Psalms 81

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 [For the choirmaster On the . . . of Gath Of Asaph] Sing for joy to God our strength, shout in triumph tothe God of Jacob.	1 A Psalm of Asaph. God has stood in the synagogue of gods, but, in their midst, he decides between gods.
2 Strike up the music, beat the tambourine, play the melodious harp and the lyre;	2 How long will you judge unjustly and favor the faces of sinners?
3 blow the trumpet for the new month, for the ful moon, for our feast day!	3 Judge for the indigent and the orphan. Do justice to the humble and the poor.
4 For Israel has this statute, a decision of the God of Jacob,	4 Rescue the poor, and free the needy from the hand of the sinner.
5 a decree he imposed on Joseph, when he went to war against Egypt. I heard a voice unknown to me,	5 They did not know and did not understand. They wander in darkness. All the foundations of the earth will be moved.
6 'I freed his shoulder from the burden, his hands were able to lay aside the labourer's basket.	6 I said: You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.
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	7 But you will die like men, and you will fall just like one of the princes.
8 Listen, my people, while I give you warning; Israel, if only you would listen to me!	8 Rise up, O God. Judge the earth. For you will inherit it with all the nations.
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.'