Apr 8, 2019
17 But they
continued to sin against him,
rebelling in the wilderness against the Most
High.
18 They willfully put God to the
test
by demanding the food they
craved.
19 They spoke against God;
they said, “Can God really
spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock,
and water gushed out,
streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us
bread?
Can he supply meat for his
people?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was
furious;
his fire broke out against
Jacob,
and his wrath rose against
Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
or trust in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies
above
and opened the doors of the
heavens;
24 he rained down manna for the people
to eat,
he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of
angels;
he sent them all the food they could
eat.
26 He let loose the east wind from the
heavens
and by his power made the south wind
blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like
dust,
birds like sand on the
seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their
camp,
all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—
he had given them what they
craved.
30 But before they turned from what they
craved,
even while the food was still in their
mouths,
31 God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest among
them,
cutting down the young men of
Israel.
32 In spite of all
this, they kept on sinning;
in spite of his wonders, they did not
believe.
33 So he ended their days in
futility
and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would
seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their
Rock,
that God Most High was their
Redeemer.
36 But then they would flatter him with their
mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal to
him,
they were not faithful to his
covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his
anger
and did not stir up his full
wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but
flesh,
a passing breeze that does not
return.