53. He kept them safe so they were not afraid;but the sea covered their enemies.
54. He brought them to the border of his holy land,to this land of hills he had won for them.
55. He drove out the nations before them;he gave them their inheritance by lot.He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.
56. But they kept testing and rebelling against God Most High.They did not obey his laws.
57. They turned back and were as faithless as their parents.They were as undependable as a crooked bow.
58. They angered God by building shrines to other gods;they made him jealous with their idols.
59. When God heard them, he was very angry,and he completely rejected Israel.
60. Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people.
61. He allowed the Ark of his might to be captured;he surrendered his glory into enemy hands.
62. He gave his people over to be butchered by the sword,because he was so angry with his own people—his special possession.
63. Their young men were killed by fire;their young women died before singing their wedding songs.
64. Their priests were slaughtered,and their widows could not mourn their deaths.
65. Then the Lord rose up as though waking from sleep,like a warrior aroused from a drunken stupor.
66. He routed his enemiesand sent them to eternal shame.
67. But he rejected Joseph’s descendants;he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68. He chose instead the tribe of Judah,and Mount Zion, which he loved.