Psalms 78:32

THE MESSAGE

And—can you believe it?—they kept right on sinning; all those wonders and they still wouldn't believe! So their lives dribbled off to nothing— nothing to show for their lives but a ghost town. When he cut them down, they came running for help; they turned and pled for mercy. They gave witness that God was their rock, that High God was their redeemer, But they didn't mean a word of it; they lied through their teeth the whole time. They could not have cared less about him, wanted nothing to do with his Covenant.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Despite all this, they kept sinningand did not believe his wondrous works.

Hebrew Names Version
For all this they still sinned, And didn't believe in his wondrous works.

King James Version
For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

English Standard Version
In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.

New Century Version
But they kept on sinning; they did not believe even with the miracles.

New English Translation
Despite all this, they continued to sin, and did not trust him to do amazing things.

Amplified Bible
In spite of all this they still sinned, For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works.

New American Standard Bible
In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works.

World English Bible
For all this they still sinned, And didn't believe in his wondrous works.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For all this, they sinned stil, and beleeued not his wonderous woorkes.

Legacy Standard Bible
In spite of all this they still sinnedAnd did not believe in His wondrous deeds.

Berean Standard Bible
In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.

Contemporary English Version
But the rest kept on sinning and would not trust God's miracles.

Complete Jewish Bible
Still, they kept on sinning and put no faith in his wonders.

Darby Translation
For all this, they sinned still, and believed not in his marvellous works;

Easy-to-Read Version
But the people continued to sin! They did not trust in the amazing things God could do.

George Lamsa Translation
Nevertheless they sinned still, and believed not in his wondrous works.

Good News Translation
In spite of all this the people kept sinning; in spite of his miracles they did not trust him.

Lexham English Bible
In spite of all this they sinned further and did not believe his wonders.

Literal Translation
In all this they sinned still; and they did not believe in His wonderful works;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But for all this they synned yet more, and beleued not his woderous workes.

American Standard Version
For all this they sinned still, And believed not in his wondrous works.

Bible in Basic English
For all this they went on sinning even more, and had no faith in his great wonders.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For all this they sinned still, and believed not in His wondrous works.

King James Version (1611)
For all this they sinned still: and beleeued not for his wondrous works.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therfore their dayes dyd he consume in vanitie: & their yeres in a short [troublous] time.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
In the midst of all this they sinned yet more, and believed not his miracles.

English Revised Version
For all this they sinned still, and believed not in his wondrous works.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
In alle these thingis thei synneden yit; and bileuede not in the merueils of God.

Update Bible Version
For all this they sinned still, And did not believe in his wondrous works.

Webster's Bible Translation
For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

New King James Version
In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.

New Living Translation
But in spite of this, the people kept sinning. Despite his wonders, they refused to trust him.

New Life Bible
But still they kept on sinning. They did not believe in His powerful works.

New Revised Standard
In spite of all this they still sinned; they did not believe in his wonders.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For all this, sinned they still, And believed not in his wonders;

Douay-Rheims Bible
(77-32) In all these things they sinned still: and they behaved not for his wondrous works.

Revised Standard Version
In spite of all this they still sinned; despite his wonders they did not believe.

Young's Literal Translation
With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works.

Contextual Overview

⁹The Ephraimites, armed to the teeth, ran off when the battle began. They were cowards to God's Covenant, refused to walk by his Word. They forgot what he had done— marvels he'd done right before their eyes. He performed miracles in plain sight of their parents in Egypt, out on the fields of Zoan. He split the Sea and they walked right through it; he piled the waters to the right and the left. He led them by day with a cloud, led them all the night long with a fiery torch. He split rocks in the wilderness, gave them all they could drink from underground springs; He made creeks flow out from sheer rock, and water pour out like a river. ¹⁷All they did was sin even more, rebel in the desert against the High God. They tried to get their own way with God, clamored for favors, for special attention. They whined like spoiled children, "Why can't God give us a decent meal in this desert? Sure, he struck the rock and the water flowed, creeks cascaded from the rock. But how about some fresh-baked bread? How about a nice cut of meat?" ²¹When God heard that, he was furious— his anger flared against Jacob, he lost his temper with Israel. It was clear they didn't believe God, had no intention of trusting in his help. But God helped them anyway, commanded the clouds and gave orders that opened the gates of heaven. He rained down showers of manna to eat, he gave them the Bread of Heaven. They ate the bread of the mighty angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. He let East Wind break loose from the skies, gave a strong push to South Wind. This time it was birds that rained down— succulent birds, an abundance of birds. He aimed them right for the center of their camp; all round their tents there were birds. They ate and had their fill; he handed them everything they craved on a platter. But their greed knew no bounds; they stuffed their mouths with more and more. Finally, God was fed up, his anger erupted— he cut down their brightest and best, he laid low Israel's finest young men. ³²And—can you believe it?—they kept right on sinning; all those wonders and they still wouldn't believe! So their lives dribbled off to nothing— nothing to show for their lives but a ghost town. When he cut them down, they came running for help; they turned and pled for mercy. They gave witness that God was their rock, that High God was their redeemer, But they didn't mean a word of it; they lied through their teeth the whole time. They could not have cared less about him, wanted nothing to do with his Covenant. ³⁸And God? Compassionate! Forgave the sin! Didn't destroy! Over and over he reined in his anger, restrained his considerable wrath. He knew what they were made of; he knew there wasn't much to them, How often in the desert they had spurned him, tried his patience in those wilderness years. Time and again they pushed him to the limit, provoked Israel's Holy God. How quickly they forgot what he'd done, forgot their day of rescue from the enemy, When he did miracles in Egypt, wonders on the plain of Zoan. He turned the River and its streams to blood— not a drop of water fit to drink. He sent flies, which ate them alive, and frogs, which bedeviled them. He turned their harvest over to caterpillars, everything they had worked for to the locusts. He flattened their grapevines with hail; a killing frost ruined their orchards. He pounded their cattle with hail, let thunderbolts loose on their herds. His anger flared, a wild firestorm of havoc, An advance guard of disease-carrying angels to clear the ground, preparing the way before him. He didn't spare those people, he let the plague rage through their lives. He killed all the Egyptian firstborns, lusty infants, offspring of Ham's virility. Then he led his people out like sheep, took his flock safely through the wilderness. He took good care of them; they had nothing to fear. The Sea took care of their enemies for good. He brought them into his holy land, this mountain he claimed for his own. He scattered everyone who got in their way; he staked out an inheritance for them— the tribes of Israel all had their own places.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

they sinned: Numbers 14:1-45, Numbers 16:1 - Numbers 17:13, Numbers 21:1-6, Numbers 25:1-18, Ezekiel 20:13

believed: Psalms 78:22, Luke 16:31, John 12:37

Reciprocal: Numbers 14:11 - believe me 2 Kings 17:14 - did not believe Psalms 78:17 - General John 20:25 - Except 1 Corinthians 10:5 - General Hebrews 11:6 - without

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For all this they sinned still,.... Those that survived, not being brought to repentance by mercies, nor by judgments; not by mercies, such as before mentioned, though they were great and many, and some of them continued, and of which they were very unworthy; the goodness of God should, but it does not always, lead persons to repentance; mercies, unless they are sanctified, often prove snares and temptations to sin yet more and more; nothing short of the grace of God will bring persons to repentance for sin, or keep them from it: nor by judgments, which were last mentioned, and seem chiefly designed; these have no more effect than the other, unless the power of divine grace goes along with them; see Amos 4:6 it could not be thought, nor was it expected, that they should, after all these mercies and judgments, have lived without sin, which no man does, or can do; but then they went on in a course of sin, and were continually repeating their transgressions, and were guilty of sins of a very heinous nature, many of which are on record; as Aaron and Miriam, by speaking against Moses, the faithful servant of the Lord, which brought upon the latter the plague of leprosy; the spies which were sent to search the land, and brought an evil report of it, which set the people a murmuring, and put them on thoughts of returning to Egypt; those that were concerned in the business of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who were swallowed up in the earth, or burnt with fire from heaven; the whole congregation which murmured at Kadesh, whom Moses called rebels, and who afterwards expressed their loathing of the manna, for which fiery serpents were sent among them, Numbers 12:1,

Numbers 20:2 but their prevailing sin was unbelief, as follows:

and believed not for his wondrous works: not "in" them, though the words will bear to be so rendered; for they did believe in them when they were wrought, and that they were wrought by the Lord; though they soon forgot them, and fell into distrust and unbelief; but "by" them r, or by means of them; though such wonderful things were done for them in providence, as before related, which should have engaged their faith and trust in the Lord; yet, notwithstanding these, they called in question his providence, power, and goodness.

r בנפלאתיו "per miracula ejus", Schmidt; so some in Gejerus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For all this they sinned still - Even this did not reclaim them, and prevent their sinning. Heavy judgments do not always restrain men from sin. Not unfrequently they take occasion from such judgments to sin the more.

And believed not for his wondrous works - They did not trust in His wondrous works; or, those works did not have the effect of producing faith. See Psalms 78:22-23. The same thing occurred in the life of the Saviour. John 12:37.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 78:32. For all this they sinned still — How astonishing is this! They were neither drawn by mercies, nor awed by judgments! But we shall cease to wonder at this, if we have a thorough acquaintance with our own hearts.