Psalms 80; Psalms 81; Psalms 82; Psalms 83; Psalms 84; Psalms 85

1 Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel; hear us, leader of your flock. Seated on your throne above the winged creatures,

2 reveal yourself to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your strength; come and save us!

3 Bring us back, O God! Show us your mercy, and we will be saved!

4 How much longer, Lord God Almighty, will you be angry with your people's prayers?

5 You have given us sorrow to eat, a large cup of tears to drink.

6 You let the surrounding nations fight over our land; our enemies insult us.

7 Bring us back, Almighty God! Show us your mercy, and we will be saved!

8 You brought a grapevine out of Egypt; you drove out other nations and planted it in their land.

9 You cleared a place for it to grow; its roots went deep, and it spread out over the whole land.

10 It covered the hills with its shade; its branches overshadowed the giant cedars.

11 It extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea and as far as the Euphrates River.

12 Why did you break down the fences around it? Now anyone passing by can steal its grapes;

13 wild hogs trample it down, and wild animals feed on it.

14 Turn to us, Almighty God! Look down from heaven at us; come and save your people!

15 Come and save this grapevine that you planted, this young vine you made grow so strong!

16 Our enemies have set it on fire and cut it down; look at them in anger and destroy them!

17 Preserve and protect the people you have chosen, the nation you made so strong.

18 We will never turn away from you again; keep us alive, and we will praise you.

19 Bring us back, Lord God Almighty. Show us your mercy, and we will be saved.

1 Shout for joy to God our defender; sing praise to the God of Jacob!

2 Start the music and beat the tambourines; play pleasant music on the harps and the lyres.

3 Blow the trumpet for the festival, when the moon is new and when the moon is full.

4 This is the law in Israel, an order from the God of Jacob.

5 He gave it to the people of Israel when he attacked the land of Egypt. I hear an unknown voice saying,

6 "I took the burdens off your backs; I let you put down your loads of bricks.

7 When you were in trouble, you called to me, and I saved you. From my hiding place in the storm, I answered you. I put you to the test at the springs of Meribah.

8 Listen, my people, to my warning; Israel, how I wish you would listen to me!

9 You must never worship another god.

10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Open your mouth, and I will feed you.

11 "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not obey me.

12 So I let them go their stubborn ways and do whatever they wanted.

13 How I wish my people would listen to me; how I wish they would obey me!

14 I would quickly defeat their enemies and conquer all their foes.

15 Those who hate me would bow in fear before me; their punishment would last forever.

16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat and satisfy you with wild honey."

1 God presides in the heavenly council; in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision:

2 "You must stop judging unjustly; you must no longer be partial to the wicked!

3 Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans; be fair to the needy and the helpless.

4 Rescue them from the power of evil people.

5 "How ignorant you are! How stupid! You are completely corrupt, and justice has disappeared from the world.

6 "You are gods,' I said; "all of you are children of the Most High.'

7 But you will die like mortals; your life will end like that of any prince."

8 Come, O God, and rule the world; all the nations are yours.

1 O God, do not keep silent; do not be still, do not be quiet!

2 Look! Your enemies are in revolt, and those who hate you are rebelling.

3 They are making secret plans against your people; they are plotting against those you protect.

4 "Come," they say, "let us destroy their nation, so that Israel will be forgotten forever."

5 They agree on their plan and form an alliance against you:

6 the people of Edom and the Ishmaelites; the people of Moab and the Hagrites;

7 the people of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, and of Philistia and Tyre.

8 Assyria has also joined them as a strong ally of the Ammonites and Moabites, the descendants of Lot.

9 Do to them what you did to the Midianites, and to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.

10 You defeated them at Endor, and their bodies rotted on the ground.

11 Do to their leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb; defeat all their rulers as you did Zebah and Zalmunna,

12 who said, "We will take for our own the land that belongs to God."

13 Scatter them like dust, O God, like straw blown away by the wind.

14 As fire burns the forest, as flames set the hills on fire,

15 chase them away with your storm and terrify them with your fierce winds.

16 Cover their faces with shame, O Lord, and make them acknowledge your power.

17 May they be defeated and terrified forever; may they die in complete disgrace.

18 May they know that you alone are the Lord, supreme ruler over all the earth.

1 How I love your Temple, Lord Almighty!

2 How I want to be there! I long to be in the Lord's Temple. With my whole being I sing for joy to the living God.

3 Even the sparrows have built a nest, and the swallows have their own home; they keep their young near your altars, Lord Almighty, my king and my God.

4 How happy are those who live in your Temple, always singing praise to you.

5 How happy are those whose strength comes from you, who are eager to make the pilgrimage to Mount Zion.

6 As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, it becomes a place of springs; the autumn rain fills it with pools.

7 They grow stronger as they go; they will see the God of gods on Zion.

8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty. Listen, O God of Jacob!

9 Bless our king, O God, the king you have chosen.

10 One day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else; I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God than live in the homes of the wicked.

11 The Lord is our protector and glorious king, blessing us with kindness and honor. He does not refuse any good thing to those who do what is right.

12 Lord Almighty, how happy are those who trust in you!

1 Lord, you have been merciful to your land; you have made Israel prosperous again.

2 You have forgiven your people's sins and pardoned all their wrongs.

3 You stopped being angry with them and held back your furious rage.

4 Bring us back, O God our savior, and stop being displeased with us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger never cease?

6 Make us strong again, and we, your people, will praise you.

7 Show us your constant love, O Lord, and give us your saving help.

8 I am listening to what the Lord God is saying; he promises peace to us, his own people, if we do not go back to our foolish ways.

9 Surely he is ready to save those who honor him, and his saving presence will remain in our land.

10 Love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will embrace.

11 Human loyalty will reach up from the earth, and God's righteousness will look down from heaven.

12 The Lord will make us prosperous, and our land will produce rich harvests.

13 Righteousness will go before the Lord and prepare the path for him.