Psalm 81
A Call to Obedience
For the choir director: on the Gittith. Of Asaph.(A)
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.(B)
2 Lift up a song—play the tambourine,
the melodious lyre, and the harp.(C)
3 Blow the ram’s horn on the day of our feasts[a]
during the new moon(D)
and during the full moon.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.(E)
5 He set it up as a decree for Joseph
when he went throughout[b] the land of Egypt.(F)
I heard an unfamiliar language:
6 “I relieved his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were freed from carrying the basket.(G)
7 You called out in distress, and I rescued you;
I answered you from the thundercloud.(H)
I tested you at the Waters of Meribah.(I)Selah
8 Listen, my people, and I will admonish you.
Israel, if you would only listen to me!(J)
9 There must not be a strange god among you;
you must not bow down to a foreign god.(K)
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.(L)
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.(M)
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel did not obey me.(N)
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own plans.(O)
13 If only my people would listen to me
and Israel would follow my ways,(P)
14 I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.”(Q)
15 Those who hate the Lord
would cower to him;(R)
their doom would last forever.(S)
16 But he would feed Israel[c] with the best wheat.
“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”(T)
Footnotes
Cross references
- 81:0 : 1Ch 16:5,7; Ps 8; 84
- 81:1 : Ps 59:16; 95:1–2; 98:4
- 81:2 : Ps 33:2; 71:22; 92:3
- 81:3 : Lv 23:24; Nm 10:10; 29:1
- 81:4 : 1Ch 16:17; Ps 105:10
- 81:5 : Ps 78:5; 122:4
- 81:6 : Is 9:4; 10:27
- 81:7 : Ex 14:24; 20:18–20
- 81:7 : Ex 17:1–7; Nm 20:2–13
- 81:8 : Ps 50:7
- 81:9 : Ex 20:3–5; 22:20; 34:14
- 81:10 : Ex 20:2; Dt 5:6
- 81:10 : Ps 78:25; 107:9
- 81:11 : Jr 7:24; 13:10
- 81:12 : Jb 8:4; Jr 11:8
- 81:13 : Dt 5:29; Is 48:18
- 81:14 : Ps 18:47; 47:3; Am 1:8
- 81:15 : Ps 18:44; 66:3
- 81:15 : Dt 32:35
- 81:16 : Nm 18:12; Dt 32:13–14; Ps 147:14