81:1
[For the choirmaster On the . . . of Gath Of Asaph] Sing for joy to God our strength, shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.
81:2
Strike up the music, beat the tambourine, play the melodious harp and the lyre;
81:3
blow the trumpet for the new month, for the full moon, for our feast day!
81:4
For Israel has this statute, a decision of the God of Jacob,
81:5
a decree he imposed on Joseph, when he went to war against Egypt. I heard a voice unknown to me,
81:6
'I freed his shoulder from the burden, his hands were able to lay aside the labourer's basket.
81:7
You cried out in your distress, so I rescued you. 'Hidden in the storm, I answered you, I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Pause
81:8
Listen, my people, while I give you warning; Israel, if only you would listen to me!
81:9
'You shall have no strange gods, shall worship no alien god.
81:10
I, Yahweh, am your God, who brought you here from Egypt, you have only to open your mouth for me to fill it.
81:11
'My people would not listen to me, Israel would have none of me.
81:12
So I left them to their stubborn selves, to follow their own devices.
81:13
'If only my people would listen to me, if only Israel would walk in my ways,
81:14
at one stroke I would subdue their enemies, turn my hand against their opponents.
81:15
'Those who hate Yahweh would woo his favour, though their doom was sealed for ever,
81:16
while I would feed him on pure wheat, would give you your fill of honey from the rock.'
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