Psalm 79-81
American Standard Version
A lament over the destruction of Jerusalem, and prayer for help.
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the nations are come into thine inheritance;
Thy holy temple have they defiled;
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be food unto the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem;
And there was none to bury them.
4 We are become a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and derision to them that are round about us.
5 How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry for ever?
Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not,
And upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his [a]habitation.
8 Remember not against us the iniquities of our forefathers:
Let thy tender mercies speedily meet us;
For we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name;
And deliver us, and [b]forgive our sins, for thy name’s sake.
10 Wherefore should the nations say, Where is their God?
Let the avenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed
Be known among the nations in our sight.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee:
According to the greatness of [c]thy power preserve thou [d]those that are appointed to death;
12 And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom
Their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture
Will give thee thanks for ever:
We will show forth thy praise to all generations.
God implored to rescue his people from their calamities.
For the Chief Musician; set to [e]Shoshannim Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.
80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;
Thou that [f]sittest above the cherubim, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy might,
And come to save us.
3 [g]Turn us again, O God;
And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
4 O Jehovah God of hosts,
How long [h]wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
5 Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in large measure.
6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors;
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 [i]Turn us again, O God of hosts;
And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
8 Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt:
Thou didst drive out the nations, and plantedst it.
9 Thou preparedst room before it,
And it took deep root, and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with the shadow of it,
And [j]the boughs thereof were like [k]cedars of God.
11 It sent out its branches unto the sea,
And its shoots unto the River.
12 Why hast thou broken down its walls,
So that all they that pass by the way do pluck it?
13 The boar out of the wood doth ravage it,
And the wild beasts of the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, we beseech thee, O God of hosts:
Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine,
15 And [l]the stock which thy right hand planted,
And the [m]branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down:
They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,
Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
18 So shall we not go back from thee:
Quicken thou us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 [n]Turn us again, O Jehovah God of hosts;
Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
God’s goodness and Israel’s waywardness.
For the Chief Musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing aloud unto God our strength:
Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, and [o]bring hither the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast-day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony,
When he went out [p]over the land of Egypt,
Where I heard [q]a language that I knew not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden:
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee;
I answered thee in the secret place of thunder;
I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee:
O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!
9 There shall no strange god be in thee;
Neither shalt thou worship any foreign god.
10 I am Jehovah thy God,
Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt:
Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people hearkened not to my voice;
And Israel would none of me.
12 So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart,
That they might walk in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people would hearken unto me,
That Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of Jehovah should [r]submit themselves unto him:
But their time should endure for ever.
16 He would feed them also with the [s]finest of the wheat;
And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.
Footnotes
- Psalm 79:7 Or, pasture
- Psalm 79:9 Or, expiate
- Psalm 79:11 Hebrew thine arm.
- Psalm 79:11 Hebrew the children of death.
- Psalm 80:1 That is, Lilies, a testimony.
- Psalm 80:1 Or, art enthroned
- Psalm 80:3 Or, Restore
- Psalm 80:4 Hebrew wilt thou smoke. See 74:1.
- Psalm 80:7 Or, Restore
- Psalm 80:10 Or, the cedars of God with the boughs thereof
- Psalm 80:10 Or, goodly cedars
- Psalm 80:15 Or, protect (or maintain) that which etc.
- Psalm 80:15 Hebrew son.
- Psalm 80:19 Or, Restore
- Psalm 81:2 Or, strike the timbrel
- Psalm 81:5 Or, against
- Psalm 81:5 Or, the speech of one that etc.
- Psalm 81:15 Or, yield feigned obedience. Hebrew lie.
- Psalm 81:16 Hebrew fat of wheat.
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