Psalm 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.

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 full 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 laborer's basket.

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.

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

9 'You shall 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 for me to fill 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 follow 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 favor, though their doom was sealed for ever,

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