God and His People
1 Listen, my people, to my teaching,
and pay attention to what I say.
2 I am going to use wise sayings
and explain mysteries from the past,
3 things we have heard and known,
things that our ancestors told us.
4 We will not keep them from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the Lord's power and his great deeds
and the wonderful things he has done.
5 He gave laws to the people of Israel
and commandments to the descendants of Jacob.
He instructed our ancestors
to teach his laws to their children,
6 so that the next generation might learn them
and in turn should tell their children.
7 In this way they also will put their trust in God
and not forget what he has done,
but always obey his commandments.
8 They will not be like their ancestors,
a rebellious and disobedient people,
whose trust in God was never firm
and who did not remain faithful to him.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with bows and arrows,
ran away on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep their covenant with God;
they refused to obey his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
the miracles they had seen him perform.
12 While their ancestors watched, God performed miracles
in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.
13 He divided the sea and took them through it;
he made the waters stand like walls.
14 By day he led them with a cloud
and all night long with the light of a fire.
15 He split rocks open in the desert
and gave them water from the depths.
16 He caused a stream to come out of the rock
and made water flow like a river.
17 But they continued to sin against God,
and in the desert they rebelled against the Most High.
18 They deliberately put God to the test
by demanding the food they wanted.
19 They spoke against God and said,
“Can God supply food in the desert?
20 It is true that he struck the rock,
and water flowed out in a torrent;
but can he also provide us with bread
and give his people meat?”
21 And so the Lord was angry when he heard them;
he attacked his people with fire,
and his anger against them grew,
22 because they had no faith in him
and did not believe that he would save them.
23 But he spoke to the sky above
and commanded its doors to open;
24 he gave them grain from heaven,
by sending down manna for them to eat.
25 So they ate the food of angels,
and God gave them all they wanted.
26 He also caused the east wind to blow,
and by his power he stirred up the south wind;
27 and to his people he sent down birds,
as many as the grains of sand on the shore;
28 they fell in the middle of the camp
all around the tents.
29 So the people ate and were satisfied;
God gave them what they wanted.
30 But they had not yet satisfied their craving
and were still eating,
31 when God became angry with them
and killed their strongest men,
the best young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this the people kept sinning;
in spite of his miracles they did not trust him.
33 So he ended their days like a breath
and their lives with sudden disaster.
34 Whenever he killed some of them,
the rest would turn to him;
they would repent and pray earnestly to him.
35 They remembered that God was their protector,
that the Almighty came to their aid.
36 But their words were all lies;
nothing they said was sincere.
37 They were not loyal to him;
they were not faithful to their covenant with him.
38 But God was merciful to his people.
He forgave their sin
and did not destroy them.
Many times he held back his anger
and restrained his fury.
39 He remembered that they were only mortal beings,
like a wind that blows by and is gone.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the desert;
how many times they made him sad!
41 Again and again they put God to the test
and brought pain to the Holy God of Israel.
42 They forgot his great power
and the day when he saved them from their enemies
43 and performed his mighty acts and miracles
in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.
44 He turned the rivers into blood,
and the Egyptians had no water to drink.
45 He sent flies among them, that tormented them,
and frogs that ruined their land.
46 He sent locusts to eat their crops
and to destroy their fields.
47 He killed their grapevines with hail
and their fig trees with frost.
48 He killed their cattle with hail
and their flocks with lightning.
49 He caused them great distress
by pouring out his anger and fierce rage,
which came as messengers of death.
50 He did not restrain his anger
or spare their lives,
but killed them with a plague.
51 He killed the first-born sons
of all the families of Egypt.
52 Then he led his people out like a shepherd
and guided them through the desert.
53 He led them safely, and they were not afraid;
but the sea came rolling over their enemies.
54 He brought them to his holy land,
to the mountains which he himself conquered.
55 He drove out the inhabitants as his people advanced;
he divided their land among the tribes of Israel
and gave their homes to his people.
56 But they rebelled against Almighty God
and put him to the test.
They did not obey his commandments,
57 but were rebellious and disloyal like their ancestors,
unreliable as a crooked arrow.
58 They angered him with their heathen places of worship,
and with their idols they made him furious.
59 God was angry when he saw it,
so he rejected his people completely.
60 He abandoned his tent in Shiloh,
the home where he had lived among us.
61 He allowed our enemies to capture the Covenant Box,
the symbol of his power and glory.
62 He was angry with his own people
and let them be killed by their enemies.
63 Young men were killed in war,
and young women had no one to marry.
64 Priests died by violence,
and their widows were not allowed to mourn.
65 At last the Lord woke up as though from sleep;
he was like a strong man excited by wine.
66 He drove his enemies back
in lasting and shameful defeat.
67 But he rejected the descendants of Joseph;
he did not select the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead he chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion, which he dearly loves.
69 There he built his Temple
like his home in heaven;
he made it firm like the earth itself,
secure for all time.
70 He chose his servant David;
he took him from the pastures,
71 where he looked after his flocks,
and he made him king of Israel,
the shepherd of the people of God.
72 David took care of them with unselfish devotion
and led them with skill.
Ps 105Ps 106. Né 9:9-28.
1 Cantique d’Asaph.
Mon peuple, écoute mes instructions!
Prêtez l’oreille aux paroles de ma bouche!
2 J’ouvre la bouche par des sentences,
Je publie la sagesse des temps anciens.
3 Ce que nous avons entendu, ce que nous savons,
Ce que nos pères nous ont raconté,
4 Nous ne le cacherons point à leurs enfants;
Nous dirons à la génération future les louanges de l’Éternel,
Et sa puissance, et les prodiges qu’il a opérés.
5 Il a établi un témoignage en Jacob,
Il a mis une loi en Israël,
Et il a ordonné à nos pères de l’enseigner à leurs enfants,
6 Pour qu’elle fût connue de la génération future,
Des enfants qui naîtraient,
Et que, devenus grands, ils en parlassent à leurs enfants,
7 Afin qu’ils missent en Dieu leur confiance,
Qu’ils n’oubliassent pas les œuvres de Dieu,
Et qu’ils observassent ses commandements,
8 Afin qu’ils ne fussent pas, comme leurs pères,
Une race indocile et rebelle,
Une race dont le cœur n’était pas ferme,
Et dont l’esprit n’était pas fidèle à Dieu.
9 Les fils d’Éphraïm, armés et tirant de l’arc,
Tournèrent le dos le jour du combat.
10 Ils ne gardèrent point l’alliance de Dieu,
Et ils refusèrent de marcher selon sa loi.
11 Ils mirent en oubli ses œuvres,
Ses merveilles qu’il leur avait fait voir.
12 Devant leurs pères il avait fait des prodiges,
Au pays d’Égypte, dans les campagnes de Tsoan.
13 Il fendit la mer et leur ouvrit un passage,
Il fit dresser les eaux comme une muraille.
14 Il les conduisit le jour par la nuée,
Et toute la nuit par un feu éclatant.
15 Il fendit des rochers dans le désert,
Et il donna à boire comme des flots abondants;
16 Du rocher il fit jaillir des sources,
Et couler des eaux comme des fleuves.
17 Mais ils continuèrent à pécher contre lui,
A se révolter contre le Très-Haut dans le désert.
18 Ils tentèrent Dieu dans leur cœur,
En demandant de la nourriture selon leur désir.
19 Ils parlèrent contre Dieu,
Ils dirent: Dieu pourrait-il
Dresser une table dans le désert?
20 Voici, il a frappé le rocher, et des eaux ont coulé,
Et des torrents se sont répandus;
Pourra-t-il aussi donner du pain,
Ou fournir de la viande à son peuple?
21 L’Éternel entendit, et il fut irrité;
Un feu s’alluma contre Jacob,
Et la colère s’éleva contre Israël,
22 Parce qu’ils ne crurent pas en Dieu,
Parce qu’ils n’eurent pas confiance dans son secours.
23 Il commanda aux nuages d’en haut,
Et il ouvrit les portes des cieux;
24 Il fit pleuvoir sur eux la manne pour nourriture,
Il leur donna le blé du ciel.
25 Ils mangèrent tous le pain des grands,
Il leur envoya de la nourriture à satiété.
26 Il fit souffler dans les cieux le vent d’orient,
Et il amena par sa puissance le vent du midi;
27 Il fit pleuvoir sur eux la viande comme de la poussière,
Et comme le sable des mers les oiseaux ailés;
28 Il les fit tomber au milieu de leur camp,
Tout autour de leurs demeures.
29 Ils mangèrent et se rassasièrent abondamment:
Dieu leur donna ce qu’ils avaient désiré.
30 Ils n’avaient pas satisfait leur désir,
Ils avaient encore leur nourriture dans la bouche,
31 Lorsque la colère de Dieu s’éleva contre eux;
Il frappa de mort les plus vigoureux,
Il abattit les jeunes hommes d’Israël.
32 Malgré tout cela, ils continuèrent à pécher,
Et ne crurent point à ses prodiges.
33 Il consuma leurs jours par la vanité,
Et leurs années par une fin soudaine.
34 Quand il les frappait de mort, ils le cherchaient,
Ils revenaient et se tournaient vers Dieu;
35 Ils se souvenaient que Dieu était leur rocher,
Que le Dieu Très-Haut était leur libérateur.
36 Mais ils le trompaient de la bouche,
Et ils lui mentaient de la langue;
37 Leur cœur n’était pas ferme envers lui,
Et ils n’étaient pas fidèles à son alliance.
38 Toutefois, dans sa miséricorde, il pardonne l’iniquité et ne détruit pas;
Il retient souvent sa colère et ne se livre pas à toute sa fureur.
39 Il se souvint qu’ils n’étaient que chair,
Un souffle qui s’en va et ne revient pas.
40 Que de fois ils se révoltèrent contre lui dans le désert!
Que de fois ils l’irritèrent dans la solitude!
41 Ils ne cessèrent de tenter Dieu,
Et de provoquer le Saint d’Israël.
42 Ils ne se souvinrent pas de sa puissance,
Du jour où il les délivra de l’ennemi,
43 Des miracles qu’il accomplit en Égypte,
Et de ses prodiges dans les campagnes de Tsoan.
44 Il changea leurs fleuves en sang,
Et ils ne purent en boire les eaux.
45 Il envoya contre eux des mouches venimeuses qui les dévorèrent,
Et des grenouilles qui les détruisirent.
46 Il livra leurs récoltes aux sauterelles,
Le produit de leur travail aux sauterelles.
47 Il fit périr leurs vignes par la grêle,
Et leurs sycomores par la gelée.
48 Il abandonna leur bétail à la grêle,
Et leurs troupeaux au feu du ciel.
49 Il lança contre eux son ardente colère,
La fureur, la rage et la détresse,
Une troupe de messagers de malheur.
50 Il donna libre cours à sa colère,
Il ne sauva pas leur âme de la mort,
Il livra leur vie à la mortalité;
51 Il frappa tous les premiers-nés en Égypte,
Les prémices de la force sous les tentes de Cham.
52 Il fit partir son peuple comme des brebis,
Il les conduisit comme un troupeau dans le désert.
53 Il les dirigea sûrement, pour qu’ils fussent sans crainte,
Et la mer couvrit leurs ennemis.
54 Il les amena vers sa frontière sainte,
Vers cette montagne que sa droite a acquise.
55 Il chassa devant eux les nations,
Leur distribua le pays en héritage,
Et fit habiter dans leurs tentes les tribus d’Israël.
56 Mais ils tentèrent le Dieu Très-Haut et se révoltèrent contre lui,
Et ils n’observèrent point ses ordonnances.
57 Ils s’éloignèrent et furent infidèles, comme leurs pères,
Ils tournèrent, comme un arc trompeur.
58 Ils l’irritèrent par leurs hauts lieux,
Et ils excitèrent sa jalousie par leurs idoles.
59 Dieu entendit, et il fut irrité;
Il repoussa fortement Israël.
60 Il abandonna la demeure de Silo,
La tente où il habitait parmi les hommes;
61 Il livra sa gloire à la captivité,
Et sa majesté entre les mains de l’ennemi.
62 Il mit son peuple à la merci du glaive,
Et il s’indigna contre son héritage.
63 Le feu dévora ses jeunes hommes,
Et ses vierges ne furent pas célébrées;
64 Ses sacrificateurs tombèrent par l’épée,
Et ses veuves ne pleurèrent pas.
65 Le Seigneur s’éveilla comme celui qui a dormi,
Comme un héros qu’a subjugué le vin.
66 Il frappa ses adversaires en fuite,
Il les couvrit d’un opprobre éternel.
67 Cependant il rejeta la tente de Joseph,
Et il ne choisit point la tribu d’Éphraïm;
68 Il préféra la tribu de Juda,
La montagne de Sion qu’il aimait.
69 Et il bâtit son sanctuaire comme les lieux élevés,
Comme la terre qu’il a fondée pour toujours.
70 Il choisit David, son serviteur,
Et il le tira des bergeries;
71 Il le prit derrière les brebis qui allaitent,
Pour lui faire paître Jacob, son peuple,
Et Israël, son héritage.
72 Et David les dirigea avec un cœur intègre,
Et les conduisit avec des mains intelligentes.
