Psalm 79–83

Psalm 79

¹Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, a testimony for Asaph, a psalm.

²Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth

³Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. Stir up thy might, and come to save us.

⁴Convert us, O God: and shew us thy face, and we shall be saved.

⁵O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy servant?

⁶How long wilt thou feed us with the bread of tears: and give us for our drink tears in measure?

⁷Thou hast made us to be a contradiction to our neighbours: and our enemies have scoffed at us.

⁸O God of hosts, convert us: and shew thy face, and we shall be saved.

⁹Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the Gentiles and planted it.

¹⁰Thou wast the guide of its journey in its sight: thou plantedst the roots thereof, and it filled the land.

¹¹The shadow of it covered the hills: and the branches thereof the cedars of God.

¹²It stretched forth its branches unto the sea, and its boughs unto the river.

¹³Why hast thou broken down the hedge thereof, so that all they who pass by the way do pluck it?

¹⁴The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste: and a singular wild beast hath devoured it.

¹⁵Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard:

¹⁶And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.

¹⁷Things set on fire and dug down shall perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

¹⁸Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.

¹⁹And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us: and we will call upon thy name.

²⁰O Lord God of hosts, convert us and shew thy face, and we shall be saved.

Psalm 80

¹Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for Asaph himself.

²Rejoice to God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob.

³Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel: the pleasant psaltery with the harp.

⁴Blow up the trumpet on the new moon, on the noted day of your solemnity.

⁵For it is a commandment in Israel, and a judgment to the God of Jacob.

⁶He ordained it for a testimony in Joseph, when he came out of the land of Egypt: he heard a tongue which he knew not.

⁷He removed his back from the burdens: his hands had served in baskets.

⁸Thou calledst upon me in affliction, and I delivered thee: I heard thee in the secret place of tempest: I proved thee at the waters of contradiction.

⁹Hear, O my people, and I will testify to thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken to me,

¹⁰there shall be no new god in thee: neither shalt thou adore a strange god.

¹¹For I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹²But my people heard not my voice: and Israel hearkened not to me.

¹³So I let them go according to the desires of their heart: they shall walk in their own inventions.

¹⁴If my people had heard me: if Israel had walked in my ways:

¹⁵I should soon have humbled their enemies, and laid my hand on them that troubled them.

¹⁶The enemies of the Lord have lied to him: and their time shall be for ever.

¹⁷And he fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey out of the rock.

Psalm 81

¹A psalm for Asaph.

God hath stood in the congregation of gods: and being in the midst of them he judgeth gods.

²How long will you judge unjustly: and accept the persons of the wicked?

³Judge for the needy and fatherless: do justice to the humble and the poor.

⁴Rescue the poor; and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner.

⁵They have not known nor understood: they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be moved.

⁶I have said: You are gods and all of you the sons of the most High.

⁷But you like men shall die: and shall fall like one of the princes.

⁸Arise, O God, judge thou the earth: for thou shalt inherit among all the nations.

Psalm 82

¹A canticle of a psalm for Asaph.

²O God, who shall be like to thee? hold not thy peace, neither be thou still, O God.

³For lo, thy enemies have made a noise: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

⁴They have taken a malicious counsel against thy people, and have consulted against thy saints.

⁵They have said: Come and let us destroy them, so that they be not a nation: and let the name of Israel be remembered no more.

⁶For they have contrived with one consent: they have made a covenant together against thee,

⁷The tabernacle of the Edomites, and the Ishmahelites: Moab, and the Agarens,

⁸Gebal, and Ammon and Amalec: the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre.

⁹Yea, and the Assyrian also is joined with them: they are come to the aid of the sons of Lot.

¹⁰Do to them as thou didst to Madian and to Sisara: as to Jabin at the brook of Cisson.

¹¹Who perished at Endor: and became as dung for the earth.

¹²Make their princes like Oreb, and Zeb, and Zebee, and Salmana. All their princes,

¹³Who have said: Let us possess the sanctuary of God for an inheritance.

¹⁴O my God, make them like a wheel; and as stubble before the wind.

¹⁵As fire which burneth the wood: and as a flame burning mountains:

¹⁶So shalt thou pursue them with thy tempest: and shalt trouble them in thy wrath.

¹⁷Fill their faces with shame; and they shall seek thy name, O Lord.

¹⁸Let them be ashamed and troubled for ever and ever: and let them be confounded and perish.

¹⁹And let them know that the Lord is thy name: thou alone art the most High over all the earth.

Psalm 83

¹Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for the sons of Core.

²How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

³my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.

⁴For the sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest for herself where she may lay her young ones: Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God.

⁵Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever.

⁶Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps,

⁷In the vale of tears, in the place which he hath set.

⁸For the lawgiver shall give a blessing, they shall go from virtue to virtue: the God of gods shall be seen in Sion.

⁹O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob.

¹⁰Behold, O God our protector: and look on the face of thy Christ.

¹¹For better is one day in thy courts above thousands. I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners.

¹²For God loveth mercy and truth: the Lord will give grace and glory.

¹³He will not deprive of good things them that walk in innocence: O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.