Psalms 81

¹Sing joyfully to God, our strength! Shout with gladness to the God of Jacob!

²Raise a song, and strike the timbrel, The sweet-sounding harp, and the psaltery!

³Blow the trumpet at the new moon; At the full moon, also, on our festal day!

⁴For this is a statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob;

⁵He appointed it as a memorial in Joseph, When he went out of the land of Egypt, Where he heard a language which he knew not.

⁶"I relieved [said he] thy shoulders from their burden; Thy hands were removed from the hod.

⁷Thou didst call in trouble, and I delivered thee; In the secret place of thunder I answered thee; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. [Pause.]

⁸Hear, O my people! and I will admonish thee! O Israel! that thou wouldst hearken to me!

⁹Let there be no strange god within thee, Nor worship thou any foreign god!

¹⁰I Jehovah am thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: Open wide thy mouth, and I will fill it!

¹¹But my people would not listen to my voice, And Israel would not hearken to me.

¹²So I gave them up to the obstinacy of their hearts, And they walked according to their own devices.

¹³"O that my people had hearkened to me! That Israel had walked in my ways!

¹⁴Soon would I have brought low their enemies, And turned my hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵The haters of Jehovah should have become suppliants to them, And their prosperity should have endured for ever.

¹⁶With the finest of the wheat I would have fed them, And with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied them."

¹Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

²Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

³Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

⁴For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

⁵This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.

⁶I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

⁷Thou 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.

⁸Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

⁹There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

¹⁰I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

¹²So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

¹³Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

¹⁴I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

¹⁶He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.