Psalm 81

New King James Version

An Appeal for Israel’s Repentance

To the Chief Musician. ^(A)On^[a] an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph.

81 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
²Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.

³Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
⁴For ^(B)this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
⁵This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
^(C)Where I heard a language I did not understand.

⁶“I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
⁷^(D)You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
^(E)I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I ^(F)tested you at the waters of ^[b]Meribah. Selah

⁸“Hear,^(G) O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
⁹There shall be no ^(H)foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
¹⁰^(I)I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
^(J)Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹“But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have ^(K)none of Me.
¹²^(L)So I gave them over to ^[c]their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.

¹³“Oh,^(M) that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
¹⁴I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
¹⁵^(N)The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him,
But their ^[d]fate would endure forever.
¹⁶He would ^(O)have fed them also with ^[e]the finest of wheat;
And with honey ^(P)from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

Footnotes

Psalm 81:1 Heb. Al Gittith
Psalm 81:7 Lit. Strife or Contention
Psalm 81:12 the dictates of their heart
Psalm 81:15 Lit. time
Psalm 81:16 Lit. fat of wheat

Ezekiel 14

New King James Version

Idolatry Will Be Punished

14 Now ^(A)some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. ²And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ³“Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them ^(B)that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. ^(C)Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?

⁴“Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, ⁵that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’

⁶“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and ^(D)turn your faces away from all your abominations. ⁷For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself. ⁸^(E)I will set My face against that man and make him a ^(F)sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. ^(G)Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹“And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord ^(H)have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, ¹¹that the house of Israel may ^(I)no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, ^(J)but that they may be My people and I may be their God,” says the Lord God.’ ”

Judgment on Persistent Unfaithfulness

¹²The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: ¹³“Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its ^(K)supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. ¹⁴^(L)Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves ^(M)by their righteousness,” says the Lord God.

¹⁵“If I cause ^(N)wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ^[a]empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, ¹⁶even ^(O)though these three men were ^[b]in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be ^(P)desolate.

¹⁷“Or if ^(Q)I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I ^(R)cut off man and beast from it, ¹⁸even ^(S)though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.

¹⁹“Or if I send ^(T)a pestilence into that land and ^(U)pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, ²⁰even ^(V)though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹For thus says the Lord God: “How much more it shall be when ^(W)I send My four ^[c]severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it? ²²^(X)Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be ^(Y)brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and ^(Z)you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it. ²³And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing ^(AA)without cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord God.