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Psalm 78-82
Common English Bible
Psalm 78-82
Common English Bible
Psalm 78
A maskil[a] of Asaph.
78 Listen, my people, to my teaching;
tilt your ears toward the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a proverb.
I’ll declare riddles from days long gone—
3 ones that we’ve heard and learned about,
ones that our ancestors told us.
4 We won’t hide them from their descendants;
we’ll tell the next generation
all about the praise due the Lord and his strength—
the wondrous works God has done.
5 He established a law for Jacob
and set up Instruction for Israel,
ordering our ancestors
to teach them to their children.
6 This is so that the next generation
and children not yet born will know these things,
and so they can rise up and tell their children
7 to put their hope in God—
never forgetting God’s deeds,
but keeping God’s commandments—
8 and so that they won’t become like their ancestors:
a rebellious, stubborn generation,
a generation whose heart wasn’t set firm
and whose spirit wasn’t faithful to God.
9 The children of Ephraim, armed with bows,
retreated on the day of battle.
10 They didn’t keep God’s covenant;
they refused to walk in his Instruction.
11 They forgot God’s deeds
as well as the wondrous works he showed them.
12 But God performed wonders in their ancestors’ presence—
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 God split the sea and led them through,
making the waters stand up like a wall.
14 God led them with the cloud by day;
by the lightning all through the night.
15 God split rocks open in the wilderness,
gave them plenty to drink—
as if from the deep itself!
16 God made streams flow from the rock,
made water run like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against God,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their hearts,
demanded food for their stomachs.
19 They spoke against God!
“Can God set a dinner table in the wilderness?” they asked.
20 “True, God struck the rock
and water gushed and streams flowed,
but can he give bread too?
Can he provide meat for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard this, he became furious.
A fire was ignited against Jacob;
wrath also burned against Israel
22 because they had no faith in God,
because they didn’t trust his saving power.
23 God gave orders to the skies above,
opened heaven’s doors,
24 and rained manna on them so they could eat.
He gave them the very grain of heaven!
25 Each person ate the bread of the powerful ones;[b]
God sent provisions to satisfy them.
26 God set the east wind moving across the skies
and drove the south wind by his strength.
27 He rained meat on them as if it were dust in the air;
he rained as many birds as the sand on the seashore!
28 God brought the birds down in the center of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29 So they ate and were completely satisfied;
God gave them exactly what they had craved.
30 But they didn’t stop craving—
even with the food still in their mouths!
31 So God’s anger came up against them:
he killed the most hearty of them;
he cut down Israel’s youth in their prime.
32 But in spite of all that, they kept sinning
and had no faith in God’s wondrous works.
33 So God brought their days to an end,
like a puff of air,
and their years in total ruin.
34 But whenever God killed them, they went after him!
They would turn and earnestly search for God.
35 They would remember that God was their rock,
that the Most High was their redeemer.
36 But they were just flattering him with lip service.
They were lying to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts weren’t firmly set on him;
they weren’t faithful to his covenant.
38 But God, being compassionate,
kept forgiving their sins,
kept avoiding destruction;
he took back his anger so many times,
wouldn’t stir up all his wrath!
39 God kept remembering that they were just flesh,
just breath that passes and doesn’t come back.
40 How often they rebelled against God in the wilderness
and distressed him in the desert!
41 Time and time again they tested God,
provoking the holy one of Israel.
42 They didn’t remember God’s power—
the day when he saved them from the enemy;
43 how God performed his signs in Egypt,
his marvelous works in the field of Zoan.
44 God turned their rivers into blood;
they couldn’t drink from their own streams.
45 God sent swarms against them to eat them up,
frogs to destroy them.
46 God handed over their crops to caterpillars,
their land’s produce to locusts.
47 God killed their vines with hail,
their sycamore trees with frost.
48 God delivered their cattle over to disease,[c]
their herds to plagues.
49 God unleashed his burning anger against them—
fury, indignation, distress,
a troop of evil messengers.
50 God blazed a path for his wrath.
He didn’t save them from death,
but delivered their lives over to disease.
51 God struck down all of Egypt’s oldest males;
in Ham’s tents, he struck their pride and joy.
52 God led his own people out like sheep,
guiding them like a flock in the wilderness.
53 God led them in safety—they were not afraid!
But the sea engulfed their enemies!
54 God brought them to his holy territory,
to the mountain that his own strong hand had acquired.
55 God drove out the nations before them
and apportioned property for them;
he settled Israel’s tribes in their tents.
56 But they tested and defied the Most High God;
they didn’t pay attention to his warnings.
57 They turned away, became faithless just like their ancestors;
they twisted away like a defective bow.
58 They angered God with their many shrines;
they angered him with their idols.
59 God heard and became enraged;
he rejected Israel utterly.
60 God abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he had lived with humans.
61 God let his power be held captive,
let his glory go to the enemy’s hand.
62 God delivered his people up to the sword;
he was enraged at his own possession.
63 Fire devoured his young men,
and his young women had no wedding songs.
64 God’s priests were killed by the sword,
and his widows couldn’t even cry.
65 But then my Lord woke up—
as if he’d been sleeping!
Like a warrior shaking off wine,
66 God beat back his foes;
he made them an everlasting disgrace.
67 God rejected the tent of Joseph
and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah,
the mountain of Zion, which he loves.
69 God built his sanctuary like the highest heaven
and like the earth, which he established forever.
70 And God chose David, his servant,
taking him from the sheepfolds.
71 God brought him from shepherding nursing ewes
to shepherd his people Jacob,
to shepherd his inheritance, Israel.
72 David shepherded them with a heart of integrity;
he led them with the skill of his hands.
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
79 The nations have come into your inheritance, God!
They’ve defiled your holy temple.
They’ve made Jerusalem a bunch of ruins.
2 They’ve left your servants’ bodies
as food for the birds;
they’ve left the flesh of your faithful
to the wild animals of the earth.
3 They’ve poured out the blood of the faithful
like water all around Jerusalem,
and there’s no one left to bury them.
4 We’ve become a joke to our neighbors,
nothing but objects of ridicule
and disapproval to those around us.
5 How long will you rage, Lord? Forever?
How long will your anger burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
who don’t know you,
on the kingdoms
that haven’t called on your name.
7 They’ve devoured Jacob
and demolished his pasture.
8 Don’t remember the iniquities of past generations;
let your compassion hurry to meet us
because we’ve been brought so low.
9 God of our salvation, help us
for the glory of your name!
Deliver us and cover our sins
for the sake of your name!
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where’s their God now?”
Let vengeance for the spilled blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our very eyes!
11 Let the prisoners’ groaning reach you.
With your powerful arm
spare those who are destined to die.
12 Pay back our neighbors seven times over,
right where it hurts,
for the insults they used on you, Lord.
13 We are, after all, your people
and the sheep of your very own pasture.
We will give you thanks forever;
we will proclaim your praises
from one generation to the next.
Psalm 80
For the music leader. According to “Lotus Blossoms.” A testimony of Asaph. A psalm.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen!
You, the one who leads Joseph as if he were a sheep.
You, who are enthroned upon the winged heavenly creatures.
Show yourself 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh!
Wake up your power!
Come to save us!
3 Restore us, God!
Make your face shine so that we can be saved!
4 Lord God of heavenly forces,
how long will you fume against your people’s prayer?
5 You’ve fed them bread made of tears;
you’ve given them tears to drink three times over!
6 You’ve put us at odds with our neighbors;
our enemies make fun of us.
7 Restore us, God of heavenly forces!
Make your face shine so that we can be saved!
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt.
You drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
then it planted its roots deep, filling the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shade;
the mighty cedars were covered by its branches.
11 It sent its branches all the way to the sea;
its shoots went all the way to the Euphrates River.[d]
12 So why have you now torn down its walls
so that all who come along can pluck its fruit,
13 so that any boar from the forest can tear it up,
so that the bugs can feed on it?
14 Please come back, God of heavenly forces!
Look down from heaven and perceive it!
Attend to this vine,
15 this root that you planted with your strong hand,
this son whom you secured as your very own.
16 It is burned with fire. It is chopped down.
They die at the rebuke coming from you.
17 Let your hand be with the one on your right side—
with the one whom you secured as your own—
18 then we will not turn away from you!
Revive us so that we can call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God of heavenly forces!
Make your face shine so that we can be saved!
Psalm 81
For the music leader. According to the Gittith. Of Asaph.
81 Rejoice out loud to God, our strength!
Shout for joy to Jacob’s God!
2 Take up a song and strike the drum!
Sweet lyre along with harp!
3 Blow the horn on the new moon,
at the full moon, for our day of celebration!
4 Because this is the law for Israel;
this is a rule of Jacob’s God.
5 He made it a decree for Joseph
when he went out against the land of Egypt,
when I heard a language I did not yet know:
6 “I lifted the burden off your shoulders;
your hands are free of the brick basket!
7 In distress you cried out, so I rescued you.
I answered you in the secret of thunder.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Listen, my people, I’m warning you!
If only you would listen to me, Israel.
9 There must be no foreign god among you.
You must not bow down to any strange deity.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from Egypt’s land.
Open your mouth wide—I will fill it up!
11 But my people wouldn’t listen to my voice.
Israel simply wasn’t agreeable toward me.
12 So I sent them off to follow their willful hearts;
they followed their own advice.
13 How I wish my people would listen to me!
How I wish Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would subdue their enemies in a second;
I would turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would grovel before me,
and their doom would last forever!
16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes his stand in the divine council;
he gives judgment among the gods:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
by granting favor to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the lowly and the orphan;
maintain the right of the poor and the destitute!
4 Rescue the lowly and the needy.
Deliver them from the power of the wicked!
5 They don’t know; they don’t understand;
they wander around in the dark.
All the earth’s foundations shake.
6 I hereby declare, “You are gods,
children of the Most High—all of you!
7 But you will die like mortals;
you will fall down like any prince.”
8 Rise up, God! Judge the earth
because you hold all nations in your possession!
Footnotes
- Psalm 78:1 Perhaps instruction
- Psalm 78:25 Or everyone ate the bread from heaven; Heb uncertain
- Psalm 78:48 Correction; MT to hailstones
- Psalm 80:11 Or the Great River
Psalm 78-82
New International Version
Psalm 78-82
New International Version
Psalm 78
A maskil[a] of Asaph.
1 My people, hear my teaching;(A)
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable;(B)
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
3 things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.(C)
4 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.
5 He decreed statutes(H) for Jacob(I)
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,(J)
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget(K) his deeds
but would keep his commands.(L)
8 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.
9 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.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;(DG)
they have defiled(DH) your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.(DI)
2 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)
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury(DL) the dead.(DM)
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn(DN) and derision to those around us.(DO)
5 How long,(DP) Lord? Will you be angry(DQ) forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?(DR)
6 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)
7 for they have devoured(DV) Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 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)
9 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.
1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.(EH)
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,(EI)
shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.(EJ)
Awaken(EK) your might;
come and save us.(EL)
4 How long,(EP) Lord God Almighty,
will your anger smolder(EQ)
against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;(ER)
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.(ES)
6 You have made us an object of derision[c] to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.(ET)
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.(EU)
8 You transplanted a vine(EV) from Egypt;
you drove out(EW) the nations and planted(EX) it.
9 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.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!(FG)
2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,(FH)
play the melodious harp(FI) and lyre.(FJ)
3 Sound the ram’s horn(FK) at the New Moon,(FL)
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
4 this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.(FM)
5 When God went out against Egypt,(FN)
he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:(FO)
6 “I removed the burden(FP) from their shoulders;(FQ)
their hands were set free from the basket.
7 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)
8 Hear me, my people,(FU) and I will warn you—
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 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.
2 “How long will you[j] defend the unjust
and show partiality(GI) to the wicked?[k](GJ)
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;(GK)
uphold the cause of the poor(GL) and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.(GM)
They walk about in darkness;(GN)
all the foundations(GO) of the earth are shaken.
Footnotes
- Psalm 78:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 80:1 In Hebrew texts 80:1-19 is numbered 80:2-20.
- Psalm 80:6 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text contention
- Psalm 80:11 Probably the Mediterranean
- Psalm 80:11 That is, the Euphrates
- Psalm 80:15 Or branch
- Psalm 81:1 In Hebrew texts 81:1-16 is numbered 81:2-17.
- Psalm 81:1 Title: Probably a musical term
- Psalm 81:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
- Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew is plural.
- Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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