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He made it a decree for Joseph
    when he came out of the land of Egypt.

II

[a]I heard a tongue I did not know:
    “I removed his shoulder from the burden;[b]
    his hands moved away from the basket.(A)
In distress you called and I rescued you;
    I answered you in secret with thunder;
At the waters of Meribah[c] I tested you:(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 81:7 I heard a tongue I did not know: a Temple official speaks the word of God (Ps 81:5b–16), which is authoritative and unlike merely human words (cf. Nm 24:4, 16).
  2. 81:7 I removed his shoulder from the burden: A reference to the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt. The basket: for carrying clay to make bricks, cf. Ex 1:14.
  3. 81:8 Meribah: place of rebellion in the wilderness; cf. Ex 17:7; Nm 20:13.

In distress you called and I rescued you;
    I answered you in secret with thunder;
At the waters of Meribah[a] I tested you:(A) ‘Listen, my people, I will testify against you
Selah
    If only you will listen to me, Israel!(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 81:8 Meribah: place of rebellion in the wilderness; cf. Ex 17:7; Nm 20:13.

10 There shall be no foreign god among you;[a](A)
    you shall not bow down to an alien god.
11 ‘I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
    Open wide your mouth that I may fill it.’

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Footnotes

  1. 81:10 There shall be no foreign god among you: as in Ps 50 and 95, Israel is challenged to obey the first commandment of fidelity to God after the proclamation of the exodus.

14 O that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would walk in my ways,(A)

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17 But Israel I will feed with the finest wheat,
    I will satisfy them with honey from the rock.”(A)

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