Psalm 81 | New International Reader’s Version

For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of Asaph.

1 Sing joyfully to God! He gives us strength. Give a loud shout to the God of Jacob! 2 Let the music begin. Play the tambourines. Play sweet music on harps and lyres. 3 Blow the ram’s horn on the day of the New Moon feast. Blow it again when the moon is full and the Feast of Booths begins. 4 This is an order given to Israel. It is a law of the God of Jacob. 5 He gave it as a covenant law for the people of Joseph. It was given when God went out to punish Egypt. There I heard a voice I didn’t recognise. 6 The voice said, ‘I removed the load from your shoulders. I set your hands free from carrying heavy baskets. 7 You called out when you were in trouble, and I saved you. I answered you out of a thundercloud. I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 8 ‘My people, listen and I will warn you. Israel, I wish you would listen to me! 9 Don’t have anything to do with the gods of other nations. Don’t bow down and worship any god other than me. 10 I am the LORD your God. I brought you up out of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things. 11 ‘But my people wouldn’t listen to me. Israel wouldn’t obey me. 12 So I let them go their own stubborn way. I let them follow their own sinful plans. 13 ‘I wish my people would listen to me! I wish Israel would live as I want them to live! 14 Then I would quickly bring their enemies under control. I would use my power against their attackers. 15 Those who hate me would bow down to me in fear. They would be punished for ever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with the sweetest honey.’

English Standard Version

Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me

1 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.* Of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! 2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. 4 For it is a statute for Israel, a rule* of the God of Jacob. 5 He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over* the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known: 6 “I relieved your* shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. 7 In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. 13 Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! 14 I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. 15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. 16 But he would feed you* with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Psalm 81 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of Asaph.

Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me