Psalms 81

¹ [For the choirmaster On the . . . of Gath Of Asaph] Sing for joy to God our strength, shout in triumph tothe God of Jacob.

² Strike up the music, beat the tambourine, play the melodious harp and the lyre;

³ blow the trumpet for the new month, for the ful moon, for our feast day!

⁴ For Israel has this statute, a decision of the God of Jacob,

⁵ a decree he imposed on Joseph, when he went to war against Egypt. I heard a voice unknown to me,

⁶ 'I freed his shoulder from the burden, his hands were able to lay aside the labourer's basket.

⁷ You cried out in your distress, so I rescued you. 'Hidden in the storm, I answered you, I tested you atthe waters of Meribah.Pause

⁸ Listen, my people, while I give you warning; Israel, if only you would listen to me!

⁹ 'You shal have no strange gods, shall worship no alien god.

¹⁰ I, Yahweh, am your God, who brought you here from Egypt, you have only to open your mouth forme to fil it.

¹¹ 'My people would not listen to me, Israel would have none of me.

¹² So I left them to their stubborn selves, to fol ow their own devices.

¹³ 'If only my people would listen to me, if only Israel would walk in my ways,

¹⁴ at one stroke I would subdue their enemies, turn my hand against their opponents.

¹⁵ 'Those who hate Yahweh would woo his favour, though their doom was sealed for ever,

¹⁶ while I would feed him on pure wheat, would give you your fil of honey from the rock.'