Psaumes 78

1Cantique d’Asaph. Écoute, ô mon peuple, mon enseignement ; prête l’oreille aux paroles de ma bouche.

2Je vais ouvrir ma bouche pour dire des sentences, je publierai les mystères des temps anciens.

3Ce que nous avons entendu, ce que nous avons appris, ce que nos pères nous ont raconté,

4nous ne le cacherons pas à leurs enfants ; nous dirons à la génération future les louanges de Yahweh, et sa puissance, et les prodiges qu’il a opérés.

5Il a mis une règle en Jacob, il a établi une loi en Israël, qu’il a enjoint à nos pères d’apprendre à leurs enfants,

6pour qu’elles soient connues des générations suivantes, des enfants qui naîtraient et qui se lèveraient, pour les raconter à leur tour à leurs enfants.

7Ainsi ils mettraient en Dieu leur confiance, ils n’oublieraient point les œuvres de Dieu, et ils observeraient ses préceptes ;

8ils ne seraient point, comme leurs pères, une race indocile et rebelle, une race au cœur volage, dont l’esprit n’est pas fidèle à Dieu.

9Les fils d’Ephraïm, archers habiles à tirer de l’arc, ont tourné le dos au jour du combat ;

10ils n’ont pas gardé l’alliance de Dieu, ils ont refusé de marcher selon sa loi ;

11ils ont mis en oubli ses grandes œuvres, et les merveilles qu’il leur avait montrées.

12Devant leurs pères, il avait fait des prodiges, au pays de l’Égypte, dans les campagnes de Tanis.

13Il ouvrit la mer pour les faire passer ; Il retint les eaux dressées comme un monceau.

14Il les conduisit le jour par la nuée, et toute la nuit par un feu brillant.

15Il fendit les rochers dans le désert, et il donna à boire comme des flots abondants.

16Du rocher il fit jaillir des ruisseaux, et couler l’eau par torrents.

17Mais ils continuèrent de pécher contre lui, de se révolter contre le Très-Haut dans le désert.

18Ils tentèrent Dieu dans leur cœur, en demandant de la nourriture selon leur convoitise.

19Ils parlèrent contre Dieu et dirent : « Dieu pourra-t-il dresser une table dans le désert ?

20Voici qu’il a frappé le rocher, et des eaux ont coulé, et des torrents se sont répandus ; pourra-t-il aussi nous donner du pain ou bien procurer de la viande à son peuple ? »

21Yahweh entendit et il fut irrité, un feu s’alluma contre Jacob, et la colère s’éleva contre Israël,

22parce qu’ils n’avaient pas eu foi en Dieu et n’avaient pas espéré en son secours.

23Cependant il commanda aux nuées d’en haut, et il ouvrit les portes du ciel ;

24il fit pleuvoir sur eux la manne pour les nourrir, et leur donna le froment du ciel.

25Chacun mangea le pain des forts, Il leur envoya de la nourriture à satiété.

26Il fit souffler dans le ciel le vent d’orient, il amena par sa puissance le vent du midi ;

27il fit pleuvoir sur eux la viande comme de la poussière, et les oiseaux ailés comme le sable des mers.

28Il les fit tomber au milieu de leur camp, autour de leurs tentes.

29Ils mangèrent et se rassasièrent à l’excès ; Dieu leur donna ce qu’ils avaient désiré.

30Ils n’avaient pas encore satisfait leur convoitise, et leur nourriture était encore à leur bouche,

31quand la colère de Dieu s’éleva contre eux ; il frappa de mort les mieux repus, il abattit les jeunes hommes d’Israël.

32Après tout cela, ils péchèrent encore, et n’eurent pas foi dans ses prodiges.

33Alors il dissipa leurs jours comme un souffle, et leurs années par une fin soudaine.

34Quand il les frappait de mort, ils le cherchaient, ils revenaient, empressés à retrouver Dieu,

35ils se rappelaient que Dieu était leur rocher, et le Dieu Très-Haut leur libérateur.

36Mais ils le trompaient par leurs paroles, et leur langue lui mentait ;

37leur cœur n’était pas ferme avec lui, ils n’étaient pas fidèles à son alliance.

38Mais lui est miséricordieux : il pardonne le péché et ne détruit pas ; souvent il retint sa colère, et ne se livra pas à toute sa fureur.

39Il se souvenait qu’ils n’étaient que chair, un souffle qui s’en va et ne revient plus.

40Que de fois ils se révoltèrent contre lui dans le désert, ils l’irritèrent dans la solitude !

41Ils ne cessèrent de tenter Dieu et de provoquer le Saint d’Israël.

42Ils ne se souvinrent plus de sa puissance, du jour où il les délivra de l’oppresseur,

43où il montra ses prodiges en Égypte, ses actions merveilleuses dans les campagnes de Tanis.

44Il changea leurs fleuves en sang, et ils ne purent boire à leurs ruisseaux.

45Il envoya contre eux le moucheron qui les dévora, et la grenouille qui les fit périr.

46Il livra leurs récoltes à la sauterelle, le produit de leur travail à ses essaims.

47Il détruisit leurs vignes par la grêle, et leurs sycomores par les grêlons.

48Il abandonna leur bétail à la grêle, et leurs troupeaux aux coups de la foudre.

49Il déchaîna contre eux le feu de son courroux, la fureur, la rage et la détresse, toute une armée d’anges de malheur.

50Il donna libre carrière à sa colère, il ne sauva pas leur âme de la mort, il livra leur vie à la destruction.

51Il frappa tous les premiers-nés en Égypte, les prémices de la force sous les tentes de Cham.

52Il fit partir son peuple comme des brebis, il les mena comme un troupeau dans le désert.

53Il les dirigea sûrement, sans qu’ils eussent rien à craindre, et la mer engloutit leurs ennemis.

54Il les fit arriver jusqu’à sa frontière sainte, jusqu’à la montagne que sa droite a conquise.

55Il chassa les nations devant eux, leur assigna par le sort leur part d’héritage, et fit habiter dans leurs tentes les tribus d’Israël.

56Cependant ils ont encore tenté et provoqué le Dieu Très-Haut, et ils n’ont pas observé ses ordonnances.

57Ils se sont détournés et ont été infidèles comme leurs pères, ils se sont détournés comme un arc trompeur.

58Ils l’ont irrité par leurs hauts lieux, ils ont excité sa jalousie par leurs idoles.

59Dieu entendit et s’indigna, il prit Israël en grande aversion.

60Il dédaigna la demeure de Silo, la tente où il habitait parmi les hommes.

61Il livra sa force à la captivité, et sa majesté aux mains de l’ennemi.

62Il abandonna son peuple au glaive, et il s’indigna contre son héritage.

63Le feu dévora ses jeunes hommes, et ses vierges n’entendirent point le chant nuptial.

64Ses prêtres tombèrent par l’épée, et ses veuves ne se lamentèrent point.

65Le Seigneur se réveilla, comme un homme endormi, pareil au guerrier subjugué par le vin.

66Il frappa ses ennemis par derrière, il leur infligea une honte éternelle.

67Mais il prit en aversion la tente de Joseph, et il répudia la tribu d’Ephraïm.

68Il choisit la tribu de Juda, la montagne de Sion qu’il aimait.

69Et il bâtit son sanctuaire comme les hauteurs du ciel, comme la terre qu’il a fondée pour toujours.

70Il choisit David, son serviteur, et le tira des bergeries ;

71Il le prit derrière les brebis mères, pour paître Jacob, son peuple, et Israël, son héritage.

72Et David les guida dans la droiture de son cœur, et il les conduisit d’une main habile.

1Intellectus Asaph. [Attendite, popule meus, legem meam; inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris mei.

2Aperiam in parabolis os meum; loquar propositiones ab initio.

3Quanta audivimus, et cognovimus ea, et patres nostri narraverunt nobis.

4Non sunt occultata a filiis eorum in generatione altera, narrantes laudes Domini et virtutes ejus, et mirabilia ejus quæ fecit.

5Et suscitavit testimonium in Jacob, et legem posuit in Israël, quanta mandavit patribus nostris nota facere ea filiis suis:

6ut cognoscat generatio altera: filii qui nascentur et exsurgent, et narrabunt filiis suis,

7ut ponant in Deo spem suam, et non obliviscantur operum Dei, et mandata ejus exquirant:

8ne fiant, sicut patres eorum, generatio prava et exasperans; generatio quæ non direxit cor suum, et non est creditus cum Deo spiritus ejus.

9Filii Ephrem, intendentes et mittentes arcum, conversi sunt in die belli.

10Non custodierunt testamentum Dei, et in lege ejus noluerunt ambulare.

11Et obliti sunt benefactorum ejus, et mirabilium ejus quæ ostendit eis.

12Coram patribus eorum fecit mirabilia in terra Ægypti, in campo Taneos.

13Interrupit mare, et perduxit eos, et statuit aquas quasi in utre:

14et deduxit eos in nube diei, et tota nocte in illuminatione ignis.

15Interrupit petram in eremo, et adaquavit eos velut in abysso multa.

16Et eduxit aquam de petra, et deduxit tamquam flumina aquas.

17Et apposuerunt adhuc peccare ei; in iram excitaverunt Excelsum in inaquoso.

18Et tentaverunt Deum in cordibus suis, ut peterent escas animabus suis.

19Et male locuti sunt de Deo; dixerunt: Numquid poterit Deus parare mensam in deserto?

20quoniam percussit petram, et fluxerunt aquæ, et torrentes inundaverunt. Numquid et panem poterit dare, aut parare mensam populo suo?

21Ideo audivit Dominus et distulit; et ignis accensus est in Jacob, et ira ascendit in Israël:

22quia non crediderunt in Deo, nec speraverunt in salutari ejus.

23Et mandavit nubibus desuper, et januas cæli aperuit.

24Et pluit illis manna ad manducandum, et panem cæli dedit eis.

25Panem angelorum manducavit homo; cibaria misit eis in abundantia.

26Transtulit austrum de cælo, et induxit in virtute sua africum.

27Et pluit super eos sicut pulverem carnes, et sicut arenam maris volatilia pennata.

28Et ceciderunt in medio castrorum eorum, circa tabernacula eorum.

29Et manducaverunt, et saturati sunt nimis, et desiderium eorum attulit eis:

30non sunt fraudati a desiderio suo. Adhuc escæ eorum erant in ore ipsorum,

31et ira Dei ascendit super eos: et occidit pingues eorum, et electos Israël impedivit.

32In omnibus his peccaverunt adhuc, et non crediderunt in mirabilibus ejus.

33Et defecerunt in vanitate dies eorum, et anni eorum cum festinatione.

34Cum occideret eos, quærebant eum et revertebantur, et diluculo veniebant ad eum.

35Et rememorati sunt quia Deus adjutor est eorum, et Deus excelsus redemptor eorum est.

36Et dilexerunt eum in ore suo, et lingua sua mentiti sunt ei;

37cor autem eorum non erat rectum cum eo, nec fideles habiti sunt in testamento ejus.

38Ipse autem est misericors, et propitius fiet peccatis eorum, et non disperdet eos. Et abundavit ut averteret iram suam, et non accendit omnem iram suam.

39Et recordatus est quia caro sunt, spiritus vadens et non rediens.

40Quoties exacerbaverunt eum in deserto; in iram concitaverunt eum in inaquoso?

41Et conversi sunt, et tentaverunt Deum, et sanctum Israël exacerbaverunt.

42Non sunt recordati manus ejus, die qua redemit eos de manu tribulantis:

43sicut posuit in Ægypto signa sua, et prodigia sua in campo Taneos;

44et convertit in sanguinem flumina eorum, et imbres eorum, ne biberent.

45Misit in eos cœnomyiam, et comedit eos, et ranam, et disperdidit eos;

46et dedit ærugini fructus eorum, et labores eorum locustæ;

47et occidit in grandine vineas eorum, et moros eorum in pruina;

48et tradidit grandini jumenta eorum, et possessionem eorum igni;

49misit in eos iram indignationis suæ, indignationem, et iram, et tribulationem, immissiones per angelos malos.

50Viam fecit semitæ iræ suæ: non pepercit a morte animabus eorum, et jumenta eorum in morte conclusit:

51et percussit omne primogenitum in terra Ægypti; primitias omnis laboris eorum in tabernaculis Cham:

52et abstulit sicut oves populum suum, et perduxit eos tamquam gregem in deserto:

53et deduxit eos in spe, et non timuerunt, et inimicos eorum operuit mare.

54Et induxit eos in montem sanctificationis suæ, montem quem acquisivit dextera ejus; et ejecit a facie eorum gentes, et sorte divisit eis terram in funiculo distributionis;

55et habitare fecit in tabernaculis eorum tribus Israël.

56Et tentaverunt, et exacerbaverunt Deum excelsum, et testimonia ejus non custodierunt.

57Et averterunt se, et non servaverunt pactum: quemadmodum patres eorum, conversi sunt in arcum pravum.

58In iram concitaverunt eum in collibus suis, et in sculptilibus suis ad æmulationem eum provocaverunt.

59Audivit Deus, et sprevit, et ad nihilum redegit valde Israël.

60Et repulit tabernaculum Silo, tabernaculum suum, ubi habitavit in hominibus.

61Et tradidit in captivitatem virtutem eorum, et pulchritudinem eorum in manus inimici.

62Et conclusit in gladio populum suum, et hæreditatem suam sprevit.

63Juvenes eorum comedit ignis, et virgines eorum non sunt lamentatæ.

64Sacerdotes eorum in gladio ceciderunt, et viduæ eorum non plorabantur.

65Et excitatus est tamquam dormiens Dominus, tamquam potens crapulatus a vino.

66Et percussit inimicos suos in posteriora; opprobrium sempiternum dedit illis.

67Et repulit tabernaculum Joseph, et tribum Ephraim non elegit:

68sed elegit tribum Juda, montem Sion, quem dilexit.

69Et ædificavit sicut unicornium sanctificium suum, in terra quam fundavit in sæcula.

70Et elegit David, servum suum, et sustulit eum de gregibus ovium; de post fœtantes accepit eum:

71pascere Jacob servum suum, et Israël hæreditatem suam.

72Et pavit eos in innocentia cordis sui, et in intellectibus manuum suarum deduxit eos.]

1Understanding for Asaph. Attend, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter propositions from the beginning.

3How great things have we heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4They have not been hidden from their children, in another generation. Declaring the praises of the Lord, and his powers, and his wonders which he hath done.

5And he set up a testimony in Jacob: and made a law in Israel. How great things he commanded our fathers, that they should make the same known to their children:

6That another generation might know them. The children that should be born and should rise up, and declare them to their children.

7That they may put their hope in God and may not forget the works of God: and may seek his commandments.

8That they may not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation. A generation that set not their heart aright: and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9The sons of Ephraim who bend and shoot with the bow: they have turned back in the day of battle.

10They kept not the covenant of God: and in his law they would not walk.

11And they forgot his benefits, and his wonders that he had shewn them.

12Wonderful things did he do in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis.

13He divided the sea and brought them through: and he made the waters to stand as in a vessel.

14And he conducted them with a cloud by day: and all the night with a light of fire.

15He struck the rock in the wilderness: and gave them to drink, as out of the great deep.

16He brought forth water out of the rock: and made streams run down as rivers.

17And they added yet more sin against him: they provoked the most High to wrath in the place without water.

18And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking meat for their desires.

19And they spoke ill of God: they said: Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

20Because he struck the rock, and the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can he also give bread, or provide a table for his people?

21Therefore the Lord heard, and was angry: and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel.

22Because they believed not in God: and trusted not in his salvation.

23And he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of heaven.

24And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the bread of heaven.

25Man ate the bread of angels: he sent them provisions in abundance.

26He removed the south wind from heaven: and by his power brought in the southwest wind.

27And he rained upon them flesh as dust: and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea.

28And they fell in the midst of their camp, round about their pavilions.

29So they did eat, and were filled exceedingly, and he gave them their desire:

30They were not defrauded of that which they craved. As yet their meat was in their mouth:

31And the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones amongst them, and brought down the chosen men of Israel.

32In all these things they sinned still: and they believed not for his wondrous works.

33And their days were consumed in vanity, and their years in haste.

34When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned, and came to him early in the morning.

35And they remembered that God was their helper: and the most high God their redeemer.

36And they loved him with their mouth: and with their tongue they lied unto him:

37But their heart was not right with him: nor were they counted faithful in his covenant.

38But he is merciful, and will forgive their sins: and will not destroy them. And many a time did he turn away his anger: and did not kindle all his wrath.

39And he remembered that they are flesh: a wind that goeth and returneth not.

40How often did they provoke him in the desert: and move him to wrath in the place without water?

41And they turned back and tempted God: and grieved the holy one of Israel.

42They remembered not his hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of him that afflicted them:

43How he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Tanis.

44And he turned their rivers into blood, and their showers that they might, not drink.

45He sent amongst them divers sores of flies, which devoured them: and frogs which destroyed them.

46And he gave up their fruits to the blast, and their labours to the locust.

47And he destroyed their vineyards with hail, and their mulberry trees with hoarfrost.

48And he gave up their cattle to the hail, and their stock to the fire.

49And he sent upon them the wrath of his indignation: indignation and wrath and trouble, which he sent by evil angels.

50He made a way for a path to his anger: he spared not their souls from death, and their cattle he shut up in death.

51And he killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt: the firstfruits of all their labour in the tabernacles of Cham.

52And he took away his own people as sheep: and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53And he brought them out in hope, and they feared not: band the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54And he brought them into the mountain of his sanctuary: the mountain which his right hand had purchased. And he cast out the Gentiles before them: and by lot divided to them their land by a line of distribution.

55And he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.

56Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God: and they kept not his testimonies.

57And they turned away, and kept not the covenant: even like their fathers they were turned aside as a crooked bow.

58They provoked him to anger on their hills: and moved him to jealousy with their graven things.

59God heard, and despised them, and he reduced Israel exceedingly as it were to nothing.

60And he put away the tabernacle of Silo, his tabernacle where he dwelt among men.

61And he delivered their strength into captivity: and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.

62And he shut up his people under the sword: and he despised his inheritance.

63Fire consumed their young men: and their maidens were not lamented.

64Their priests fell by the sword: and their widows did not mourn.

65And the Lord was awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine.

66And he smote his enemies on the hinder parts: he put them to an everlasting reproach.

67And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

68But he chose the tribe of Juda, mount Sion which he loved.

69And he built his sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which he founded for ever.

70And he chose his servant David, and took him from the hocks of sheep: he brought him from following the ewes great with young,

71To feed Jacob his servant, and Israel his inheritance.

72And he fed them in the innocence of his heart: and conducted them by the skillfulness of his hands.