Psalms 79–81

1The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

2They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.

3They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.

4We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.

5How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

6Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that refuse to call on Your name,

7for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.

8Do not hold past sins against us; let Your compassion come quickly, for we are brought low.

9Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us and atone for our sins, for the sake of Your name.

10Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants.

11May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.

12Pay back into the laps of our neighbors sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.

13Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever; from generation to generation we will declare Your praise.

1Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

2before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally Your mighty power and come to save us.

3Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

4O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?

5You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.

6You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.

7Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

8You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.

9You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.

10The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches.

11It sent out its branches to the Sea, and its shoots toward the River.

12Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit?

13The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

14Return, O God of Hosts, we pray! Look down from heaven and see! Attend to this vine—

15the root Your right hand has planted, the son You have raised up for Yourself.

16Your vine has been cut down and burned; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

17Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.

18Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your name.

19Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

1Sing for joy to God our strength; make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.

2Lift up a song, strike the tambourine, play the sweet-sounding harp and lyre.

3Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and at the full moon on the day of our Feast.

4For this is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

5He ordained it as a testimony for Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt, where I heard an unfamiliar language:

6“I relieved his shoulder of the burden; his hands were freed from the basket.

7You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

8Hear, O My people, and I will warn you: O Israel, if only you would listen to Me!

9There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god.

10I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.

11But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.

12So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

13If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,

14how soon I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes!

15Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.

16But I would feed you the finest wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”