Psalm 80–84

Psalm 80

For the choir director; according to shoshannim eduth; by Asaph; a psalm. 

¹Open your ears, O Shepherd of Israel, 

the one who leads ⸤the descendants of⸥ Joseph like sheep, 

the one who is enthroned over the angels.^a

²Appear in front of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. 

Wake up your power, and come to save us. 

³O God, restore us and smile on us 

so that we may be saved. 

⁴O Lord God, commander of armies, how long will you smolder in anger 

against the prayer of your people? 

⁵You made them eat tears as food. 

You often made them drink ⸤their own⸥ tears. 

⁶You made us a source of conflict to our neighbors, 

and our enemies made fun of us. 

⁷O God, commander of armies, restore us and smile on us 

so that we may be saved. 

⁸You brought a vine from Egypt. 

You forced out the nations and planted it. 

⁹You cleared the ground for it 

so that it took root and filled the land. 

¹⁰Its shade covered the mountains. 

Its branches covered the mighty cedars. 

¹¹It reached out with its branches to the Mediterranean Sea. 

Its shoots reached the Euphrates River. 

¹²Why did you break down the stone fences around this vine? 

All who pass by are picking its fruit. 

¹³Wild boars from the forest graze on it. 

Wild animals devour it. 

¹⁴O God, commander of armies, come back! 

Look from heaven and see! 

Come to help this vine. 

¹⁵Take care of what your right hand planted, 

the son you strengthened for yourself. 

¹⁶The vine has been cut down and burned. 

Let them be destroyed by the threatening look on your face. 

¹⁷Let your power rest on the man you have chosen, 

the son of man you strengthened for yourself. 

¹⁸Then we will never turn away from you. 

Give us life again, and we will call on you. 

¹⁹O Lord God, commander of armies, restore us, and smile on us 

so that we may be saved. 

Psalm 81

For the choir director; on the gittith;^aby Asaph. 

¹Sing joyfully to God, our strength. 

Shout happily to the God of Jacob. 

²Begin a psalm, and strike a tambourine. 

Play lyres and harps with their pleasant music. 

³Blow the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon, 

on the day of the full moon, 

on our festival days. 

⁴This is a law for Israel, 

a legal decision from the God of Jacob. 

⁵These are the instructions God set in place for Joseph 

when Joseph rose to power over Egypt. 

I heard a message I did not understand: 

⁶“I removed the burden from his shoulder. 

His hands were freed from the basket. 

⁷When you were in trouble, you called out ⸤to me⸥, and I rescued you. 

I was hidden in thunder, but I answered you. 

I tested your ⸤loyalty⸥ at the oasis of Meribah. 

Selah 

⁸Listen, my people, and I will warn you. 

Israel, if you would only listen to me! 

⁹Never keep any strange god among you. 

Never worship a foreign god. 

¹⁰I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt. 

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 

¹¹“But my people did not listen to me. 

Israel wanted nothing to do with me. 

¹²So I let them go their own stubborn ways 

and follow their own advice. 

¹³If only my people would listen to me! 

If only Israel would follow me! 

¹⁴I would quickly defeat their enemies. 

I would turn my power against their foes. 

¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would cringe in front of him, 

and their time ⸤for punishment⸥ would last forever. 

¹⁶But I would feed Israel with the finest wheat 

and satisfy them with honey from a rock.” 

Psalm 82

A psalm by Asaph. 

¹God takes his place in his own assembly. 

He pronounces judgment among the gods: 

²“How long are you going to judge unfairly? 

How long are you going to side with wicked people?” 

Selah 

³Defend weak people and orphans. 

Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor. 

⁴Rescue weak and needy people. 

Help them escape the power of wicked people. 

⁵Wicked people do not know or understand anything. 

As they walk around in the dark, 

all the foundations of the earth shake. 

⁶I said, “You are gods. 

You are all sons of the Most High. 

⁷You will certainly die like humans 

and fall like any prince.” 

⁸Arise, O God! 

Judge the earth, because all the nations belong to you. 

Psalm 83

A song; a psalm by Asaph. 

¹O God, do not remain silent. 

Do not turn a deaf ear to me. 

Do not keep quiet, O God. 

²Look, your enemies are in an uproar. 

Those who hate you hold their heads high. 

³They make plans in secret against your people 

and plot together against those you treasure. 

⁴They say, “Let’s wipe out their nation 

so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.” 

⁵They agree completely on their plan. 

They form an alliance against you: 

⁶the tents from Edom and Ishmael, 

Moab and Hagar, 

⁷Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, 

Philistia, along with those who live in Tyre. 

⁸Even Assyria has joined them. 

They helped the descendants of Lot. 

Selah 

⁹Do to them what you did to Midian, 

to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River. 

¹⁰They were destroyed at Endor. 

They became manure to fertilize the ground. 

¹¹Treat their influential people as you treated Oreb and Zeeb. 

Treat all their leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna. 

¹²They said, “Let’s take God’s pasturelands for ourselves.” 

¹³O my God, blow them away like tumbleweeds,^a

like husks in the wind. 

¹⁴Pursue them with your storms, 

and terrify them with your windstorms 

¹⁵the way fire burns a forest 

and flames set mountains on fire.^b

¹⁶Let their faces blush with shame, O Lord, 

so that they must look to you for help. 

¹⁷Let them be put to shame and terrified forever. 

Let them die in disgrace 

¹⁸so that they must acknowledge you. 

Your name is the Lord. 

You alone are the Most High God of the whole earth. 

Psalm 84

For the choir director; on the gittith; a psalm by Korah’s descendants. 

¹Your dwelling place is lovely, O Lord of Armies! 

²My soul longs and yearns 

for the Lord’s courtyards. 

My whole body shouts for joy to the living God. 

³Even sparrows find a home, 

and swallows find a nest for themselves. 

There they hatch their young 

near your altars, O Lord of Armies, 

my king and my God. 

⁴Blessed are those who live in your house. 

They are always praising you. 

Selah 

⁵Blessed are those who find strength in you. 

Their hearts are on the road ⸤that leads to you⸥. 

⁶As they pass through a valley where balsam trees grow,^b

they make it a place of springs. 

The early rains cover it with blessings.^c

⁷Their strength grows as they go along 

until each one of them appears 

in front of God in Zion. 

⁸O Lord God, commander of armies, hear my prayer. 

Open your ears, O God of Jacob. 

Selah 

⁹Look at our shield, O God. 

Look with favor on the face of your anointed one. 

¹⁰One day in your courtyards is better than a thousand ⸤anywhere else⸥. 

I would rather stand in the entrance to my God’s house 

than live inside wicked people’s homes. 

¹¹The Lord God is a sun and shield. 

The Lord grants favor and honor. 

He does not hold back any blessing 

from those who live innocently. 

¹²O Lord of Armies, blessed is the person who trusts you.