Psalm 81

New American Standard Bible

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.

For the music director; ^[a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.

81 ^(A)Sing for joy to God our ^(B)strength;
Shout ^(C)joyfully to the ^(D)God of Jacob.
²Raise a song, strike ^(E)the tambourine,
The sweet sounding ^(F)lyre with the ^(G)harp.
³Blow the trumpet at the ^(H)new moon,
At the full moon, on our ^(I)feast day.
⁴For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵He established it as a testimony in Joseph
When he ^[b]^(J)went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a ^(K)language I did not know:

⁶“I ^[c]^(L)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the ^[d]basket.
⁷You ^(M)called in trouble and I rescued you;
I ^(N)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I put you to the test at the ^(O)waters of Meribah. Selah
⁸^(P)Hear, My people, and I will admonish you;
Israel, if you ^(Q)would listen to Me!
⁹There shall be no ^(R)strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship a foreign god.
¹⁰^(S)I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
^(T)Open your mouth wide and I will ^(U)fill it.

¹¹“But My people ^(V)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not ^[e]obey Me.
¹²So I ^(W)gave ^[f]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk by their own plans.
¹³Oh that My people ^(X)would listen to Me,
That Israel would ^(Y)walk in My ways!
¹⁴I would quickly ^(Z)subdue their enemies
And ^(AA)turn My hand against their adversaries.
¹⁵^(AB)Those who hate the Lord would ^(AC)pretend to obey Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
¹⁶^[g]But I would feed you with the ^[h]^(AD)finest of the wheat,
And with ^(AE)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”