23. God gave orders to the skies above,opened heaven’s doors,
24. and rained manna on them so they could eat.He gave them the very grain of heaven!
25. Each person ate the bread of the powerful ones;God sent provisions to satisfy them.
26. God set the east wind moving across the skiesand drove the south wind by his strength.
27. He rained meat on them as if it were dust in the air;he rained as many birds as the sand on the seashore!
28. God brought the birds down in the center of their camp,all around their dwellings.
29. So they ate and were completely satisfied;God gave them exactly what they had craved.
30. But they didn’t stop craving—even with the food still in their mouths!
31. So God’s anger came up against them:he killed the most hearty of them;he cut down Israel’s youth in their prime.
32. But in spite of all that, they kept sinningand had no faith in God’s wondrous works.
33. So God brought their days to an end,like a puff of air,and their years in total ruin.
34. But whenever God killed them, they went after him!They would turn and earnestly search for God.
35. They would remember that God was their rock,that the Most High was their redeemer.
36. But they were just flattering him with lip service.They were lying to him with their tongues.
37. Their hearts weren’t firmly set on him;they weren’t faithful to his covenant.
38. But God, being compassionate,kept forgiving their sins,kept avoiding destruction;he took back his anger so many times,wouldn’t stir up all his wrath!
39. God kept remembering that they were just flesh,just breath that passes and doesn’t come back.
40. How often they rebelled against God in the wildernessand distressed him in the desert!
41. Time and time again they tested God,provoking the holy one of Israel.
42. They didn’t remember God’s power—the day when he saved them from the enemy;
43. how God performed his signs in Egypt,his marvelous works in the field of Zoan.