July 3

Psalms 80:1 — 85:13

To the director upon The Lilies. A reminder. Of Asaph. A melody.

80 O Shepherd of Israel, do give ear,

      You who are conducting Joseph just like a flock.

      O you who are sitting upon the cherubs, do beam forth.

 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh do rouse up your mightiness,

      And do come to our salvation.

 3 O God, bring us back;

      And light up your face, that we may be saved.

 4 O Jehovah God of armies, how long must you fume against the prayer of your people?

 5 You have made them eat the bread of tears,

      And you keep making them drink tears upon tears in [great] measure.

 6 You set us for strife to our neighbors,

      And our very enemies keep deriding as they please.

 7 O God of armies, bring us back;

      And light up your face, that we may be saved.

 8 You proceeded to make a vine depart from Egypt.

      You kept driving out the nations, that you might plant it.

 9 You made a clearing before it, that it might take root and fill the land.

10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,

       And the cedars of God with its boughs.

11 It gradually sent forth its boughs as far as the sea,

       And to the River its twigs.

12 Why have you broken down its stone walls,

       And [why] have all those passing by on the road plucked at it?

13 A boar out of the woods keeps eating it away,

       And the animal throngs of the open field keep feeding upon it.

14 O God of armies, return, please;

       Look down from heaven and see and take care of this vine,

15 And the stock that your right hand has planted,

       And [look] upon the son whom you have made strong for yourself.

16 It is burned with fire, cut off.

       From the rebuke of your face they perish.

17 Let your hand prove to be upon the man of your right hand,

       Upon the son of mankind whom you have made strong for yourself,

18 And we shall not turn back from you.

      May you preserve us alive, that we may call upon your own name.

19 O Jehovah God of armies, bring us back;

       Light up your face, that we may be saved.

To the director upon the Gittith. Of Asaph.

81 O cry out joyfully, YOU people, to God our strength;

      Shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.

 2 Strike up a melody and take a tambourine,

      The pleasant harp together with the stringed instrument.

 3 On the new moon, BLOW the horn;

      On the full moon, for the day of our festival.

 4 For it is a regulation for Israel,

      A judicial decision of the God of Jacob.

 5 As a reminder he laid it upon Joseph himself,

      When he was going forth over the land of Egypt.

      A language that I did not know I kept hearing.

 6 “I turned aside his shoulder even from [the] burden;

      His own hands got to be free even from the basket.

 7 In distress you called, and I proceeded to rescue you;

      I began to answer you in the concealed place of thunder.

      I went examining you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

 8 Hear, O my people, and I will bear witness against you,

      O Israel, if you will listen to me.

 9 Among you there will prove to be no strange god;

      And you will not bow down to a foreign god.

10 I, Jehovah, am your God,

       The One bringing you up out of the land of Egypt.

       Open your mouth wide, and I shall fill it.

11 But my people has not listened to my voice;

       And Israel itself has not showed any willingness toward me.

12 And so I let them go in the stubbornness of their heart;

       They went walking in their own counsels.

13 O that my people were listening to me,

       O that Israel itself would walk in my very ways!

14 Their enemies I would easily subdue,

       And against their adversaries I would turn my hand.

15 As for those intensely hating Jehovah, they will come cringing to him,

       And their time will prove to be to time indefinite.

16 And he will keep feeding him off the fat of the wheat,

       And out of the rock I shall satisfy you with honey itself.”

A melody of Asaph.

82 God is stationing himself in the assembly of the Divine One;

      In the middle of the gods he judges:

 2 “How long will YOU keep on judging with injustice

      And showing partiality to the wicked themselves? Selah.

 3 Be judges for the lowly one and the fatherless boy.

      To the afflicted one and the one of little means do justice.

 4 Provide escape for the lowly one and the poor one;

      Out of the hand of the wicked ones deliver [them].”

 5 They have not known, and they do not understand;

      In darkness they keep walking about;

      All the foundations of the earth are made to totter.

 6 “I myself have said, ‘YOU are gods,

      And all of YOU are sons of the Most High.

 7 Surely YOU will die just as men do;

      And like any one of the princes YOU will fall!’”

 8 Do rise up, O God, do judge the earth;

      For you yourself should take possession of all the nations.

A song. A melody of Asaph.

83 O God, let there be no silence on your part;

      Do not keep speechless, and do not stay quiet, O Divine One.

 2 For, look! your very enemies are in an uproar;

      And the very ones intensely hating you have raised [their] head.

 3 Against your people they cunningly carry on their confidential talk;

      And they conspire against your concealed ones.

 4 They have said: “Come and let us efface them from being a nation,

      That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

 5 For with the heart they have unitedly exchanged counsel;

      Against you they proceeded to conclude even a covenant,

 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,

 7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,

      Philistia together with the inhabitants of Tyre.

 8 Also, Assyria itself has become joined with them;

      They have become an arm to the sons of Lot. Selah.

 9 Do to them as to Midian, as to Sisera,

      As to Jabin at the torrent valley of Kishon.

10 They were annihilated at En-dor;

       They became manure for the ground.

11 As for their nobles, make these like Oreb and like Zeeb,

       And like Zebah and like Zalmunna all their dukes,

12 Who have said: “Let us take possession of the abiding places of God for ourselves.”

13 O my God, make them like a thistle whirl,

       Like stubble before a wind.

14 Like a fire that burns up the forest

       And like a flame that scorches the mountains,

15 In just that way may you pursue them with your tempest

       And may you disturb them with your own storm wind.

16 Fill their faces with dishonor,

       That people may search for your name, O Jehovah.

17 O may they be ashamed and be disturbed for all times,

       And may they become abashed and perish;

18 That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah,

       You alone are the Most High over all the earth.

For the director upon the Gittith. Of the sons of Korah. A melody.

84 How lovely your grand tabernacle is,

      O Jehovah of armies!

 2 My soul has yearned and also pined away for the courtyards of Jehovah.

      My own heart and my very flesh cry out joyfully to the living God.

 3 Even the bird itself has found a house,

      And the swallow a nest for herself,

      Where she has put her young ones—

      Your grand altar, O Jehovah of armies, my King and my God!

 4 Happy are those dwelling in your house!

      They still keep on praising you. Selah.

 5 Happy are the men whose strength is in you,

      In whose heart are the highways.

 6 Passing along through the low plain of the baca bushes,

      They turn it into a spring itself;

      Even with blessings the instructor enwraps himself.

 7 They will walk on from vital energy to vital energy;

      Each one appears to God in Zion.

 8 O Jehovah God of armies, do hear my prayer;

      Do give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.

 9 O shield of ours, see, O God,

      And look upon the face of your anointed one.

10 For a day in your courtyards is better than a thousand [elsewhere].

       I have chosen to stand at the threshold in the house of my God

       Rather than to move around in the tents of wickedness.

11 For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield;

       Favor and glory are what he gives.

       Jehovah himself will not hold back anything good from those walking in faultlessness.

12 O Jehovah of armies, happy is the man that is trusting in you.

For the director. Of the sons of Korah. A melody.

85 You have taken pleasure, O Jehovah, in your land;

      You have brought back the ones taken captive of Jacob.

 2 You have pardoned the error of your people;

      You have covered all their sin. Selah.

 3 You have controlled all your fury;

      You have turned back from the heat of your anger.

 4 Gather us back, O God of our salvation,

      And break off your vexation with us.

 5 Is it to time indefinite that you will be incensed at us?

      Will you draw out your anger to generation after generation?

 6 Will you yourself not enliven us again,

      That your people themselves may rejoice in you?

 7 Show us, O Jehovah, your loving-kindness,

      And your salvation may you give to us.

 8 I will hear what the [true] God Jehovah will speak,

      For he will speak peace to his people and to his loyal ones,

      But let them not return to self-confidence.

 9 Surely his salvation is near to those fearing him,

      For glory to reside in our land.

10 As for loving-kindness and trueness, they have met each other;

       Righteousness and peace—they have kissed each other.

11 Trueness itself will sprout out of the very earth,

       And righteousness itself will look down from the very heavens.

12 Also, Jehovah, for his part, will give what is good,

       And our own land will give its yield.

13 Before him righteousness itself will walk,

       And it will make a way by his steppings.