Old/New Testament
God’s goodness and Israel’s waywardness.
For the Chief Musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing aloud unto God our strength:
Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, and [a]bring hither the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast-day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony,
When he went out [b]over the land of Egypt,
Where I heard [c]a language that I knew not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden:
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee;
I answered thee in the secret place of thunder;
I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee:
O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!
9 There shall no strange god be in thee;
Neither shalt thou worship any foreign god.
10 I am Jehovah thy God,
Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt:
Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people hearkened not to my voice;
And Israel would none of me.
12 So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart,
That they might walk in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people would hearken unto 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 Jehovah should [d]submit themselves unto him:
But their time should endure for ever.
16 He would feed them also with the [e]finest of the wheat;
And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.
Unjust judgments rebuked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God standeth in the congregation of God;
He judgeth among the gods.
2 How long will ye judge unjustly,
And respect the persons of the wicked? Selah
3 Judge the [f]poor and fatherless:
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the [g]poor and needy:
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither do they understand;
They walk to and fro in darkness:
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, Ye are gods,
And all of you sons of the Most High.
7 Nevertheless ye shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For thou shalt inherit all the nations.
God implored to confound his enemies.
A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.
83 O God, keep not thou silence:
Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult;
And they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
3 They take crafty counsel against thy people,
And consult together against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation;
That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent;
Against thee do they make a covenant:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab, and the [h]Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre:
8 Assyria also is joined with them;
They have [i]helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Do thou unto them as unto Midian,
As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
10 Who perished at Endor,
Who became as dung for the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb;
Yea, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;
12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves in possession
The [j]habitations of God.
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust;
As stubble before the wind.
14 As the fire that burneth the forest,
And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with thy tempest,
And terrify them with thy storm.
16 Fill their faces with confusion,
That they may seek thy name, O Jehovah.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever;
Yea, let them be confounded and perish;
18 That they may know that [k]thou alone, whose name is Jehovah,
Art the Most High over all the earth.
19 Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee. 22 Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God’s goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; 26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written,
[a]There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer;
He shall turn away [b]ungodliness from Jacob:
27 [c]And this is [d]my covenant unto them,
When I shall take away their sins.
28 As touching the [e]gospel, they are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of. 30 For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, 31 even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. 32 For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.
33 O the depth [f]of the riches [g]both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory [h]for ever. Amen.
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