Font Size
Psalm 82-83
The Message
Psalm 82-83
The Message
82 God calls the judges into his courtroom,
he puts all the judges in the dock.
2-4 “Enough! You’ve corrupted justice long enough,
you’ve let the wicked get away with murder.
You’re here to defend the defenseless,
to make sure that underdogs get a fair break;
Your job is to stand up for the powerless,
and prosecute all those who exploit them.”
5 Ignorant judges! Head-in-the-sand judges!
They haven’t a clue to what’s going on.
And now everything’s falling apart,
the world’s coming unglued.
6-7 “I appointed you judges, each one of you,
deputies of the High God,
But you’ve betrayed your commission
and now you’re stripped of your rank, busted.”
8 O God, give them what they’ve got coming!
You’ve got the whole world in your hands!
83 1-5 God, don’t shut me out;
don’t give me the silent treatment, O God.
Your enemies are out there whooping it up,
the God-haters are living it up;
They’re plotting to do your people in,
conspiring to rob you of your precious ones.
“Let’s wipe this nation from the face of the earth,”
they say; “scratch Israel’s name off the books.”
And now they’re putting their heads together,
making plans to get rid of you.
6-8 Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia and the Tyrians,
And now Assyria has joined up,
Giving muscle to the gang of Lot.
9-12 Do to them what you did to Midian,
to Sisera and Jabin at Kishon Brook;
They came to a bad end at Endor,
nothing but dung for the garden.
Cut down their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb,
their princes to nothings like Zebah and Zalmunna,
With their empty brags, “We’re grabbing it all,
grabbing God’s gardens for ourselves.”
13-18 My God! I’ve had it with them!
Blow them away!
Tumbleweeds in the desert waste,
charred sticks in the burned-over ground.
Knock the breath right out of them, so they’re gasping
for breath, gasping, “God.”
Bring them to the end of their rope,
and leave them there dangling, helpless.
Then they’ll learn your name: “God,”
the one and only High God on earth.
Psalm 82-83
New International Version
Psalm 82-83
New International Version
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
2 “How long will you[a] defend the unjust
and show partiality(C) to the wicked?[b](D)
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;(E)
uphold the cause of the poor(F) 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.(G)
They walk about in darkness;(H)
all the foundations(I) of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;(J)
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die(K) like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
Psalm 83[c]
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not remain silent;(O)
do not turn a deaf ear,
do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl,(P)
how your foes rear their heads.(Q)
3 With cunning they conspire(R) against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.(S)
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy(T) them as a nation,(U)
so that Israel’s name is remembered(V) no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;(W)
they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom(X) and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab(Y) and the Hagrites,(Z)
7 Byblos,(AA) Ammon(AB) and Amalek,(AC)
Philistia,(AD) with the people of Tyre.(AE)
8 Even Assyria(AF) has joined them
to reinforce Lot’s descendants.[d](AG)
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,(AH)
as you did to Sisera(AI) and Jabin(AJ) at the river Kishon,(AK)
10 who perished at Endor(AL)
and became like dung(AM) on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,(AN)
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,(AO)
12 who said, “Let us take possession(AP)
of the pasturelands of God.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew is plural.
- Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
- Psalm 83:1 In Hebrew texts 83:1-18 is numbered 83:2-19.
- Psalm 83:8 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.