Psalm 79-80
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 79
Plea for Mercy for Jerusalem
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.(A)
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
to the birds of the air for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.(B)
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.(C)
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.(D)
5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?(E)
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you
and on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name.(F)
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.(G)
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins,
for your name’s sake.(H)
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes.(I)
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die.(J)
12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors
the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!(K)
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.(L)
Psalm 80
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the leader: on Lilies, a Covenant. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth(M)
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!(N)
3 Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.(O)
4 O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?(P)
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.(Q)
6 You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.(R)
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.(S)
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.(T)
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?(U)
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.(V)
14 Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine,(W)
15 the stock that your right hand planted.[b]
16 It has been burned with fire; it has been cut down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.(X)
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.(Y)
18 Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.(Z)
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.