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One of Asaph’s songs of praise.

82 God stands in the assembly of the gods.[a]
    He stands as judge among the judges.
He says, “How long will you judge unfairly
    and show special favors to the wicked?” Selah

“Defend the poor and orphans.
    Protect the rights of the poor.
Help those who are poor and helpless.
    Save them from those who are evil.

“They[b] don’t know what is happening.
    They don’t understand!
They don’t know what they are doing.
    Their world is falling down around them!”
I, God Most High, say,
    “You are gods,[c] my own sons.
But you will die as all people must die.
    Your life will end like that of any ruler.”

Get up, God! You be the judge!
    You be the leader over all the nations!

One of Asaph’s songs of praise.

83 God, don’t keep quiet!
    Don’t close your ears!
    Please say something, God.
Your enemies are getting ready to do something.
    Those who hate you will soon attack.
They are making secret plans against your people.
    Your enemies are discussing plans against the people you love.
They say, “Come, let us destroy them completely.
    Then no one will ever again remember the name Israel.”
God, they have all joined together.
    They have united against you.
6-7 Their army includes the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moabites, and Hagar’s descendants,
    the people of Byblos, Ammon, and Amalek,
    the Philistines, and the people of Tyre.
Even the Assyrians have joined them.
    They have made Lot’s descendants very powerful. Selah

God, defeat them just as you defeated Midian.
    Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 You destroyed the enemy at Endor,
    and their bodies rotted on the ground.
11 Punish their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb.
    Do what you did to Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, “Let’s make this land our own—
    these fields of grass that belong to God!”
13 Make them like weeds blown by the wind.
    Scatter them the way wind scatters straw.
14 Be like a fire that destroys a forest
    or like a flame that sets the hills on fire.
15 Chase them away with your blasts of wind;
    frighten them with your storms.
16 Lord, cover them with shame
    until they come to you for help.
17 May they be forever ashamed and afraid.
    Disgrace and defeat them.
18 Then they will know that your name is Yahweh
    that you alone are the Lord.
They will know that you are God Most High,
    ruler over all the earth!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 82:1 assembly of the gods Other nations taught that El (God) and the other gods met together to decide what to do with the people on earth. But many times kings and leaders were also called “gods.” So this psalm may be God’s warning to the leaders of Israel.
  2. Psalm 82:5 They This might mean that the poor don’t understand what is happening. Or it might mean that the “gods” or leaders don’t understand that they are ruining the world by not being fair and by not doing what is right.
  3. Psalm 82:6 gods Or “judges.”

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