Psalms 80-85

Psalm 80

¹To the chief music-maker; put to Shoshannim-eduth. Of Asaph. A Psalm. Give ear, O Keeper of Israel, guiding Joseph like a flock; you who have your seat on the winged ones, let your glory be seen.

²Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, let your strength be awake from sleep, and come as our salvation.

³Take us back again, O God; let us see the shining of your face, and let us be safe.

⁴O Lord God of armies, how long will your wrath be burning against the rest of your people?

⁵You have given them the bread of weeping for food; for their drink you have given them sorrow in great measure.

⁶You make us a cause of war among our neighbours; our haters are laughing at us among themselves.

⁷Take us back again, O God of armies; let us see the shining of your face, and let us be safe.

⁸You took a vine out of Egypt: driving out the nations, and planting it in their land.

⁹You made ready a place for it, so that it might take deep root, and it sent out its branches over all the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade, and the great trees with its branches.

¹¹It sent out its arms to the Sea, and its branches to the River.

¹²Why are its walls broken down by your hands, so that all who go by may take its fruit?

¹³It is uprooted by the pigs from the woods, the beasts of the field get their food from it.

¹⁴Come back, O God of armies: from heaven let your eyes be turned to this vine, and give your mind to it,

¹⁵Even to the tree which was planted by your right hand, and to the branch which you made strong for yourself.

¹⁶It is burned with fire; it is cut down: they are made waste by the wrath of your face.

¹⁷Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.

¹⁸So will we not be turned back from you; keep us in life, and we will give praise to your name.

¹⁹Take us back, O Lord God of armies; let us see the shining of your face, and let us be safe.

Psalm 81

¹To the chief music-maker; put to the Gittith. Of Asaph. Make a song to God our strength: make a glad cry to the God of Jacob.

²Take up the melody, playing on an instrument of music, even on corded instruments.

³Let the horn be sounded in the time of the new moon, at the full moon, on our holy feast-day:

⁴For this is a rule for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

⁵He gave it to Joseph as a witness, when he went out over the land of Egypt; then the words of a strange tongue were sounding in my ears.

⁶I took the weight from his back; his hands were made free from the baskets.

⁷You gave a cry in your trouble, and I made you free; I gave you an answer in the secret place of the thunder; I put you to the test at the waters of Meribah. (Selah.)

⁸Give ear, O my people, and I will give you my word, O Israel, if you will only do as I say!

⁹There is to be no strange god among you; you are not to give worship to any other god.

¹⁰I am the Lord your God, who took you up from the land of Egypt: let your mouth be open wide, so that I may give you food.

¹¹But my people did not give ear to my voice; Israel would have nothing to do with me.

¹²So I gave them up to the desires of their hearts; that they might go after their evil purposes.

¹³If only my people would give ear to me, walking in my ways!

¹⁴I would quickly overcome their haters: my hand would be turned against those who make war on them.

¹⁵The haters of the Lord would be broken, and their destruction would be eternal.

¹⁶I would give them the best grain for food; you would be full of honey from the rock.

Psalm 82

¹A Psalm. Of Asaph. God is in the meeting-place of God; he is judging among the gods.

²How long will you go on judging falsely, having respect for the persons of evil-doers? (Selah.)

³Give ear to the cause of the poor and the children without fathers; let those who are troubled and in need have their rights.

⁴Be the saviour of the poor and those who have nothing: take them out of the hand of the evil-doers.

⁵They have no knowledge or sense; they go about in the dark: all the bases of the earth are moved.

⁶I said, You are gods; all of you are the sons of the Most High:

⁷But you will come to death like men, falling like one of the rulers of the earth.

⁸Up! O God, come as judge of the earth; for all the nations are your heritage.

Psalm 83

¹A Song. A Psalm. Of Asaph. O God, do not keep quiet: let your lips be open and take no rest, O God.

²For see! those who make war on you are out of control; your haters are lifting up their heads.

³They have made wise designs against your people, talking together against those whom you keep in a secret place.

⁴They have said, Come, let us put an end to them as a nation; so that the name of Israel may go out of man's memory.

⁵For they have all come to an agreement; they are all joined together against you:

⁶The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagarites;

⁷Gebal and Ammon and Amalek; the Philistines and the people of Tyre;

⁸Assur is joined with them; they have become the support of the children of Lot. (Selah.)

⁹Do to them what you did to the Midianites; what you did to Sisera and Jabin, at the stream of Kishon:

¹⁰Who came to destruction at En-dor; their bodies became dust and waste.

¹¹Make their chiefs like Oreb and Zeeb; and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna:

¹²Who have said, Let us take for our heritage the resting-place of God.

¹³O my God, make them like the rolling dust; like dry stems before the wind.

¹⁴As fire burning a wood, and as a flame causing fire on the mountains,

¹⁵So go after them with your strong wind, and let them be full of fear because of your storm.

¹⁶Let their faces be full of shame; so that they may give honour to your name, O Lord.

¹⁷Let them be overcome and troubled for ever; let them be put to shame and come to destruction;

¹⁸So that men may see that you only, whose name is Yahweh, are Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 84

¹To the chief music-maker; put to the Gittith A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah. How dear are your tents, O Lord of armies!

²The passion of my soul's desire is for the house of the Lord; my heart and my flesh are crying out for the living God.

³The little birds have places for themselves, where they may put their young, even your altars, O Lord of armies, my King and my God.

⁴Happy are they whose resting-place is in your house: they will still be praising you. (Selah.)

⁵Happy is the man whose strength is in you; in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

⁶Going through the valley of balsam-trees, they make it a place of springs; it is clothed with blessings by the early rain.

⁷They go from strength to strength; every one of them comes before God in Zion.

⁸O Lord God of armies, let my prayer come to you: give ear, O God of Jacob. (Selah.)

⁹O God, let your eyes be on him who is our safe cover, and let your heart be turned to your king.

¹⁰For a day in your house is better than a thousand. It is better to be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to be living in the tents of sin.

¹¹The Lord God is our sun and our strength: the Lord will give grace and glory: he will not keep back any good thing from those whose ways are upright.

¹²O Lord of armies, happy is the man whose hope is in you.

Psalm 85

¹To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah. Lord, you were good to your land: changing the fate of Jacob.

²The wrongdoing of your people had forgiveness; all their sin had been covered. (Selah.)

³You were no longer angry: you were turned from the heat of your wrath.

⁴Come back to us, O God of our salvation, and be angry with us no longer.

⁵Will you go on being angry with us for ever? will you keep your wrath against us through all the long generations?

⁶Will you not give us life again, so that your people may be glad in you?

⁷Let us see your mercy, O Lord, and give us your salvation.

⁸I will give ear to the voice of the Lord; for he will say words of peace to his people and to his saints; but let them not go back to their foolish ways.

⁹Truly, his salvation is near to his worshippers; so that glory may be in our land.

¹⁰Mercy and faith have come together; righteousness and peace have given one another a kiss.

¹¹Faith comes up from the earth like a plant; righteousness is looking down from heaven.

¹²The Lord will give what is good; and our land will give its increase.

¹³Righteousness will go before him, making a way for his footsteps.