For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.
1Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob![1]2Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.3Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;4this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.5When God went out against Egypt, he established it as a statute for Joseph. I heard an unknown voice say:6‘I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.7In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[2]8Hear me, my people, and I will warn you – if you would only listen to me, Israel!9You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me.10I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.11‘But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.12So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.13‘If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways,14how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!15Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last for ever.16But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’
Psalm 81
English Standard Version
Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me
1To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.[1] Of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! (De 32:43; Ps 8:1; Ps 50:1; Ps 66:1; Ps 84:1)2Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. (Ex 15:20; Ps 71:22)3Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. (Le 23:24; Nu 10:10; Nu 29:1)4For it is a statute for Israel, a rule[2] of the God of Jacob.5He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over[3] the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known: (Ex 11:4; De 28:49; Ps 77:15; Ps 78:5; Ps 78:67; Ps 80:1; Ps 114:1; Ps 122:4; Jer 5:15)6“I relieved your[4] shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. (Ex 1:11; Isa 9:4; Isa 10:27)7In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (Ex 2:23; Ex 14:10; Ex 17:7; Ex 19:19; Nu 20:13; Ps 18:11; Ps 50:15)8Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! (Ps 50:7)9There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. (Ex 20:3; De 32:12; Ps 44:20; Isa 43:12)10I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. (Ex 20:2; Ps 37:3)11“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. (Ex 32:1; De 32:15; De 32:18; Pr 1:25; Pr 1:30)12So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. (De 29:19; Job 8:4; Ps 106:43; Jer 7:24; Mic 6:16; Ac 7:42; Ac 14:16; Ro 1:24; Ro 1:26)13Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! (De 5:29; De 5:33; De 32:29; Isa 48:18)14I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. (Am 1:8)15Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. (Ps 18:44)16But he would feed you[5] with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (De 32:13; De 32:14; Job 29:6; Ps 147:14; Eze 16:19)