Psalm 83-84

Easy-to-Read Version

One of Asaph’s songs of praise.

83 God, don’t keep quiet!
    Don’t close your ears!
    Please say something, God.
²Your enemies are getting ready to do something.
    Those who hate you will soon attack.
³They are making secret plans against your people.
    Your enemies are discussing plans against the people you love.
⁴They say, “Come, let us destroy them completely.
    Then no one will ever again remember the name Israel.”
⁵God, they have all joined together.
    They have united against you.
^6-7Their army includes the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moabites, and Hagar’s descendants,
    the people of Byblos, Ammon, and Amalek,
    the Philistines, and the people of Tyre.
⁸Even the Assyrians have joined them.
    They have made Lot’s descendants very powerful. Selah

⁹God, defeat them just as you defeated Midian.
    Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
¹⁰You destroyed the enemy at Endor,
    and their bodies rotted on the ground.
¹¹Punish their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb.
    Do what you did to Zebah and Zalmunna.
¹²They said, “Let’s make this land our own—
    these fields of grass that belong to God!”
¹³Make them like weeds blown by the wind.
    Scatter them the way wind scatters straw.
¹⁴Be like a fire that destroys a forest
    or like a flame that sets the hills on fire.
¹⁵Chase them away with your blasts of wind;
    frighten them with your storms.
¹⁶Lord, cover them with shame
    until they come to you for help.
¹⁷May they be forever ashamed and afraid.
    Disgrace and defeat them.
¹⁸Then they will know that your name is Yahweh—
    that you alone are the Lord.
They will know that you are God Most High,
    ruler over all the earth!

To the director: On the gittith. A song of praise from the Korah family.

84 Lord All-Powerful, the place where you live is so beautiful!
²Lord, I cannot wait to enter your Temple.
    I am so excited!
Every part of me cries out to be with the Living God.
³Lord All-Powerful, my King, my God,
    even the birds have found a home in your Temple.
They make their nests near your altar,
    and there they have their babies.
⁴Great blessings belong to those who live at your Temple!
    They continue to praise you. Selah

⁵Great blessings belong to those who depend on you for strength!
    Their heart’s desire is to make the trip to your Temple.
⁶They travel through Baca Valley,
    which God has made into a place of springs.
    Autumn rains form pools of water there.
⁷The people travel from town to town^[a]
    on their way to Zion, where they will meet with God.

⁸Lord God All-Powerful, listen to my prayer.
God of Jacob, listen to me. Selah

⁹God, watch over the king, our protector.^[b]
    Be kind to him, the one you have chosen.
¹⁰One day in your Temple is better
    than a thousand days anywhere else.
Serving as a guard at the gate of my God’s house is better
    than living in the homes of the wicked.
¹¹The Lord God is our protector and glorious king.^[c]
    He blesses us with kindness and honor.
The Lord freely gives every good thing
    to those who do what is right.
¹²Lord All-Powerful,
    great blessings belong to those who trust in you!

Footnotes

Psalm 84:7 town to town Or “wall to wall.”
Psalm 84:9 the king, our protector Literally, “our shield.” This line could also mean “God, our Shield, look!”
Psalm 84:11 protector and glorious king Literally, “sun and shield.”