Old/New Testament
Psalm 81[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] by Asaph.
81 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
2 Sing[c] a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument.
3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,[d]
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.[e]
4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel;[f]
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt.[g]
I heard a voice I did not recognize.[h]
6 It said:[i] “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket.[j]
7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.[k]
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[l] (Selah)
8 I said,[m] ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn[n] you.
O Israel, if only you would obey me![o]
9 There must be[p] no other[q] god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’
11 But my people did not obey me;[r]
Israel did not submit to me.[s]
12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires;[t]
they did what seemed right to them.[u]
13 If only my people would obey me![v]
If only Israel would keep my commands![w]
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack[x] their adversaries.”
15 (May those who hate the Lord[y] cower in fear[z] before him.
May they be permanently humiliated.)[aa]
16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat,[ab]
and would satisfy your appetite[ac] with honey from the rocky cliffs.”[ad]
Psalm 82[ae]
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God stands in[af] the assembly of El;[ag]
in the midst of the gods[ah] he renders judgment.[ai]
2 He says,[aj] “How long will you make unjust legal decisions
and show favoritism to the wicked?[ak] (Selah)
3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless.[al]
Vindicate the oppressed and suffering.
4 Rescue the poor and needy.
Deliver them from the power[am] of the wicked.
5 They[an] neither know nor understand.
They stumble around[ao] in the dark,
while all the foundations of the earth crumble.[ap]
6 I thought,[aq] ‘You are gods;
all of you are sons of the Most High.’[ar]
7 Yet you will die like mortals;[as]
you will fall like all the other rulers.”[at]
8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!
For you own[au] all the nations.
Psalm 83[av]
A song, a psalm of Asaph.
83 O God, do not be silent.
Do not ignore us.[aw] Do not be inactive, O God.
2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;
those who hate you are hostile.[ax]
3 They carefully plot[ay] against your people,
and make plans to harm[az] the ones you cherish.[ba]
4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation.[bb]
Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
5 Yes,[bc] they devise a unified strategy;[bd]
they form an alliance[be] against you.
6 It includes[bf] the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,[bg]
7 Gebal,[bh] Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has allied with them,
lending its strength to the descendants of Lot.[bi] (Selah)
9 Do to them as you did to Midian[bj]—
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.[bk]
10 They were destroyed at Endor;[bl]
their corpses were like manure[bm] on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,[bn]
and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna,[bo]
12 who said,[bp] “Let’s take over[bq] the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like dead thistles,[br]
like dead weeds blown away by[bs] the wind.
14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,
or the flames that consume the mountainsides,[bt]
15 chase them with your gale winds,
and terrify[bu] them with your windstorm.
16 Cover[bv] their faces with shame,
so they might seek[bw] you,[bx] O Lord.
17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified.[by]
May they die in shame.[bz]
18 Then they will know[ca] that you alone are the Lord,[cb]
the Most High[cc] over all the earth.
19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted![a] They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God—harshness toward those who have fallen, but[b] God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness;[c] otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And even they—if they do not continue in their unbelief—will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters,[d] so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel[e] until the full number[f] of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so[g] all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them,[h]
when I take away their sins.”[i]
28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now[j] receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.[k]
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways!
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?[l]
35 Or who has first given to God,[m]
that God[n] needs to repay him?[o]
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.
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