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III

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40 How often they rebelled against God in the wilderness,
    grieved him in the wasteland.
41 Again and again they tested God,
    provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power,
    the day he redeemed them from the foe,(A)
43 [a]When he performed his signs in Egypt,
    his wonders in the plain of Zoan.(B)
44 God turned their rivers to blood;
    their streams they could not drink.
45 He sent swarms of insects that devoured them,(C)
    frogs that destroyed them.
46 He gave their harvest to the caterpillar,
    the fruits of their labor to the locust.
47 He killed their vines with hail,(D)
    their sycamores with frost.
48 He exposed their cattle to plague,
    their flocks to pestilence.(E)
49 He let loose against them the heat of his anger,
    wrath, fury, and distress,
    a band of deadly messengers.
50 He cleared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death,
    but delivered their animals to the plague.
51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt,(F)
    the first fruits of their vigor in the tents of Ham.
52 Then God led forth his people like sheep,
    guided them like a flock through the wilderness.(G)
53 He led them on secure and unafraid,
    while the sea enveloped their enemies.(H)
54 And he brought them to his holy mountain,
    the hill his right hand had won.(I)
55 He drove out the nations before them,
    allotted them as their inherited portion,
    and settled in their tents the tribes of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 78:43–55 Ex 7–12 records ten plagues. Here there are six divine attacks upon Egypt; the seventh climactic act is God’s bringing Israel to the holy land.

40 How often they rebelled(A) against him in the wilderness(B)
    and grieved him(C) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(D)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(E)
42 They did not remember(F) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,(G)
43 the day he displayed his signs(H) in Egypt,
    his wonders(I) in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;(J)
    they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies(K) that devoured them,
    and frogs(L) that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,(M)
    their produce to the locust.(N)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail(O)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock(P) to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,(Q)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.(R)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,(S)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.(T)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;(U)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed(V) their enemies.(W)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand(X) had taken.
55 He drove out nations(Y) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;(Z)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

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