Psalm 80–84

Psalm 80^a

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.

¹Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock.^q

You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,^r

shine forth ²before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.^s

Awaken^t your might;

come and save us.^u

³Restore^v us,^w O God;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.^x

⁴How long,^y Lord God Almighty,

will your anger smolder^z

against the prayers of your people?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears;^a

you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.^b

⁶You have made us an object of derision^b to our neighbors,

and our enemies mock us.^c

⁷Restore us, God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.^d

⁸You transplanted a vine^e from Egypt;

you drove out^f the nations and planted^g it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it,

and it took root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

¹¹Its branches reached as far as the Sea,^c

its shoots as far as the River.^dh

¹²Why have you broken down its wallsⁱ

so that all who pass by pick its grapes?

¹³Boars from the forest ravage^j it,

and insects from the fields feed on it.

¹⁴Return to us, God Almighty!

Look down from heaven and see!^k

Watch over this vine,

¹⁵the root your right hand has planted,

the son^e you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;^l

at your rebuke^m your people perish.

¹⁷Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,

the son of manⁿ you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you;

revive^o us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹Restore us, Lord God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

Psalm 81^a

For the director of music. According to gittith.^b Of Asaph.

¹Sing for joy to God our strength;

shout aloud to the God of Jacob!^p

²Begin the music, strike the timbrel,^q

play the melodious harp^r and lyre.^s

³Sound the ram’s horn^t at the New Moon,^u

and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;

⁴this is a decree for Israel,

an ordinance of the God of Jacob.^v

⁵When God went out against Egypt,^w

he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:^x

⁶“I removed the burden^y from their shoulders;^z

their hands were set free from the basket.

⁷In your distress you called^a and I rescued you,

I answered^b you out of a thundercloud;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah.^cc

⁸Hear me, my people,^d and I will warn you—

if you would only listen to me, Israel!

⁹You shall have no foreign god^e among you;

you shall not worship any god other than me.

¹⁰I am the Lord your God,

who brought you up out of Egypt.^f

Open^g wide your mouth and I will fill^h it.

¹¹“But my people would not listen to me;

Israel would not submit to me.ⁱ

¹²So I gave them over^j to their stubborn hearts

to follow their own devices.

¹³“If my people would only listen to me,^k

if Israel would only follow my ways,

¹⁴how quickly I would subdue^l their enemies

and turn my hand against^m their foes!

¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would cringeⁿ before him,

and their punishment would last forever.

¹⁶But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;^o

with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Psalm 82

A psalm of Asaph.

¹God presides in the great assembly;

he renders judgment^p among the “gods”:^q

²“How long will you^a defend the unjust

and show partiality^r to the wicked?^bs

³Defend the weak and the fatherless;^t

uphold the cause of the poor^u and the oppressed.

⁴Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

⁵“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.^v

They walk about in darkness;^w

all the foundations^x of the earth are shaken.

⁶“I said, ‘You are “gods”;^y

you are all sons of the Most High.’

⁷But you will die^z like mere mortals;

you will fall like every other ruler.”

⁸Rise up,^a O God, judge^b the earth,

for all the nations are your inheritance.^c

Psalm 83^a

A song. A psalm of Asaph.

¹O God, do not remain silent;^d

do not turn a deaf ear,

do not stand aloof, O God.

²See how your enemies growl,^e

how your foes rear their heads.^f

³With cunning they conspire^g against your people;

they plot against those you cherish.^h

⁴“Come,” they say, “let us destroyⁱ them as a nation,^j

so that Israel’s name is remembered^k no more.”

⁵With one mind they plot together;^l

they form an alliance against you—

⁶the tents of Edom^m and the Ishmaelites,

of Moabⁿ and the Hagrites,^o

⁷Byblos,^p Ammon^q and Amalek,^r

Philistia,^s with the people of Tyre.^t

⁸Even Assyria^u has joined them

to reinforce Lot’s descendants.^bv

⁹Do to them as you did to Midian,^w

as you did to Sisera^x and Jabin^y at the river Kishon,^z

¹⁰who perished at Endor^a

and became like dung^b on the ground.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,^c

all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,^d

¹²who said, “Let us take possession^e

of the pasturelands of God.”

¹³Make them like tumbleweed, my God,

like chaff^f before the wind.

¹⁴As fire consumes the forest

or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,^g

¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest^h

and terrify them with your storm.ⁱ

¹⁶Cover their faces with shame,^j Lord,

so that they will seek your name.

¹⁷May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;^k

may they perish in disgrace.^l

¹⁸Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord^m—

that you alone are the Most Highⁿ over all the earth.^o

Psalm 84^a

For the director of music. According to gittith.^b Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹How lovely is your dwelling place,^p

Lord Almighty!

²My soul yearns,^q even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.^r

³Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may have her young—

a place near your altar,^s

Lord Almighty,^t my King^u and my God.^v

⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you.^c

⁵Blessed are those whose strength^w is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.^x

⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;^y

the autumn^z rains also cover it with pools.^d

⁷They go from strength to strength,^a

till each appears^b before God in Zion.^c

⁸Hear my prayer,^d Lord God Almighty;

listen to me, God of Jacob.

⁹Look on our shield,^ee O God;

look with favor on your anointed one.^f

¹⁰Better is one day in your courts

than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper^g in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun^h and shield;ⁱ

the Lord bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold^j

from those whose walk is blameless.

¹²Lord Almighty,

blessed^k is the one who trusts in you.