‏ Psalms 81

For the leader of the music. On the Gittith. A psalm of Asaph.

1 Sing 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."
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