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For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. By Asaph.

81 Sing aloud to God, our strength!
    Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob!
Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine,
    the pleasant lyre with the harp.
Blow the trumpet at the New Moon,
    at the full moon, on our feast day.
For it is a statute for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
He appointed it in Joseph for a covenant,
    when he went out over the land of Egypt,
    I heard a language that I didn’t know.
“I removed his shoulder from the burden.
    His hands were freed from the basket.
You called in trouble, and I delivered you.
    I answered you in the secret place of thunder.
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” Selah.

“Hear, my people, and I will testify to you,
    Israel, if you would listen to me!
There shall be no strange god in you,
    neither shall you worship any foreign god.
10 I am Yahweh, your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people didn’t listen to my voice.
    Israel desired none of me.
12 So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts,
    that they might walk in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
    and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of Yahweh would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
16 But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat.
    I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock.”

Psalm 81

For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.[a]

Sing praises to God, our strength.
    Sing to the God of Jacob.
Sing! Beat the tambourine.
    Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,
    and again at full moon to call a festival!
For this is required by the decrees of Israel;
    it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.
He made it a law for Israel[b]
    when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice say,
“Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
    I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
    I answered out of the thundercloud
    and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude

“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.
    O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
You must never have a foreign god;
    you must not bow down before a false god.
10 For it was I, the Lord your God,
    who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

11 “But no, my people wouldn’t listen.
    Israel did not want me around.
12 So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,
    living according to their own ideas.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me!
    Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
14 How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
    How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;
    they would be doomed forever.
16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
    I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”

Footnotes

  1. 81:Title Hebrew according to the gittith.
  2. 81:5 Hebrew for Joseph.