Psalm 81-85

Complete Jewish Bible

81 ⁽⁰⁾For the Leader. On the gittit. By Asaf:

²⁽¹⁾Sing for joy to God our strength!
Shout to the God of Ya‘akov!
³⁽²⁾Start the music! Beat the drum!
Play the sweet lyre and the lute!
⁴⁽³⁾Sound the shofar at Rosh-Hodesh
and at full moon for the pilgrim feast,
⁵⁽⁴⁾because this is a law for Isra’el,
a ruling of the God of Ya‘akov.
⁶⁽⁵⁾He placed it as a testimony in Y’hosef
when he went out against the land of Egypt.

I heard an unfamiliar voice say,
⁷⁽⁶⁾“I lifted the load from his shoulder;
his hands were freed from the [laborer’s] basket.
⁸⁽⁷⁾You called out when you were in trouble,
and I rescued you;
I answered you from the thundercloud;
I tested you at the M’rivah Spring [by saying,] (Selah)

⁹⁽⁸⁾“‘Hear, my people, while I give you warning!
Isra’el, if you would only listen to me!
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾There is not to be with you any foreign god;
you are not to worship an alien god.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾I am Adonai your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth, and I will fill it.’

¹²⁽¹¹⁾“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Isra’el would have none of me.
¹³⁽¹²⁾So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to live by their own plans.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾How I wish my people would listen to me,
that Isra’el would live by my ways!
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
¹⁶⁽¹⁵⁾Those who hate Adonai would cringe before him,
while [Isra’el’s] time would last forever.
¹⁷⁽¹⁶⁾They would be fed with the finest wheat,
and I would satisfy you with honey from the rocks.”

82 ⁽⁰⁾A psalm of Asaf:

⁽¹⁾Elohim [God] stands in the divine assembly;
there with the elohim [judges], he judges:
²“How long will you go on judging unfairly,
favoring the wicked? (Selah)
³Give justice to the weak and fatherless!
Uphold the rights of the wretched and poor!
⁴Rescue the destitute and needy;
deliver them from the power of the wicked!”

⁵They don’t know, they don’t understand,
they wander about in darkness;
meanwhile, all the foundations of the earth
are being undermined.

⁶“My decree is: ‘You are elohim [gods, judges],
sons of the Most High all of you.
⁷Nevertheless, you will die like mortals;
like any prince, you will fall.’”

⁸Rise up, Elohim, and judge the earth;
for all the nations are yours.

83 ⁽⁰⁾A song. A psalm of Asaf:

²⁽¹⁾God, don’t remain silent!
Don’t stay quiet, God, or still;
³⁽²⁾because here are your enemies, causing an uproar;
those who hate you are raising their heads,
⁴⁽³⁾craftily conspiring against your people,
consulting together against those you treasure.

⁵⁽⁴⁾They say, “Come, let’s wipe them out as a nation;
let the name of Isra’el be remembered no more!”
⁶⁽⁵⁾With one mind they plot their schemes;
the covenant they have made is against you —
⁷⁽⁶⁾the tents of Edom and the Yishma‘elim,
Mo’av and the Hagrim,
⁸⁽⁷⁾G’val, ‘Amon and ‘Amalek,
P’leshet with those living in Tzor; (Selah)
⁹⁽⁸⁾Ashur too is allied with them,
to reinforce the descendants of Lot.

¹⁰⁽⁹⁾Do to them as you did to Midyan,
to Sisra and Yavin at Vadi Kishon —
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾they were destroyed at ‘Ein-Dor
and became manure for the ground.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾Make their leaders like ‘Orev and Ze’ev,
all their princes like Zevach and Tzalmuna,
¹³⁽¹²⁾who said, “Let’s take possession
of God’s meadows for ourselves.”

¹⁴⁽¹³⁾My God, make them like whirling dust,
like chaff driven by the wind.
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾Like fire burning up the forest,
like a flame that sets the mountains ablaze,
¹⁶⁽¹⁵⁾drive them away with your storm,
terrify them with your tempest.
¹⁷⁽¹⁶⁾Fill their faces with shame,
so that they will seek your name, Adonai.
¹⁸⁽¹⁷⁾Let them be ashamed and fearful forever;
yes, let them perish in disgrace.
¹⁹⁽¹⁸⁾Let them know that you alone,
whose name is Adonai,
are the Most High over all the earth.

84 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. On the gittit. A psalm of the sons of Korach:

²⁽¹⁾How deeply loved are your dwelling-places,
Adonai-Tzva’ot!
³⁽²⁾My soul yearns, yes, faints with longing
for the courtyards of Adonai;
my heart and body cry for joy
to the living God.

⁴⁽³⁾As the sparrow finds herself a home
and the swallow her nest, where she lays her young,
[so my resting-place is] by your altars,
Adonai-Tzva’ot, my king and my God.

⁵⁽⁴⁾How happy are those who live in your house;
they never cease to praise you! (Selah)
⁶⁽⁵⁾How happy the man whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are [pilgrim] highways.

⁷⁽⁶⁾Passing through the [dry] Baka Valley,
they make it a place of springs,
and the early rain clothes it with blessings.
⁸⁽⁷⁾They go from strength to strength
and appear before God in Tziyon.

⁹⁽⁸⁾Adonai, God of armies, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Ya‘akov. (Selah)
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾God, see our shield [the king];
look at the face of your anointed.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾Better a day in your courtyards
than a thousand [days elsewhere].
Better just standing at the door of my God’s house
than living in the tents of the wicked.

¹²⁽¹¹⁾For Adonai, God, is a sun and a shield;
Adonai bestows favor and honor;
he will not withhold anything good
from those whose lives are pure.

¹³⁽¹²⁾Adonai-Tzva’ot,
how happy is anyone who trusts in you!

85 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. A psalm of the sons of Korach:

²⁽¹⁾Adonai, you have shown favor to your land;
you have restored the fortunes of Ya‘akov,
³⁽²⁾taken away the guilt of your people,
pardoned all their sin, (Selah)
⁴⁽³⁾withdrawn all your wrath,
turned from your fierce anger.

⁵⁽⁴⁾Restore us, God of our salvation,
renounce your displeasure with us.
⁶⁽⁵⁾Are you to stay angry with us forever?
Will your fury last through all generations?

⁷⁽⁶⁾Won’t you revive us again,
so your people can rejoice in you?
⁸⁽⁷⁾Show us your grace, Adonai;
grant us your salvation.

⁹⁽⁸⁾I am listening. What will God, Adonai, say?
For he will speak peace to his people,
to his holy ones —
but only if they don’t relapse into folly.
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾His salvation is near for those who fear him,
so that glory will be in our land.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾Grace and truth have met together;
justice and peace have kissed each other.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾Truth springs up from the earth,
and justice looks down from heaven.
¹³⁽¹²⁾Adonai will also grant prosperity;
our land will yield its harvest.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾Justice will walk before him
and make his footsteps a path.

Tehillim 81-85

Orthodox Jewish Bible

81 (For the one directing. On the gittis. Of Asaph.) Sing with joy unto Elohim uzeinu (our strength); make a joyful noise unto Elohei Ya’akov.

²⁽³⁾Begin a song, and bring hither the tambourine, the pleasant kinnor (harp) with the nevel (lyre).

³⁽⁴⁾Blow the shofar at Rosh Chodesh, at the full moon, on Yom Chageinu.

⁴⁽⁵⁾For this was a chok for Yisroel, and a mishpat of the Elohei Ya’akov.

⁵⁽⁶⁾This He ordained in Yosef for an edut, when He went out over Eretz Mitzra- yim; where a language of one not known did I hear.

⁶⁽⁷⁾I removed his shekhem (shoulder) from the burden; his hands were delivered from the basket.

⁷⁽⁸⁾In tzoros thou calledst, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the seter ra’am (secret place of thunder); I tested thee at the waters of Merivah. Selah.

⁸⁽⁹⁾Shema, O My people, and I will admonish thee; O Yisroel, if thou wilt pay heed unto Me;

⁹⁽¹⁰⁾There shall no el zar (strange, foreign g-d) be among thee; neither shalt thou worship any el nechar (foreign g-d).

¹⁰⁽¹¹⁾I am Hashem Eloheicha Who brought thee out of Eretz Mitzrayim; open thy mouth wide, I will fill it.

¹¹⁽¹²⁾But My people would not pay heed to My voice; and Yisroel would have none of Me.

¹²⁽¹³⁾So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ sherirut (stubbornness); and they walked in their own mo’atzot (counsels).

¹³⁽¹⁴⁾Oh that My people had paid heed unto Me, and Yisroel had walked in My ways!

¹⁴⁽¹⁵⁾I should soon have subdued their oyevim and turned My Yad (hand, power) against their adversaries.

¹⁵⁽¹⁶⁾The haters of Hashem should have cringed before Him; their et (time, fate, punishment) endures l’olam.

¹⁶⁽¹⁷⁾He would have fed them also with the finest of the chittah (wheat); and with devash (honey) from the Tzur would I have satisfied thee.

82 (Mizmor of Asaph.) Elohim standeth in the Adat El; He judgeth among the elohim [See Ps 82:6 and Yn 10:34].

²Ad mosai (How long) will ye judge unjustly, and show partiality to the resha’im? Selah.

³Defend the poor and yatom (fatherless); do justice to the oni (afflicted) and needy.

⁴Deliver the poor and needy; rid them out of the yad resha’im.

⁵They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in choshech; all the foundations of ha’aretz are shaken.

⁶I have said, elohim ye are; and all of you are Bnei HaElyon.

⁷But ye shall die like adam, and fall like one of the sarim (princes).

⁸Arise, Elohim, judge ha’aretz; for Thou shalt inherit kol HaGoyim.

83 (Shir. Mizmor of Asaph). Keep not Thou silent, O Elohim; hold not Thy peace, and be not still, O El (G-d).

²⁽³⁾For, hinei, Thine oyevim are in tumult; and they that hate Thee have lifted up the rosh.

³⁽⁴⁾They lay out a crafty conspiracy against Amecha (Thy people), and plot against Tzefunecha (Thy sheltered, protected, hidden ones).

⁴⁽⁵⁾They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a goy (nation); that the shem Yisroel may be no more remembered.

⁵⁽⁶⁾For they have plotted together with one lev; they cut a brit against Thee;

⁶⁽⁷⁾The ohalim Edom, and the Yishm’elim; of Moav, and the Hagerim;

⁷⁽⁸⁾Geval, and Ammon, and Amalek; Peleshet (Philistia) with the inhabitants of Tzor;

⁸⁽⁹⁾Assyria also is joined with them; they are the zero’a (strong arm) of the Bnei Lot. Selah.

⁹⁽¹⁰⁾Do unto them as unto Midyan; as to Sisra, as to Yavin, at the Wadi Kishon [see Shofetim chp 4-8];

¹⁰⁽¹¹⁾Which became shmad at Ein-Dor; they became like domen (dung, fertilizer) for ha’adamah.

¹¹⁽¹²⁾Make their nobles like Orev, and like Ze’ev; yes, all their princes like Zevach, and like Tzalmunna;

¹²⁽¹³⁾Who said, Let us take possession for ourselves of the pasturelands of Elohim.

¹³⁽¹⁴⁾O Elohai, make them like galgal (tumbleweed); like chaff before the ruach (wind).

¹⁴⁽¹⁵⁾As the eish consumeth the forest, and as the flame setteth ablaze harim;

¹⁵⁽¹⁶⁾So pursue them with Thy sa’ar (tempest, storm), and make them afraid with Thy storm.

¹⁶⁽¹⁷⁾Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek Shimcha, Hashem.

¹⁷⁽¹⁸⁾Let them be put to shame and dismayed adei ad (forever); yes, let them perish in disgrace;

¹⁸⁽¹⁹⁾Let them have da’as that Thou alone, Shimcha Hashem, art Elyon al kol HaAretz.

84 (For the one directing. On the gittit. Mizmor for the Bnei Korach). How yedidot (lovely) are thy mishkanot, O Hashem Tzva’os!

²⁽³⁾My nefesh longeth, yea, even fainteth for the khatzrot Hashem (courts of Hashem); my lev and my basar crieth out for El Chai.

³⁽⁴⁾Yea, the sparrow hath found a bais, and the swallow a ken (nest) for herself, where she may lay her young, even Thine mizbechot, O Hashem Tzva’os Malki v’Elohai.

⁴⁽⁵⁾Ashrei are they that dwell in Thy Beis [Hamikdash]; they are ever praising Thee. Selah.

⁵⁽⁶⁾Ashrei is the adam whose oz (strength) is in Thee; in whose lev are their highways [to Tziyon; see verse 7(8)].

⁶⁽⁷⁾Who passing through the valley of Baca (weeping) make it a ma’ayon (spring, fountain); the moreh (early rain) also covereth it with berakhot (blessings).

⁷⁽⁸⁾They go from strength to strength, every one of them who appeareth before Elohim in Tziyon.

⁸⁽⁹⁾O Hashem Elohim Tzva’os, hear my tefillah; give ear, O Elohei Ya’akov. Selah.

⁹⁽¹⁰⁾Behold mogineinu (our shield), O Elohim, and look upon the face of Thine Moshiach.

¹⁰⁽¹¹⁾For a yom in Thy khatzrot is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the Beis Elohai, than to dwell in the ohalim resha (tents of wickedness).

¹¹⁽¹²⁾For Hashem Elohim is a shemesh and a mogen; Hashem will give chen and kavod; no good thing will He withhold from the holekhim b’tamim (them that walk uprightly).

¹²⁽¹³⁾O Hashem Tzva’os, ashrei is the adam bote’ach (man that trusteth, hath confident faith) in Thee.

85 (For the one directing. Of the Bnei Korach. Mizmor.) Hashem, Thou hast been favorable unto Thy land; Thou hast brought back the captivity of Ya’akov.

²⁽³⁾Thou hast forgiven the avon (iniquity) of Amecha (Thy people); Thou hast covered all their chattat (sin). Selah.

³⁽⁴⁾Thou hast withdrawn all Thy wrath; Thou hast turned from Thine charon af.

⁴⁽⁵⁾Turn us, O Elohei Yisheinu (G-d of our salvation), and put away Thine ka’as (anger) toward us.

⁵⁽⁶⁾Wilt Thou be angry with us l’olam? Wilt Thou draw out Thine anger l’dor vador?

⁶⁽⁷⁾Wilt Thou not revive us again; that Amecha (Thy people) may rejoice in Thee?

⁷⁽⁸⁾Show us chasdecha (Thy chesed, kindness, steadfast love), Hashem, and grant us Thy salvation.

⁸⁽⁹⁾I will hear what HaEl Hashem will say; for He will speak shalom unto His people, and to His Chasidim; but let them not turn again to folly.

⁹⁽¹⁰⁾Surely His salvation is karov (near) them that fear Him; that kavod may dwell in Artzeinu (our land).

¹⁰⁽¹¹⁾Chesed and emes will meet together; tzedek and shalom will kiss each other.

¹¹⁽¹²⁾Emes shall titzmach (sprout forth [T.N. Tzemach—Branch, Sprout—is the code name for Moshiach and the coming Tzemach’s Namesake in Zecharyah 6:11-12 is Yehoshua, Yeshua—see Ezra 3:8; Zech 3:8; 6:11-12. Go to Jer 23:5 and look at all the references. These are among the most important Scriptures in the Bible because it is here that the saving Name of Moshiach Tzidkeinu is prophetically communicated for salvation; the word Tzemach means “Moshiach” and it is the code word par excellence for Moshiach in the post-Exilic references in the minor prophets; this veiled reference to Moshiach was necessary in the situation of the Return under Persian rule when talk of a coming king was a delicate matter.]) out of ha’aretz; and tzedek shall look down from Shomayim.

¹²⁽¹³⁾Yes, Hashem shall give that which is tov; and Artzeinu (our land) shall yield her yevul (increase, produce).

¹³⁽¹⁴⁾Tzedek shall go before Him; and shall set us in the Derech of His steps.

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

Psalm 81-85 Complete Jewish Bible

Tehillim 81-85 Orthodox Jewish Bible

Psalm 81-85

Complete Jewish Bible

Tehillim 81-85

Orthodox Jewish Bible