Psalm 79-81
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 79
Faith amid Confusion
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,
desecrated Your holy temple,
and turned Jerusalem into ruins.(B)
2 They gave the corpses of Your servants
to the birds of the sky for food,
the flesh of Your godly ones
to the beasts of the earth.(C)
3 They poured out their blood
like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.(D)
4 We have become an object of reproach
to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule
to those around us.(E)
5 How long, Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy keep burning like fire?(F)
6 Pour out Your wrath on the nations
that don’t acknowledge You,
on the kingdoms that don’t call on Your name,(G)
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.(H)
8 Do not hold past sins[a] against us;
let Your compassion come to us quickly,
for we have become weak.(I)
9 God of our salvation, help us(J)—
for the glory of Your name.
Deliver us and atone for[b] our sins,
because of Your name.(K)
10 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”(L)
Before our eyes,
let vengeance for the shed blood of Your servants
be known among the nations.(M)
11 Let the groans of the prisoners reach You;
according to Your great power,
preserve those condemned to die.(N)
12 Pay back sevenfold to our neighbors(O)
the reproach they have hurled at You, Lord.(P)
13 Then we, Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,(Q)
will thank You forever;
we will declare Your praise
to generation after generation.(R)
Psalm 80
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”[c] A testimony of Asaph.(S) A psalm.
1 Listen, Shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock;(T)
You who sit enthroned on the cherubim,(U)
rise up(V)
2 before Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.[d](W)
Rally Your power and come to save us.(X)
3 Restore us, God;
look on us with favor,
and we will be saved.(Y)
4 Lord God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
with Your people’s prayers?(Z)
5 You fed them the bread of tears
and gave them a full measure[e]
of tears to drink.(AA)
6 You make us quarrel with our neighbors;
our enemies make fun of us.(AB)
7 Restore us, God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(AC)
8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and planted it.(AD)
9 You cleared a place for it;
it took root and filled the land.(AE)
10 The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars[f] with its branches.(AF)
11 It sent out sprouts toward the Sea[g]
and shoots toward the River.[h](AG)
12 Why have You broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?(AH)
13 The boar from the forest tears it
and creatures of the field feed on it.(AI)
14 Return, God of Hosts.(AJ)
Look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
15 the root[i] Your right hand has planted,
the shoot[j] that You made strong for Yourself.(AK)
16 It was cut down and burned up;[k]
they[l] perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.(AL)
17 Let Your hand be with the man at Your right hand,
with the son of man
You have made strong for Yourself.(AM)
18 Then we will not turn away from You;
revive us, and we will call on Your name.(AN)
19 Restore us, Yahweh, the God of Hosts;(AO)
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(AP)
Psalm 81
A Call to Obedience
For the choir director: on the Gittith. Of Asaph.(AQ)
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.(AR)
2 Lift up a song—play the tambourine,
the melodious lyre, and the harp.(AS)
3 Blow the horn on the day of our feasts[m][n]
during the new moon(AT)
and during the full moon.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
a judgment of the God of Jacob.(AU)
5 He set it up as an ordinance for Joseph
when He went throughout[o] the land of Egypt.(AV)
I heard an unfamiliar language:
6 “I relieved his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were freed from carrying the basket.(AW)
7 You called out in distress, and I rescued you;
I answered you from the thundercloud.(AX)
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.(AY)
8 Listen, My people, and I will admonish you.
Israel, if you would only listen to Me!(AZ)
9 There must not be a strange god among you;
you must not bow down to a foreign god.(BA)
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.(BB)
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.(BC)
11 “But My people did not listen to Me;
Israel did not obey Me.(BD)
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own plans.(BE)
13 If only My people would listen to Me
and Israel would follow My ways,(BF)
14 I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn My hand against their foes.”(BG)
15 Those who hate the Lord
would pretend submission to Him;(BH)
their doom would last forever.(BI)
16 But He would feed Israel[p] with the best wheat.
“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”(BJ)
Footnotes
- Psalm 79:8 Or hold the sins of past generations
- Psalm 79:9 Or and wipe out, or and forgive
- Psalm 80:1 Possibly a tune; Pss 45; 60; 69
- Psalm 80:2 This is the marching order for the camp of Israel.
- Psalm 80:5 Lit a one-third measure
- Psalm 80:10 Lit the cedars of God
- Psalm 80:11 = the Mediterranean
- Psalm 80:11 = the Euphrates
- Psalm 80:15 Hb obscure
- Psalm 80:15 Or son
- Psalm 80:16 Lit burned with fire
- Psalm 80:16 Or may they
- Psalm 81:3 Lit feast
- Psalm 81:3 Either Passover or Tabernacles
- Psalm 81:5 LXX, Syr, Jer read out of
- Psalm 81:16 Lit him
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