Psalms 78:3–4

¹WE have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.

²⁶And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

²⁷That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.

¹⁴¶ And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

¹⁵And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.

⁸¶ And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.

⁸As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.

¹⁹And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

⁹Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

³Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

⁴One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

⁵I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

⁶And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.

⁷And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

¹⁷O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.

¹⁸Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

¹WHY standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

²The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

³For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

⁴The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

⁵His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

⁶That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

⁷Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

¹⁴¶ And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

²¹And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

²²Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

²³For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:

²⁴That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.

²⁶And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

⁸¶ And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.

⁷¶ I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.

⁸For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.

⁹In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

¹⁰¶ But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

¹¹Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?

¹²That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?

¹³That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?

¹⁴As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

¹⁵¶ Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?

¹⁶Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.

¹⁷¶ O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

¹⁸The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

¹⁹We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

⁷That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

¹⁴That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

¹⁸Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it: