The Holy Bible: King James Version. 2000.
God’s Faithfulness to His Unfaithful People |
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1 |
Give ear, O my people, to my law:
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incline your ears to the words of my mouth. |
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2 |
I will open my mouth in a parable:
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3 |
which we have heard and known,
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and our fathers have told us. |
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4 |
We will not hide them from their children,
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showing to the generation to come |
the praises of the LORD, and his strength, |
and his wonderful works that he hath done. |
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5 |
For he established a testimony in Jacob,
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and appointed a law in Israel, |
which he commanded our fathers, |
that they should make them known to their children: |
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that the generation to come might know them,
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even the children which should be born; |
who should arise and declare them to their children: |
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that they might set their hope in God,
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and not forget the works of God, |
but keep his commandments: |
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8 |
and might not be as their fathers,
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a stubborn and rebellious generation; |
a generation that set not their heart aright, |
and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. |
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9 |
The children of E’phra-im,
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being armed, and carrying bows, |
turned back in the day of battle. |
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10 |
They kept not the covenant of God,
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and refused to walk in his law; |
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11 |
and forgat his works,
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and his wonders that he had showed them. |
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12 |
Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers,
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13 |
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through;
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and he made the waters to stand as a heap. Ex. 14.21, 22 |
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14 |
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud,
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15 |
He clave the rocks in the wilderness,
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and gave them drink as out of the great depths. |
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16 |
He brought streams also out of the rock,
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17 |
And they sinned yet more against him
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by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. |
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18 |
And they tempted God in their heart
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by asking meat for their lust. |
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19 |
Yea, they spake against God;
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they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? |
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20 |
Behold, he smote the rock,
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that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; |
can he give bread also? |
Can he provide flesh for his people? |
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21 |
Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth:
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so a fire was kindled against Jacob, |
and anger also came up against Israel; |
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22 |
because they believed not in God,
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and trusted not in his salvation: |
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23 |
though he had commanded the clouds from above,
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and opened the doors of heaven, |
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24 |
and had rained down manna upon them to eat,
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and had given them of the corn of heaven. Joh. 6.31 |
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25 |
Man did eat angels’ food:
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he sent them meat to the full. |
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26 |
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven:
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and by his power he brought in the south wind. |
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27 |
He rained flesh also upon them as dust,
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and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: |
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28 |
and he let it fall in the midst of their camp,
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round about their habitations. |
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29 |
So they did eat, and were well filled:
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for he gave them their own desire; |
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30 |
they were not estranged from their lust:
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but while their meat was yet in their mouths, |
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31 |
the wrath of God came upon them,
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32 |
For all this they sinned still,
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and believed not for his wondrous works. |
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33 |
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,
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and their years in trouble. |
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34 |
When he slew them, then they sought him:
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and they returned and inquired early after God. |
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35 |
And they remembered that God was their rock,
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and the high God their redeemer. |
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36 |
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth,
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and they lied unto him with their tongues. |
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37 |
For their heart was not right with him, Acts 8.21
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neither were they steadfast in his covenant. |
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38 |
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,
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and destroyed them not: |
yea, many a time turned he his anger away, |
and did not stir up all his wrath. |
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For he remembered that they were but flesh;
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a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. |
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40 |
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness,
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and grieve him in the desert! |
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41 |
Yea, they turned back and tempted God,
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and limited the Holy One of Israel. |
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42 |
They remembered not his hand,
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nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy: |
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43 |
how he had wrought his signs in Egypt,
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and his wonders in the field of Zo’an: |
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44 |
and had turned their rivers into blood;
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and their floods, that they could not drink. Ex. 7.17-21 |
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45 |
He sent divers sorts of flies Ex. 8.20-24 among them, which devoured them;
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46 |
He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,
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47 |
He destroyed their vines with hail,
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and their sycamore trees with frost. |
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48 |
He gave up their cattle also to the hail,
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49 |
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger,
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wrath, and indignation, and trouble, |
by sending evil angels among them. |
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50 |
He made a way to his anger;
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he spared not their soul from death, |
but gave their life over to the pestilence; |
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51 |
and smote all the firstborn in Egypt; Ex. 12.29
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the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: |
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52 |
but made his own people to go forth like sheep,
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and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. Ex. 13.17-22 |
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53 |
And he led them on safely, so that they feared not:
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54 |
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, Ex. 15.17 · Josh. 3.14-17
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even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. |
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55 |
He cast out the heathen also before them, Josh. 11.16-23
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and divided them an inheritance by line, |
and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. |
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56 |
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, Judg. 2.11-15
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and kept not his testimonies: |
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but turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers:
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they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. |
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58 |
For they provoked him to anger with their high places,
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and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. |
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When God heard this, he was wroth,
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and greatly abhorred Israel: |
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so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
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and delivered his strength into captivity,
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62 |
He gave his people over also unto the sword;
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and was wroth with his inheritance. |
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63 |
The fire consumed their young men;
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and their maidens were not given to marriage. |
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Their priests fell by the sword;
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and their widows made no lamentation. |
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Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep,
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and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. |
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66 |
And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts:
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he put them to a perpetual reproach. |
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Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph,
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and chose not the tribe of E’phra-im: |
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but chose the tribe of Judah,
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the mount Zion which he loved. |
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And he built his sanctuary like high palaces,
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like the earth which he hath established for ever. |
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He chose David also his servant,
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and took him from the sheepfolds: |
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71 |
from following the ewes great with young
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72 |
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart;
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and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. |
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