2. I will tell you a story. I will tell you about things from the past that are hard to understand.
3. We have heard the story, and we know it well. Our fathers told it to us.
4. And we will not forget it. Our people will be telling this story to the last generation. We will all praise the Lord and tell about the amazing things he did.
5. He made an agreement with Jacob. He gave the law to Israel. He gave the commands to our ancestors. He told them to teach the law to their children.
6. Then the next generation, even the children not yet born, would learn the law. And they would be able to teach it to their own children.
7. So they would all trust in God, never forgetting what he had done and always obeying his commands.
8. They would not be like their ancestors, who were stubborn and refused to obey. Their hearts were not devoted to God, and they were not faithful to him.
9. The men from Ephraim had their weapons, but they ran from the battle.
10. They did not keep their agreement with God. They refused to obey his teachings.
11. They forgot the great things he had done and the amazing things he had shown them.
12. While their ancestors watched, he showed his great power at Zoan in Egypt.
13. He split the Red Sea and led the people across. The water stood like a solid wall on both sides of them.
14. Each day God led them with the tall cloud, and each night he led them with the light from the column of fire.
15. He split the rocks in the desert and gave them an ocean of fresh water.
16. He brought a stream of water out of the rock and made it flow like a river!
17. But they continued sinning against him. They rebelled against God Most High in the desert.
18. Then they decided to test God by telling him to give them the food they wanted.
19. They complained about him and said, “Can God give us food in the desert?
20. Yes, he struck the rock and a flood of water came out. But can he give us bread and meat?”