How Long, O Lord?
A Psalm of yAsaph.
79 O God, zthe nations have come into your ainheritance;
they have defiled your bholy temple;
they have claid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given dthe bodies of your servants
to the birds of the heavens for food,
the flesh of your efaithful to fthe beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was gno one to bury them.
4 We have become ha taunt to our neighbors,
hmocked and derided by those around us.
5 iHow long, O Lord? Will you be angry jforever?
Will your kjealousy lburn like fire?
6 mPour out your anger on the nations
that ndo not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that odo not call upon your name!
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.
8 pDo not remember against us qour former iniquities;1
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are rbrought very low.
9 sHelp us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and tatone for our sins,
for your uname’s sake!
10 vWhy should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let wthe avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes!
11 Let xthe groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those ydoomed to die!
12 Return zsevenfold into the alap of our neighbors
the btaunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
13 But we your people, the csheep of your pasture,
will dgive thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Restore Us, O God
To the choirmaster: according to eLilies. A Testimony. Of fAsaph, a Psalm.
80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead gJoseph like ha flock.
You who are ienthroned upon the cherubim, jshine forth.
2 Before kEphraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
lstir up your might
and mcome to save us!
olet your face shine, that we may be saved!
4 O pLord God of hosts,
qhow long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with rthe bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 sYou make us an object of contention for our sneighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 nRestore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8 You brought ta vine out of Egypt;
you udrove out the nations and planted it.
9 You vcleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to wthe sea
and its shoots to wthe River.2
12 Why then have you xbroken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 yThe boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts!
zLook down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16 They have aburned it with fire; they have acut it down;
may they perish at bthe rebuke of your face!
17 But clet your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18 Then we shall not turn back from you;
dgive us life, and we will call upon your name!
19 eRestore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me
To the choirmaster: according to fThe Gittith.1 Of gAsaph.
81 hSing aloud to God our strength;
ishout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2 Raise a song; sound jthe tambourine,
kthe sweet lyre with kthe harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at lthe new moon,
at the full moon, on our feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule2 of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it ma decree in nJoseph
when he owent out over3 the land of Egypt.
pI hear a language qI had not known:
6 “I rrelieved your4 shoulder of sthe burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you tcalled, and I delivered you;
I uanswered you in the secret place of thunder;
I vtested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 wHear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no xstrange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a yforeign god.
10 zI am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
aOpen your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel bwould not submit to me.
12 So I cgave them over to their dstubborn hearts,
to follow their own ecounsels.
13 fOh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would gwalk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies
and hturn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would icringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you5 with jthe finest of the wheat,
and with khoney from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Rescue the Weak and Needy
A Psalm of lAsaph.
82 mGod nhas taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of pthe gods he qholds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and rshow partiality to sthe wicked? Selah
3 tGive justice to uthe weak and the fatherless;
vmaintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 wRescue the weak and the needy;
xdeliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 yThey have neither knowledge nor understanding,
zthey walk about in darkness;
6 cI said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men dyou shall die,
and fall like any prince.”1
8 eArise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall finherit all the nations!
O God, Do Not Keep Silence
A Song. A Psalm of gAsaph.
83 O God, do not keep silence;
hdo not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 For behold, your enemies imake an uproar;
those who hate you have jraised their heads.
3 They lay kcrafty plans against your people;
they consult together against your ltreasured ones.
4 They say, “Come, mlet us wipe them out as a nation;
let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
5 For they conspire with one accord;
against you they make a covenant—
6 the tents of nEdom and othe Ishmaelites,
7 rGebal and pAmmon and sAmalek,
tPhilistia with the inhabitants of uTyre;
8 vAsshur also has joined them;
they are the strong arm of wthe children of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them as you did to xMidian,
as to ySisera and Jabin at zthe river Kishon,
10 who were destroyed at aEn-dor,
who became bdung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like cOreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like dZebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, e“Let us take possession for ourselves
of the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like fwhirling dust,1
like gchaff before the wind.
14 As hfire consumes the forest,
as the flame isets the mountains ablaze,
15 so may you pursue them jwith your tempest
and terrify them with your hurricane!
16 kFill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be lput to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace,
18 that they may mknow that you alone,
nwhose name is the Lord,
are othe Most High over all the earth.
