Psalm 79-84

English Standard Version

How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

79 O God, ^(B)the nations have come into your ^(C)inheritance;
    they have defiled your ^(D)holy temple;
    they have ^(E)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
²They have given ^(F)the bodies of your servants
    to the birds of the heavens for food,
    the flesh of your ^(G)faithful to ^(H)the beasts of the earth.
³They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there was ^(I)no one to bury them.
⁴We have become ^(J)a taunt to our neighbors,
    ^(K)mocked and derided by those around us.

⁵^(L)How long, O Lord? Will you be angry ^(M)forever?
    Will your ^(N)jealousy ^(O)burn like fire?
⁶^(P)Pour out your anger on the nations
    that ^(Q)do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
    that ^(R)do not call upon your name!
⁷For they have devoured Jacob
    and laid waste his habitation.

⁸^(S)Do not remember against us ^(T)our former iniquities;^[a]
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are ^(U)brought very low.
⁹^(V)Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and ^(W)atone for our sins,
    for your ^(X)name's sake!
¹⁰^(Y)Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
Let ^(Z)the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
    be known among the nations before our eyes!

¹¹Let ^(AA)the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    according to your great power, preserve those ^(AB)doomed to die!
¹²Return ^(AC)sevenfold into the ^(AD)lap of our neighbors
    the ^(AE)taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
¹³But we your people, the ^(AF)sheep of your pasture,
    will ^(AG)give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Restore Us, O God

To the choirmaster: according to ^(AH)Lilies. A Testimony. Of ^(AI)Asaph, a Psalm.

80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead ^(AJ)Joseph like ^(AK)a flock.
You who are ^(AL)enthroned upon the cherubim, ^(AM)shine forth.
²    Before ^(AN)Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
^(AO)stir up your might
    and ^(AP)come to save us!

³^(AQ)Restore us,^[b] O God;
^(AR)let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁴O ^(AS)Lord God of hosts,
    ^(AT)how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
⁵You have fed them with ^(AU)the bread of tears
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
⁶^(AV)You make us an object of contention for our ^(AW)neighbors,
    and our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷^(AX)Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁸You brought ^(AY)a vine out of Egypt;
    you ^(AZ)drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹You ^(BA)cleared the ground for it;
    it took deep root and filled the land.
¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹It sent out its branches to ^(BB)the sea
    and its shoots to ^(BC)the River.^[c]
¹²Why then have you ^(BD)broken down its walls,
    so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
¹³^(BE)The boar from the forest ravages it,
    and all that move in the field feed on it.

¹⁴Turn again, O God of hosts!
    ^(BF)Look 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.
¹⁶They have ^(BG)burned it with fire; they have ^(BH)cut it down;
    may they perish at ^(BI)the rebuke of your face!
¹⁷But ^(BJ)let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
    the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
¹⁸Then we shall not turn back from you;
    ^(BK)give us life, and we will call upon your name!

¹⁹^(BL)Restore 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 ^(BM)The Gittith.^[d] Of ^(BN)Asaph.

81 ^(BO)Sing aloud to God our strength;
    ^(BP)shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
²Raise a song; sound ^(BQ)the tambourine,
    ^(BR)the sweet lyre with ^(BS)the harp.
³Blow the trumpet at ^(BT)the new moon,
    at the full moon, on our feast day.

⁴For it is a statute for Israel,
    a rule^[e] of the God of Jacob.
⁵He made it ^(BU)a decree in ^(BV)Joseph
    when he ^(BW)went out over^[f] the land of Egypt.
^(BX)I hear a language ^(BY)I had not known:
⁶“I ^(BZ)relieved your^[g] shoulder of ^(CA)the burden;
    your hands were freed from the basket.
⁷In distress you ^(CB)called, and I delivered you;
    I ^(CC)answered you in the secret place of thunder;
    I ^(CD)tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
⁸^(CE)Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
⁹There shall be no ^(CF)strange god among you;
    you shall not bow down to a ^(CG)foreign god.
¹⁰^(CH)I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    ^(CI)Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹“But my people did not listen to my voice;
    Israel ^(CJ)would not submit to me.
¹²So I ^(CK)gave them over to their ^(CL)stubborn hearts,
    to follow their own ^(CM)counsels.
¹³^(CN)Oh, that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would ^(CO)walk in my ways!
¹⁴I would soon subdue their enemies
    and ^(CP)turn my hand against their foes.
¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would ^(CQ)cringe toward him,
    and their fate would last forever.
¹⁶But he would feed you^[h] with ^(CR)the finest of the wheat,
    and with ^(CS)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Rescue the Weak and Needy

A Psalm of ^(CT)Asaph.

82 ^(CU)God ^(CV)has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of ^(CW)the gods he ^(CX)holds judgment:
²“How long will you judge unjustly
    and ^(CY)show partiality to ^(CZ)the wicked? Selah
³^(DA)Give justice to ^(DB)the weak and the fatherless;
    ^(DC)maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
⁴^(DD)Rescue the weak and the needy;
    ^(DE)deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

⁵^(DF)They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
^(DG)they walk about in darkness;
^(DH)all the foundations of the earth are ^(DI)shaken.

⁶^(DJ)I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
⁷nevertheless, like men ^(DK)you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”^[i]

⁸^(DL)Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall ^(DM)inherit all the nations!

O God, Do Not Keep Silence

A Song. A Psalm of ^(DN)Asaph.

83 O God, do not keep silence;
    ^(DO)do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
²For behold, your enemies ^(DP)make an uproar;
    those who hate you have ^(DQ)raised their heads.
³They lay ^(DR)crafty plans against your people;
    they consult together against your ^(DS)treasured ones.
⁴They say, “Come, ^(DT)let us wipe them out as a nation;
    let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
⁵For they conspire with one accord;
    against you they make a covenant—
⁶the tents of ^(DU)Edom and ^(DV)the Ishmaelites,
    ^(DW)Moab and ^(DX)the Hagrites,
⁷^(DY)Gebal and ^(DZ)Ammon and ^(EA)Amalek,
    ^(EB)Philistia with the inhabitants of ^(EC)Tyre;
⁸^(ED)Asshur also has joined them;
    they are the strong arm of ^(EE)the children of Lot. Selah

⁹Do to them as you did to ^(EF)Midian,
    as to ^(EG)Sisera and Jabin at ^(EH)the river Kishon,
¹⁰who were destroyed at ^(EI)En-dor,
    who became ^(EJ)dung for the ground.
¹¹Make their nobles like ^(EK)Oreb and Zeeb,
    all their princes like ^(EL)Zebah and Zalmunna,
¹²who said, ^(EM)“Let us take possession for ourselves
    of the pastures of God.”

¹³O my God, make them like ^(EN)whirling dust,^[j]
    like ^(EO)chaff before the wind.
¹⁴As ^(EP)fire consumes the forest,
    as the flame ^(EQ)sets the mountains ablaze,
¹⁵so may you pursue them ^(ER)with your tempest
    and terrify them with your hurricane!
¹⁶^(ES)Fill their faces with shame,
    that they may seek your name, O Lord.
¹⁷Let them be ^(ET)put to shame and dismayed forever;
    let them perish in disgrace,
¹⁸that they may ^(EU)know that you alone,
    ^(EV)whose name is the Lord,
    are ^(EW)the Most High over all the earth.

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to ^(EX)The Gittith.^[k] A Psalm of ^(EY)the Sons of Korah.

84 How ^(EZ)lovely is your ^(FA)dwelling place,
    O Lord of hosts!
²My soul ^(FB)longs, yes, ^(FC)faints
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to ^(FD)the living God.

³Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    ^(FE)my King and my God.
⁴^(FF)Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
    ever ^(FG)singing your praise! Selah

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    ^(FH)in whose heart are the highways to Zion.^[l]
⁶As they go through the Valley of Baca
    they make it a place of springs;
    ^(FI)the early rain also covers it with ^(FJ)pools.
⁷They go ^(FK)from strength to strength;
    each one ^(FL)appears before God in Zion.

⁸O ^(FM)Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
⁹^(FN)Behold our ^(FO)shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!

¹⁰For a day ^(FP)in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be ^(FQ)a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹For the Lord God is ^(FR)a sun and ^(FS)shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
^(FT)No good thing does he withhold
    from those who ^(FU)walk uprightly.
¹²O Lord of hosts,
    ^(FV)blessed is the one who trusts in you!