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.
2 Raise a song, and [a]bring hither the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast-day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony,
When he went out [b]over the land of Egypt,
Where I heard [c]a language that I knew not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden:
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 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
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee:
O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!
9 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 [d]submit themselves unto him:
But their time should endure for ever.
16 He would feed them also with the [e]finest of the wheat;
And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.
Footnotes
- Psalm 81:2 Or, strike the timbrel
- Psalm 81:5 Or, against
- Psalm 81:5 Or, the speech of one that etc.
- Psalm 81:15 Or, yield feigned obedience. Hebrew lie.
- Psalm 81:16 Hebrew fat of wheat.