known,and us our fathers told.
4 We also will them not concealfrom their posterity;Them to the generationto come declare will we:The praises of the Lord our God,and his almighty strength,The wondrous works that he hath done,we will shew forth at length.
5 His testimony and his lawin Isr'el he did place,And charg'd our fathers it to showto their succeeding race;
6 That so the race which was to comemight well them learn and know;And sons unborn, who should arise,might to their sons them show:
7 That they might set their hope in God,and suffer not to fallHis mighty works out of their mind,but keep his precepts all:
8 And might not, like their fathers, bea stiff rebellious race;A race not right in heart; with Godwhose sp'rit not stedfast was.
9 The sons of Ephraim, who nor bowsnor other arms did lack,When as the day of battle was,they faintly turned back.
10 They brake God's cov'nant,and refus'd in his commands to go;
11 His works and wonders they forgot,which he to them did show.
12 Things marvellous he brought to pass;their fathers them beheldWithin the land of Egypt done,yea, ev'n in Zoan's field.
13 By him divided was the sea,he caus'd them through to pass;And made the waters so to stand,as like an heap it was.
14 With cloud by day, with light of fireall night, he did them guide.
15 In desert rocks he clave,and drink, as from great depths, supply'd.
16 He from the rock brought streams, like floodsmade waters to run down.
17 Yet sinning more, in desert theyprovok'd the Highest One.
18 For in their heart they tempted God,and, speaking with mistrust,They greedily did meat requireto satisfy their lust.
19 Against the Lord himself they spake,and, murmuring, said thus,A table in the wildernesscan God prepare for us?
20 Behold, he smote the rock, and thencecame streams and waters great;But can he give his people bread?and send them flesh to eat?
21 The Lord did hear, and waxed wroth;so kindled was a flame'Gainst Jacob, and 'gainst Israelup indignation came.
22 For they believ'd not God, nor trustin his salvation had;
23 Though clouds above he did command,and heav'n's doors open made,
24 And manna rain'd on them,and gave them corn of heav'n to eat.
25 Man angels' food did eat; to themhe to the full sent meat.
26 And in the heaven he did causean eastern wind to blow;And by his power he let outthe southern wind to go.
27 Then flesh as thick as dust he madeto rain down them among;And feather'd fowls, like as the sandwhich li'th the shore along.
28 At his command amidst their campthese show'rs of flesh down fell,All round about the tabernaclesand tents where they did dwell.
29 So they did eat abundantly,and had of meat their fill;For he did give to them what wastheir own desire and will.
30 They from their lust had not estrang'dtheir heart and their desire;But while the meat was in their mouths,which they did so require,
31 God's wrath upon them came,and slew the fattest of them all;So that the choice of Israel,o'erthrown by death, did fall.
32 Yet, notwithstanding of all this,they sinned still the more;And though he had great wonders wrought,believ'd him not therefore:
33 Wherefore their days in vanityhe did consume and waste;And by his wrath their wretched yearsaway in trouble past.
34 But when he slew them, then they didto seek him shew desire;Yea, they return'd, and after Godright early did enquire.
35 And that the Lord had been their Rock,they did remember then;Ev'n that the high almighty Godhad their Redeemer been.
36 Yet with their mouth they flatter'd him,and spake but feignedly;And they unto the God of truthwith their false tongues did lie.
37 For though their words were good, their heartwith him was not sincere;Unstedfast and perfidiousthey in his cov'nant were.
38 But, full of pity, he forgavetheir sin, them did not slay;Nor stirr'd up all his wrath, but ofthis anger turn'd away.
39 For that they were but fading fleshto mind he did recall;A wind that passeth soon away,and not returns at all.
40 How often did they him provokewithin the wilderness!And in the desert did him grievewith their rebelliousness!
41 Yea, turning back, they tempted God,and limits set uponHim, who in midst of Isr'el isthe only Holy One.
42 They did not call to mind his pow'r,nor yet the day when heDeliver'd them out of the handof their fierce enemy;
43 Nor how great signs in Egypt landhe openly had wrought;What miracles in Zoan's fieldhis hand to pass had brought.
44 How lakes and rivers ev'ry wherehe turned into blood;So that nor man nor beast could drinkof standing lake or flood.
45 He brought among them swarms of flies,which did them sore annoy;And divers kinds of filthy frogshe sent them to destroy.
46 He to the caterpillar gavethe fruits of all their soil;Their labours he deliver'd upunto the locusts' spoil.
47 Their vines with hail, their sycamoreshe with the frost did blast:
48 Their beasts to hail he gave; their flockshot thunderbolts did waste.
49 Fierce burning wrath he on them cast,and indignation strong,And troubles sore, by sending forthill angels them among.
50 He to his wrath made way; their soulfrom death he did not save;But over to the pestilencethe lives of them he gave.
51 In Egypt land the first-born allhe smote down ev'ry where;Among the tents of Ham, ev'n thesechief of their strength that were.
52 But his own people, like to sheep,thence to go forth he made;And he, amidst the wilderness,them, as a flock, did lead.
53 And he them safely on did lead,so that they did not fear;Whereas their en'mies by the seaquite overwhelmed were.
54 To borders of his sanctuarythe Lord his people led,Ev'n to the mount which his right handfor them had purchased.
55 The nations of Canaan,by his almighty hand,Before their face he did expelout of their native land;Which for inheritance to themby line he did divide,And made the tribes of Israelwithin their tents abide.
56 Yet God most high they did provoke,and tempted ever still;And to observe his testimoniesdid not incline their will:
57 But, like their fathers, turned back,and dealt unfaithfully:Aside they turned, like a bowthat shoots deceitfully.
58 For they to anger did provokehim with their places high;And with their graven imagesmov'd him to jealousy.
59 When God heard this, he waxed wroth,and much loath'd Isr'el then:
60 So Shiloh's tent he left, the tentwhich he had plac'd with men.
61 And he his strength deliveredinto captivity;He left his glory in the handof his proud enemy.
62 His people also he gave o'erunto the sword's fierce rage:So sore his wrath inflamed wasagainst his heritage.
63 The fire consum'd their choice young men;their maids no marriage had;
64 And when their priests fell by the sword,their wives no mourning made.
65 But then the Lord arose, as onethat doth from sleep awake;And like a giant that, by winerefresh'd, a shout doth make:
66 Upon his en'mies' hinder partshe made his stroke to fall;And so upon them he did puta shame perpetual.
67 Moreover, he the tabernacleof Joseph did refuse;The mighty tribe of Ephraimhe would in no wise chuse:
68 But he did chuse Jehudah's tribeto be the rest above;And of mount Sion he made choice,which he so much did love.
69 And he his sanctuary builtlike to a palace high,Like to the earth which he did foundto perpetuity.
70 Of David, that his servant was,he also choice did make,And even from the folds of sheepwas pleased him to take:
71 From waiting on the ewes with young,he brought him forth to feedIsrael, his inheritance,his people, Jacob's seed.
72 So after the integrityhe of his heart them fed;And by the good skill of his handsthem wisely governed.