Psalm 83
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 83
Prayer for Judgment on Israel’s Foes
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not keep silent;
do not hold your peace or be still, O God!(A)
2 Even now your enemies are in tumult;
those who hate you have raised their heads.(B)
3 They lay crafty plans against your people;
they consult together against those you protect.(C)
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”(D)
5 They conspire with one accord;
against you they make a covenant—(E)
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,(F)
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined them;
they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as to Sisera and Jabin at the Wadi Kishon,(G)
10 who were destroyed at En-dor,
who became dung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,(H)
12 who said, “Let us take the pastures of God
for our own possession.”(I)
13 O my God, make them like whirling dust,[a]
like chaff before the wind.(J)
14 As fire consumes the forest,
as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,(K)
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your hurricane.(L)
16 Fill their faces with shame,
so that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace.(M)
18 Let them know that you alone,
whose name is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.(N)
Footnotes
- 83.13 Or a tumbleweed
Psalm 83
The Message
83 1-5 God, don’t shut me out;
don’t give me the silent treatment, O God.
Your enemies are out there whooping it up,
the God-haters are living it up;
They’re plotting to do your people in,
conspiring to rob you of your precious ones.
“Let’s wipe this nation from the face of the earth,”
they say; “scratch Israel’s name off the books.”
And now they’re putting their heads together,
making plans to get rid of you.
6-8 Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia and the Tyrians,
And now Assyria has joined up,
Giving muscle to the gang of Lot.
9-12 Do to them what you did to Midian,
to Sisera and Jabin at Kishon Brook;
They came to a bad end at Endor,
nothing but dung for the garden.
Cut down their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb,
their princes to nothings like Zebah and Zalmunna,
With their empty brags, “We’re grabbing it all,
grabbing God’s gardens for ourselves.”
13-18 My God! I’ve had it with them!
Blow them away!
Tumbleweeds in the desert waste,
charred sticks in the burned-over ground.
Knock the breath right out of them, so they’re gasping
for breath, gasping, “God.”
Bring them to the end of their rope,
and leave them there dangling, helpless.
Then they’ll learn your name: “God,”
the one and only High God on earth.
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.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson