Psalm 80–84

A Prayer for the Nation’s Restoration^y

80^* Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel;

hear us, leader of your flock.

Seated on your throne above the winged creatures,

²reveal yourself to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.

Show us your strength;

come and save us!

³Bring us back, O God!

Show us your mercy, and we will be saved!

⁴How much longer, Lord God Almighty,

will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

⁵You have given us sorrow to eat,

a large cup of tears to drink.

⁶You let the surrounding nations fight over our land;

our enemies insult us.

⁷Bring us back, Almighty God!

Show us your mercy, and we will be saved!

⁸You brought a grapevine out of Egypt;

you drove out other nations and planted it in their land.

⁹You cleared a place for it to grow;

its roots went deep, and it spread out over the whole land.

¹⁰It covered the hills with its shade;

its branches overshadowed the giant cedars.

¹¹It extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea

and as far as the River Euphrates.

¹²Why did you break down the fences round it?

Now anyone passing by can steal its grapes;

¹³wild pigs trample it down,

and wild animals feed on it.

¹⁴Turn to us, Almighty God!

Look down from heaven at us;

come and save your people!

¹⁵Come and save this grapevine that you planted,

this young vine you made grow so strong!

¹⁶Our enemies have set it on fire and cut it down;

look at them in anger and destroy them!

¹⁷Preserve and protect the people you have chosen,

the nation you made so strong.

¹⁸We will never turn away from you again;

keep us alive, and we will praise you.

¹⁹Bring us back, Lord God Almighty.

Show us your mercy, and we will be saved.

A Song for a Festival^z

81 Shout for joy to God our defender;

sing praise to the God of Jacob!

²Start the music and beat the tambourines;

play pleasant music on the harps and the lyres.

^3*Blow the trumpet for the festival,

when the moon is new and when the moon is full.

⁴This is the law in Israel,

an order from the God of Jacob.

⁵He gave it to the people of Israel when he attacked the land of Egypt.

I hear an unknown voice saying,

⁶“I took the burdens off your backs;

I let you put down your loads of bricks.

^7*When you were in trouble, you called to me, and I saved you.

From my hiding place in the storm, I answered you.

I put you to the test at the springs of Meribah.

⁸Listen, my people, to my warning;

Israel, how I wish you would listen to me!

^9*You must never worship another god.

¹⁰I am the Lord your God,

who brought you out of Egypt.

Open your mouth, and I will feed you.

¹¹“But my people would not listen to me;

Israel would not obey me.

¹²So I let them go their stubborn ways

and do whatever they wanted.

¹³How I wish my people would listen to me;

how I wish they would obey me!

¹⁴I would quickly defeat their enemies

and conquer all their foes.

¹⁵Those who hate me would bow in fear before me;

their punishment would last for ever.

¹⁶But I would feed you with the finest wheat

and satisfy you with wild honey.”

God the Supreme Ruler^a

82 God presides in the heavenly council;

in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision:

²“You must stop judging unjustly;

you must no longer be partial to the wicked!

³Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans;

be fair to the needy and the helpless.

⁴Rescue them from the power of the wicked.

⁵“How ignorant you are! How stupid!

You are completely corrupt,

and justice has disappeared from the world.

^6*‘You are gods,’ I said;

‘all of you are children of the Most High.’

⁷But you will die like mortals;

your life will end like that of any prince.”

⁸Come, O God, and rule the world;

all the nations are yours.

A Prayer for the Defeat of Israel’s Enemies^b

83 O God,

do not keep silent; do not be still, do not be quiet!

²Look! Your enemies are in revolt,

and those who hate you are rebelling.

³They are making secret plans against your people;

they are plotting against those you protect.

⁴“Come,” they say, “let us destroy their nation,

so that Israel will be forgotten for ever.”

⁵They agree on their plan

and form an alliance against you:

⁶the people of Edom and the Ishmaelites;

the people of Moab and the Hagrites;

⁷the people of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,

and of Philistia and Tyre.

⁸Assyria has also joined them

as a strong ally of the Ammonites and Moabites, the descendants of Lot.

^9*Do to them what you did to the Midianites,

and to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon.

¹⁰You defeated them at Endor,

and their bodies rotted on the ground.

^11*Do to their leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb;

defeat all their rulers as you did Zebah and Zalmunna,

¹²who said, “We will take for our own

the land that belongs to God.”

¹³Scatter them like dust, O God,

like straw blown away by the wind.

¹⁴As fire burns the forest,

as flames set the hills on fire,

¹⁵chase them away with your storm

and terrify them with your fierce winds.

¹⁶Cover their faces with shame, O Lord,

and make them acknowledge your power.

¹⁷May they be defeated and terrified for ever;

may they die in complete disgrace.

¹⁸May they know that you alone are the Lord,

supreme ruler over all the earth.

Longing for God’s House^c

84 How I love your Temple, Lord Almighty!

²How I want to be there!

I long to be in the Lord’s Temple.

With my whole being I sing for joy

to the living God.

³Even the sparrows have built a nest,

and the swallows have their own home;

they keep their young near your altars,

⁴How happy are those who live in your Temple, always singing praise to you.

⁵How happy are those whose strength comes from you,

who are eager to make the pilgrimage to Mount Zion.

⁶As they pass through the dry valley of Baca,

it becomes a place of springs;

the autumn rain fills it with pools.

⁷They grow stronger as they go;

they will see the God of gods on Zion.

⁸Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty.

Listen, O God of Jacob!

⁹Bless our king, O God,

the king you have chosen.

¹⁰One day spent in your Temple

is better than a thousand anywhere else;

I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God

than live in the homes of the wicked.

¹¹The Lord is our protector and glorious king,

blessing us with kindness and honour.

He does not refuse any good thing

to those who do what is right.

¹²Lord Almighty, how happy are those who trust in you!