Through the Bible – Day 210

₁My friends, I beg you

to listen as I teach.

₂I will give instruction

and explain the mystery

of what happened long ago.

₃These are things we learnt

from our ancestors,

₄and we will tell them

to the next generation.

We won't keep secret

the glorious deeds

and the mighty miracles

of the LORD.

₅God gave his Law

to Jacob's descendants,

the people of Israel.

And he told our ancestors

to teach their children,

₆so that each new generation

would know his Law

and tell it to the next.

₇Then they would trust God

and obey his teachings,

without forgetting anything

God had done.

₈They would be different

from their ancestors,

who were stubborn, rebellious,

and unfaithful to God.

₉The warriors from Ephraim

were armed with arrows,

but they ran away

when the battle began.

₁₀They broke their agreement

with God,

and they turned their backs

on his teaching.

₁₁They forgot all he had done,

even the mighty miracles

₁₂he did for their ancestors

near Zoan in Egypt.

₁₃God made a path in the sea

and piled up the water

as he led them across.

₁₄He guided them during the day

with a cloud,

and each night he led them

with a flaming fire.

₁₅God made water flow

from rocks he split open

in the desert,

and his people drank freely,

as though from a lake.

₁₆He made streams gush out

like rivers from rocks.

₁₇But in the desert,

the people of God Most High

kept sinning and rebelling.

₁₈They stubbornly tested God

and demanded from him

what they wanted to eat.

₁₉They challenged God by saying,

“Can God provide food

out here in the desert?

₂₀It's true God struck the rock

and water gushed out

like a river,

but can he give his people

bread and meat?”

₂₁When the LORD heard this,

he was angry and furious

with Jacob's descendants,

the people of Israel.

₂₂They had refused to trust him,

and they had doubted

his saving power.

₂₃But God gave a command

to the clouds,

and he opened the doors

in the skies.

₂₄From heaven he sent grain

that they called manna.

₂₅He gave them more than enough,

and each one of them ate

this special food.

₂₆God's mighty power

brought a strong wind

from the south-east,

₂₇and it brought birds

that covered the ground,

like sand on the beach.

₂₈Then God made the birds fall

in the camp of his people

near their tents.

₂₉God gave his people

all they wanted,

and each of them ate

until they were full.

₃₀But before they had swallowed

the last bite,

₃₁God became angry and killed

the strongest and best

from the families of Israel.

₃₂But the rest kept on sinning

and would not trust

God's miracles.

₃₃So he cut their lives short

and made them terrified.

₃₄After he killed some of them,

the others turned to him

with all their hearts.

₃₅They remembered God Most High,

the mighty rock

that kept them safe.

₃₆But they tried to flatter God,

and they told him lies;

₃₇they were unfaithful

and broke their promises.

₃₈Yet God was kind.

He kept forgiving their sins

and didn't destroy them.

He often became angry,

but never lost his temper.

₃₉God remembered that they

were made of flesh

and were like a wind

that blows once

and then dies down.

₄₀While they were in the desert,

they often rebelled

and made God sad.

₄₁They kept testing him

and caused terrible pain

for the Holy One of Israel.

₄₂They forgot about his power

and how he had rescued them

from their enemies.

₄₃God showed them all kinds

of wonderful miracles

near Zoan in Egypt.

₄₄He turned the rivers of Egypt

into blood,

and no one could drink

from the streams.

₄₅He sent swarms of flies

to pester the Egyptians,

and he sent frogs

to cause them trouble.

₄₆God let worms and grasshoppers

eat their crops.

₄₇He destroyed their grapevines

and their fig trees

with hail and floods.

₄₈Then he killed their cattle

with hail

and their other animals

with lightning.

₄₉God was so angry and furious

that he went into a rage

and caused them great trouble

by sending swarms

of destroying angels.

₅₀God gave in to his anger

and slaughtered them

in a terrible way.

₅₁He killed the firstborn son

of each Egyptian family.

₅₂Then God led his people

out of Egypt

and guided them in the desert

like a flock of sheep.

₅₃He led them safely along,

and they were not afraid,

but their enemies drowned

in the sea.

₅₄God brought his people

to the sacred mountain

that he had taken

by his own power.

₅₅He made nations run

from the tribes of Israel,

and he let the tribes

take over their land.

₅₆But the people tested

God Most High,

and they refused

to obey his laws.

₅₇They were as unfaithful

as their ancestors,

and they were as crooked

as a twisted arrow.

₅₈God demanded all their love,

but they made him angry

by worshipping idols.

₅₉So God became furious

and completely rejected

the people of Israel.

₆₀Then he deserted his home

at Shiloh, where he lived

here on earth.

₆₁He let enemies capture

the sacred chest

and let them dishonour him.

₆₂God took out his anger

on his chosen ones

and let them be killed

by enemy swords.

₆₃Fire destroyed the young men,

and the young women were left

with no one to marry.

₆₄Priests died violent deaths,

but their widows

were not allowed to mourn.

₆₅Finally the Lord woke up,

and he shouted

like a drunken soldier.

₆₆God scattered his enemies

and made them ashamed

for ever.

₆₇Then the Lord decided

not to make his home

with Joseph's descendants

in Ephraim.

₆₈Instead he chose the tribe

of Judah,

and he chose Mount Zion,

the place he loves.

₆₉There he built his temple

as lofty as the mountains

and as solid as the earth

that he had made

to last for ever.

₇₀The Lord God chose David

to be his servant and took him

from tending sheep

₇₁and from caring for lambs.

Then God made him the leader

of Israel, his own nation.

₇₂David treated the people fairly

and guided them with wisdom.