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Psalm 79-80
Easy-to-Read Version
Psalm 79-80
Easy-to-Read Version
One of Asaph’s songs of praise.
79 God, some people from other nations came to fight your people.
They ruined your holy Temple.
They left Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They left the bodies of your servants for the wild birds to eat.
They let wild animals eat the bodies of your followers.
3 Blood flowed like water all over Jerusalem.
No one is left to bury the bodies.
4 The countries around us insult us.
The people around us laugh at us and make fun of us.
5 Lord, will you be angry with us forever?
Will your strong feelings[a] continue to burn like a fire?
6 Turn your anger against the nations that do not know you,
against the people who do not honor you as God.
7 Those nations killed Jacob’s family
and destroyed their land.
8 Please don’t punish us for the sins of our ancestors.
Hurry, show us your mercy!
We need you so much!
9 Our God and Savior, help us!
That will bring glory to your name.
Save us and forgive our sins
for the good of your name.
10 Don’t give the other nations a reason to say,
“Where is their God? Can’t he help them?”
Let us see you punish those people.
Punish them for killing your servants.
11 Listen to the sad cries of the prisoners!
Use your great power to free those who are sentenced to die.
12 Punish the nations around us!
Pay them back seven times for what they did to us.
Punish them for insulting you.
13 We are your people, the sheep of your flock.
We will praise you forever.
We will praise you forever and ever!
To the director: To the tune “Lilies of the Agreement.” One of Asaph’s songs of praise.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us.
You lead your people[b] like sheep.
You sit on your throne above the Cherub angels.
Let us see you.
2 Shepherd of Israel, show your greatness to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Come and save your people.
3 God, accept us again.
Smile down on us and save us!
4 Lord God All-Powerful, when will you listen to our prayers?
How long will you be angry with us?
5 Instead of bread and water,
you gave your people tears.
6 You made us the target of everyone’s hatred.
Our enemies make fun of us.
7 God All-Powerful, accept us again.
Smile down on us and save us!
8 When you brought us out of Egypt,
we were like your special vine.
You forced other nations to leave this land,
and you planted that vine here.
9 You prepared the ground for it,
and it sent its roots down deep and spread throughout the land.
10 It covered the mountains,
and its leaves shaded even the giant cedar trees.
11 Its branches spread to the Mediterranean Sea,
its shoots to the Euphrates River.
12 God, why did you pull down the walls that protect your vine?
Now everyone who passes by picks its grapes.
13 Wild pigs come and ruin it.
Wild animals eat the leaves.
14 God All-Powerful, come back.
Look down from heaven at your vine and protect it.
15 Look at the vine you planted with your own hands.
Look at the young plant[c] you raised.
16 Our enemies have cut it down and burned it up.
Show them how angry you are and destroy them.
17 Reach out and help your chosen one.[d]
Reach out to the people[e] you raised up.
18 Then we will never leave you.
Let us live, and we will worship you.
19 Lord God All-Powerful, accept us again.
Smile down on us and save us!
Footnotes
- Psalm 79:5 strong feelings The Hebrew word can mean any strong feelings such as zeal, jealousy, or love.
- Psalm 80:1 your people Literally, “Joseph,” the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, whose names are often used to mean all the tribes in northern Israel.
- Psalm 80:15 young plant Literally, “son.”
- Psalm 80:17 chosen one Literally, “the man of your right hand.”
- Psalm 80:17 people Literally, “son of man.”
Psalm 79-80
New International Version
Psalm 79-80
New International Version
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;(A)
they have defiled(B) your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.(C)
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,(D)
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.(E)
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury(F) the dead.(G)
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn(H) and derision to those around us.(I)
5 How long,(J) Lord? Will you be angry(K) forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?(L)
6 Pour out your wrath(M) on the nations
that do not acknowledge(N) you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;(O)
7 for they have devoured(P) Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;(Q)
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.(R)
9 Help us,(S) God our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.(T)
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”(U)
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge(V) the outpoured blood(W) 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(X) of our neighbors seven times(Y)
the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,(Z)
will praise you forever;(AA)
from generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
Psalm 80[a]
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.(AB)
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,(AC)
shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.(AD)
Awaken(AE) your might;
come and save us.(AF)
4 How long,(AJ) Lord God Almighty,
will your anger smolder(AK)
against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;(AL)
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.(AM)
6 You have made us an object of derision[b] to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.(AN)
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.(AO)
8 You transplanted a vine(AP) from Egypt;
you drove out(AQ) the nations and planted(AR) 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,[c]
its shoots as far as the River.[d](AS)
12 Why have you broken down its walls(AT)
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage(AU) it,
and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven and see!(AV)
Watch over this vine,
15 the root your right hand has planted,
the son[e] you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;(AW)
at your rebuke(AX) your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man(AY) you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
revive(AZ) 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.
Footnotes
- 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
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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