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Psalm 81

God’s Appeal to Stubborn Israel

To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph.

Sing aloud to God our strength;
    shout for joy to the God of Jacob.(A)
Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
    the sweet lyre with the harp.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
    at the full moon, on our festal day.(B)
For it is a statute for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
He made it a decree in Joseph,
    when he went out over[a] the land of Egypt.

I hear a voice I had not known:(C)
“I relieved your[b] shoulder of the burden;
    your[c] hands were freed from the basket.(D)
In distress you called, and I rescued you;
    I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah(E)
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!(F)
There shall be no strange god among you;
    you shall not bow down to a foreign god.(G)
10 I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.(H)

11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
    Israel would not submit to me.(I)
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
    to follow their own counsels.(J)
13 O that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would walk in my ways!(K)
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes.(L)
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their doom would last forever.
16 I would feed you[d] with the finest of the wheat,
    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”(M)

Psalm 82

A Plea for Justice

A Psalm of Asaph.

God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:(N)
“How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah(O)
Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
    maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.(P)
Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”(Q)

They have neither knowledge nor understanding;
    they walk around in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.(R)

I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you;(S)
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals
    and fall like any prince.”[e](T)

Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
    for all the nations belong to you!(U)

Footnotes

  1. 81.5 Or against
  2. 81.6 Heb his
  3. 81.6 Heb his
  4. 81.16 Cn: Heb he would feed him
  5. 82.7 Or fall as one man, O princes