Psalms 81

Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me

To the choirmaster: according to aThe Gittith.
Probably a musical or liturgical term
Of cAsaph.

1 dSing aloud to God our strength;
eshout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2Raise a song; sound fthe tambourine,
gthe sweet lyre with hthe harp.
3Blow the trumpet at ithe new moon,
at the full moon, on our feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule
Or just decree
of the God of Jacob.
5He made it ka decree in lJoseph
when he mwent out over
Or against
the land of Egypt.
oI hear a language pI had not known:
6“I qrelieved your
Hebrew his; also next line
shoulder of sthe burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
7In 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!
9There 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.
aaOpen your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel abwould not submit to me.
12So I acgave them over to their adstubborn hearts,
to follow their own aecounsels.
13 afOh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would agwalk in my ways!
14I would soon subdue their enemies
and ahturn my hand against their foes.
15Those who hate the Lord would aicringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16But he would feed you
That is, Israel; Hebrew him
with akthe finest of the wheat,
and with alhoney from the rock I would satisfy you.”
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