Psalm 81

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Psalm 81

God’s Appeal to Stubborn Israel

To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph.

¹Sing aloud to God our strength;
    shout for joy to the God of Jacob.^(A)
²Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
    the sweet lyre with the harp.
³Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
    at the full moon, on our festal day.^(B)
⁴For it is a statute for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵He made it a decree in Joseph,
    when he went out over^[a] the land of Egypt.

I hear a voice I had not known:^(C)
⁶“I relieved your^[b] shoulder of the burden;
    your^[c] hands were freed from the basket.^(D)
⁷In distress you called, and I rescued you;
    I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah^(E)
⁸Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!^(F)
⁹There shall be no strange god among you;
    you shall not bow down to a foreign god.^(G)
¹⁰I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.^(H)

¹¹“But my people did not listen to my voice;
    Israel would not submit to me.^(I)
¹²So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
    to follow their own counsels.^(J)
¹³O that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would walk in my ways!^(K)
¹⁴Then I would quickly subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes.^(L)
¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their doom would last forever.
¹⁶I would feed you^[d] with the finest of the wheat,
    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”^(M)

Footnotes

81.5 Or against
81.6 Heb his
81.6 Heb his
81.16 Cn: Heb he would feed him

Psalm 81

Complete Jewish Bible

81 ⁽⁰⁾For the Leader. On the gittit. By Asaf:

²⁽¹⁾Sing for joy to God our strength!
Shout to the God of Ya‘akov!
³⁽²⁾Start the music! Beat the drum!
Play the sweet lyre and the lute!
⁴⁽³⁾Sound the shofar at Rosh-Hodesh
and at full moon for the pilgrim feast,
⁵⁽⁴⁾because this is a law for Isra’el,
a ruling of the God of Ya‘akov.
⁶⁽⁵⁾He placed it as a testimony in Y’hosef
when he went out against the land of Egypt.

I heard an unfamiliar voice say,
⁷⁽⁶⁾“I lifted the load from his shoulder;
his hands were freed from the [laborer’s] basket.
⁸⁽⁷⁾You called out when you were in trouble,
and I rescued you;
I answered you from the thundercloud;
I tested you at the M’rivah Spring [by saying,] (Selah)

⁹⁽⁸⁾“‘Hear, my people, while I give you warning!
Isra’el, if you would only listen to me!
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾There is not to be with you any foreign god;
you are not to worship an alien god.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾I am Adonai your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth, and I will fill it.’

¹²⁽¹¹⁾“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Isra’el would have none of me.
¹³⁽¹²⁾So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to live by their own plans.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾How I wish my people would listen to me,
that Isra’el would live by my ways!
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
¹⁶⁽¹⁵⁾Those who hate Adonai would cringe before him,
while [Isra’el’s] time would last forever.
¹⁷⁽¹⁶⁾They would be fed with the finest wheat,
and I would satisfy you with honey from the rocks.”

Psalm 81

The Message

81 ^1-5A song to our strong God!
    a shout to the God of Jacob!
Anthems from the choir, music from the band,
    sweet sounds from lute and harp,
Trumpets and trombones and horns:
    it’s festival day, a feast to God!
A day decreed by God,
    solemnly ordered by the God of Jacob.
He commanded Joseph to keep this day
    so we’d never forget what he did in Egypt.

I hear this most gentle whisper from One
I never guessed would speak to me:

^6-7“I took the world off your shoulders,
    freed you from a life of hard labor.
You called to me in your pain;
    I got you out of a bad place.
I answered you from where the thunder hides,
    I proved you at Meribah Fountain.

^8-10“Listen, dear ones—get this straight;
    O Israel, don’t take this lightly.
Don’t take up with strange gods,
    don’t worship the popular gods.
I’m God, your God, the very God
    who rescued you from doom in Egypt,
Then fed you all you could eat,
    filled your hungry stomachs.

^11-12“But my people didn’t listen,
Israel paid no attention;
So I let go of the reins and told them, ‘Run!
Do it your own way!’

^13-16“Oh, dear people, will you listen to me now?
    Israel, will you follow my map?
I’ll make short work of your enemies,
    give your foes the back of my hand.
I’ll send the God-haters cringing like dogs,
    never to be heard from again.
You’ll feast on my fresh-baked bread
    spread with butter and rock-pure honey.”

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

The Message (MSG)

Psalm 81 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition