Add parallel Print Page Options

God’s guidance of his people in spite of their unfaithfulness.

Maschil of Asaph.

78 Give ear, O my people, to my [a]law:
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah,
And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which he commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born;
Who should arise and tell them to their children,
That they might set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep his commandments,
And might not be as their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation [b]that set not their heart aright,
And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
10 They kept not the covenant of God,
And refused to walk in his law;
11 And they forgat his doings,
And his wondrous works that he had showed them.
12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through;
And he made the waters to stand as a heap.
14 In the day-time also he led them with a cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
15 He clave rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 Yet went they on still to sin against him,
To rebel against the Most High in [c]the desert.
18 And they tempted God in their heart
By asking food [d]according to their desire.
19 Yea, they spake against God;
They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out,
And streams overflowed;
Can he give bread also?
Will he provide flesh for his people?
21 Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also went up against Israel;
22 Because they believed not in God,
And trusted not in his salvation.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above,
And opened the doors of heaven;
24 And he rained down manna upon them to eat,
And gave them [e]food from heaven.
25 [f]Man did eat the bread of the mighty:
He sent them food to the full.
26 He [g]caused the east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by his power he guided the south wind.
27 He rained flesh also upon them as the dust,
And winged birds as the sand of the seas:
28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,
Round about their habitations.
29 So they did eat, and were well filled;
And he gave them their own desire.
30 They were not estranged from that which they desired,
Their food was yet in their mouths,
31 When the anger of God went up against them,
And slew of the fattest of them,
And smote down the young men of Israel.
32 For all this they sinned still,
And believed not in his wondrous works.
33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,
And their years in terror.
34 When he slew them, then they inquired after him;
And they returned and sought God earnestly.
35 And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth,
And lied unto him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not [h]right with him,
Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
38 But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not:
Yea, many a time turned he his anger away,
And did not stir up all his wrath.
39 And he remembered that they were but flesh,
A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
40 How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness,
And grieve him in the desert!
41 And they turned again and tempted God,
And [i]provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They remembered not his hand,
Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
43 How he set his signs in Egypt,
And his wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 And turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;
And frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,
And their labor unto the locust.
47 He [j]destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycomore-trees with [k]frost.
48 He gave over their cattle also to the hail,
And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger,
Wrath, and indignation, and trouble,
[l]A band of angels of evil.
50 He [m]made a path for his anger;
He spared not their soul from death,
But gave [n]their life over to the pestilence,
51 And smote all the first-born in Egypt,
The [o]chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But he led forth his own people like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 And he led them safely, so that they feared not;
But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to [p]the border of his sanctuary,
To this [q]mountain, which his right hand had gotten.
55 He drove out the nations also before them,
And allotted them for an inheritance by line,
And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,
And kept not his testimonies;
57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers:
They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places,
And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
59 When God heard this, he was wroth,
And greatly abhorred Israel;
60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent which he placed among men;
61 And delivered his strength into captivity,
And his glory into the adversary’s hand.
62 He gave his people over also unto the sword,
And was wroth with his inheritance.
63 Fire devoured their young men;
And their virgins had no marriage-song.
64 Their priests fell by the sword;
And their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep,
Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
66 And he smote his adversaries backward:
He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph,
And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
The mount Zion which he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which he hath established for ever.
70 He chose David also his servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds:
71 From following the ewes that have their young he brought him,
To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

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.
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.
Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem;
And there was none to bury them.
We are become a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and derision to them that are round about us.
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry for ever?
Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not,
And upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name.
For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his [r]habitation.
Remember not against us the iniquities of our forefathers:
Let thy tender mercies speedily meet us;
For we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name;
And deliver us, and [s]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 [t]thy power preserve thou [u]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 [v]Shoshannim Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.

80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;
Thou that [w]sittest above the cherubim, shine forth.
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy might,
And come to save us.
[x]Turn us again, O God;
And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

O Jehovah God of hosts,
How long [y]wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in large measure.
Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors;
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
[z]Turn us again, O God of hosts;
And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt:
Thou didst drive out the nations, and plantedst it.
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 [aa]the boughs thereof were like [ab]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 [ac]the stock which thy right hand planted,
And the [ad]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 [ae]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.
Raise a song, and [af]bring hither the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the psaltery.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast-day.
For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony,
When he went out [ag]over the land of Egypt,
Where I heard [ah]a language that I knew not.
I removed his shoulder from the burden:
His hands were freed from the basket.
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

Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee:
O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!
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 [ai]submit themselves unto him:
But their time should endure for ever.
16 He would feed them also with the [aj]finest of the wheat;
And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.

Unjust judgments rebuked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

82 God standeth in the congregation of God;
He judgeth among the gods.
How long will ye judge unjustly,
And respect the persons of the wicked? Selah

Judge the [ak]poor and fatherless:
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the [al]poor and needy:
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
They know not, neither do they understand;
They walk to and fro in darkness:
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, Ye are gods,
And all of you sons of the Most High.
Nevertheless ye shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.
Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For thou shalt inherit all the nations.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 78:1 Or, teaching
  2. Psalm 78:8 Or, that prepared not their heart
  3. Psalm 78:17 Or, a dry land
  4. Psalm 78:18 Or, for themselves
  5. Psalm 78:24 Hebrew grain.
  6. Psalm 78:25 Or, Every one
  7. Psalm 78:26 Hebrew led forth the east wind.
  8. Psalm 78:37 Or, stedfast
  9. Psalm 78:41 Or, limited
  10. Psalm 78:47 Hebrew killed.
  11. Psalm 78:47 Or, great hailstones
  12. Psalm 78:49 Hebrew A sending.
  13. Psalm 78:50 Hebrew levelled.
  14. Psalm 78:50 Or, their beasts to the murrain
  15. Psalm 78:51 Hebrew beginning. See Dt. 21:17.
  16. Psalm 78:54 Or, his holy border
  17. Psalm 78:54 Or, mountain land
  18. Psalm 79:7 Or, pasture
  19. Psalm 79:9 Or, expiate
  20. Psalm 79:11 Hebrew thine arm.
  21. Psalm 79:11 Hebrew the children of death.
  22. Psalm 80:1 That is, Lilies, a testimony.
  23. Psalm 80:1 Or, art enthroned
  24. Psalm 80:3 Or, Restore
  25. Psalm 80:4 Hebrew wilt thou smoke. See 74:1.
  26. Psalm 80:7 Or, Restore
  27. Psalm 80:10 Or, the cedars of God with the boughs thereof
  28. Psalm 80:10 Or, goodly cedars
  29. Psalm 80:15 Or, protect (or maintain) that which etc.
  30. Psalm 80:15 Hebrew son.
  31. Psalm 80:19 Or, Restore
  32. Psalm 81:2 Or, strike the timbrel
  33. Psalm 81:5 Or, against
  34. Psalm 81:5 Or, the speech of one that etc.
  35. Psalm 81:15 Or, yield feigned obedience. Hebrew lie.
  36. Psalm 81:16 Hebrew fat of wheat.
  37. Psalm 82:3 Or, weak
  38. Psalm 82:4 Or, weak

Psalm 78

A maskil[a] of Asaph.

My people, hear my teaching;(A)
    listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;(B)
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.(C)
We will not hide them from their descendants;(D)
    we will tell the next generation(E)
the praiseworthy deeds(F) of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders(G) he has done.
He decreed statutes(H) for Jacob(I)
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,(J)
    and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget(K) his deeds
    but would keep his commands.(L)
They would not be like their ancestors(M)
    a stubborn(N) and rebellious(O) generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,(P)
    turned back on the day of battle;(Q)
10 they did not keep God’s covenant(R)
    and refused to live by his law.(S)
11 They forgot what he had done,(T)
    the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles(U) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,(V) in the region of Zoan.(W)
13 He divided the sea(X) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.(Y)
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.(Z)
15 He split the rocks(AA) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

17 But they continued to sin(AB) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test(AC)
    by demanding the food they craved.(AD)
19 They spoke against God;(AE)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,(AF)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat(AG) for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out(AH) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
    or trust(AI) in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;(AJ)
24 he rained down manna(AK) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind(AL) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds(AM) like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—(AN)
    he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,(AO)
31 God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest(AP) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;(AQ)
    in spite of his wonders,(AR) they did not believe.(AS)
33 So he ended their days in futility(AT)
    and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek(AU) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,(AV)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.(AW)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,(AX)
    lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal(AY) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;(AZ)
    he forgave(BA) their iniquities(BB)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger(BC)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,(BD)
    a passing breeze(BE) that does not return.

40 How often they rebelled(BF) against him in the wilderness(BG)
    and grieved him(BH) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(BI)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(BJ)
42 They did not remember(BK) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,(BL)
43 the day he displayed his signs(BM) in Egypt,
    his wonders(BN) in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;(BO)
    they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies(BP) that devoured them,
    and frogs(BQ) that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,(BR)
    their produce to the locust.(BS)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail(BT)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock(BU) to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,(BV)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.(BW)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,(BX)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.(BY)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;(BZ)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed(CA) their enemies.(CB)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand(CC) had taken.
55 He drove out nations(CD) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;(CE)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

56 But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors(CF) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.(CG)
58 They angered him(CH) with their high places;(CI)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.(CJ)
59 When God heard(CK) them, he was furious;(CL)
    he rejected Israel(CM) completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,(CN)
    the tent he had set up among humans.(CO)
61 He sent the ark of his might(CP) into captivity,(CQ)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;(CR)
    he was furious with his inheritance.(CS)
63 Fire consumed(CT) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;(CU)
64 their priests were put to the sword,(CV)
    and their widows could not weep.

65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,(CW)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.(CX)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;(CY)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,(CZ)
    Mount Zion,(DA) which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary(DB) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David(DC) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep(DD) he brought him
    to be the shepherd(DE) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;(DF)
    with skillful hands he led them.

Psalm 79

A psalm of Asaph.

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;(DG)
    they have defiled(DH) your holy temple,
    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.(DI)
They have left the dead bodies of your servants
    as food for the birds of the sky,(DJ)
    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.(DK)
They have poured out blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there is no one to bury(DL) the dead.(DM)
We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
    of scorn(DN) and derision to those around us.(DO)

How long,(DP) Lord? Will you be angry(DQ) forever?
    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?(DR)
Pour out your wrath(DS) on the nations
    that do not acknowledge(DT) you,
on the kingdoms
    that do not call on your name;(DU)
for they have devoured(DV) Jacob
    and devastated his homeland.

Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;(DW)
    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
    for we are in desperate need.(DX)
Help us,(DY) God our Savior,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
    for your name’s sake.(DZ)
10 Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”(EA)

Before our eyes, make known among the nations
    that you avenge(EB) the outpoured blood(EC) of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps(ED) of our neighbors seven times(EE)
    the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,(EF)
    will praise you forever;(EG)
from generation to generation
    we will proclaim your praise.

Psalm 80[b]

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

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.(EH)
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,(EI)
    shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.(EJ)
Awaken(EK) your might;
    come and save us.(EL)

Restore(EM) us,(EN) O God;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.(EO)

How long,(EP) Lord God Almighty,
    will your anger smolder(EQ)
    against the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears;(ER)
    you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.(ES)
You have made us an object of derision[c] to our neighbors,
    and our enemies mock us.(ET)

Restore us, God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.(EU)

You transplanted a vine(EV) from Egypt;
    you drove out(EW) the nations and planted(EX) it.
You cleared the ground for it,
    and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,[d]
    its shoots as far as the River.[e](EY)

12 Why have you broken down its walls(EZ)
    so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage(FA) it,
    and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
    Look down from heaven and see!(FB)
Watch over this vine,
15     the root your right hand has planted,
    the son[f] you have raised up for yourself.

16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;(FC)
    at your rebuke(FD) your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
    the son of man(FE) you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
    revive(FF) us, and we will call on your name.

19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

Psalm 81[g]

For the director of music. According to gittith.[h] Of Asaph.

Sing for joy to God our strength;
    shout aloud to the God of Jacob!(FG)
Begin the music, strike the timbrel,(FH)
    play the melodious harp(FI) and lyre.(FJ)

Sound the ram’s horn(FK) at the New Moon,(FL)
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.(FM)
When God went out against Egypt,(FN)
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:(FO)

“I removed the burden(FP) from their shoulders;(FQ)
    their hands were set free from the basket.
In your distress you called(FR) and I rescued you,
    I answered(FS) you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[i](FT)
Hear me, my people,(FU) and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
You shall have no foreign god(FV) among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.(FW)
Open(FX) wide your mouth and I will fill(FY) it.

11 “But my people would not listen to me;
    Israel would not submit to me.(FZ)
12 So I gave them over(GA) to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.

13 “If my people would only listen to me,(GB)
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue(GC) their enemies
    and turn my hand against(GD) their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe(GE) before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;(GF)
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Psalm 82

A psalm of Asaph.

God presides in the great assembly;
    he renders judgment(GG) among the “gods”:(GH)

“How long will you[j] defend the unjust
    and show partiality(GI) to the wicked?[k](GJ)
Defend the weak and the fatherless;(GK)
    uphold the cause of the poor(GL) and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.(GM)
    They walk about in darkness;(GN)
    all the foundations(GO) of the earth are shaken.

“I said, ‘You are “gods”;(GP)
    you are all sons of the Most High.’
But you will die(GQ) like mere mortals;
    you will fall like every other ruler.”

Rise up,(GR) O God, judge(GS) the earth,
    for all the nations are your inheritance.(GT)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 78:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
  2. Psalm 80:1 In Hebrew texts 80:1-19 is numbered 80:2-20.
  3. Psalm 80:6 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text contention
  4. Psalm 80:11 Probably the Mediterranean
  5. Psalm 80:11 That is, the Euphrates
  6. Psalm 80:15 Or branch
  7. Psalm 81:1 In Hebrew texts 81:1-16 is numbered 81:2-17.
  8. Psalm 81:1 Title: Probably a musical term
  9. Psalm 81:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
  10. Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew is plural.
  11. Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.