መዝሙር 81

If only my people would listen

¹For the music director. On the gittith. Of Asaph. ²Sing out with joy to God, our strength; \q raise a shout to the God of Jacob! ³Strike up the music and beat the tambourine; \q play the sweet lyre along with the harp. ⁴At the new moon, blow the ram’s horn, \q and at the full moon, for our feast day, ⁵for this is a law laid down for Israel, \q a rule given by the God of Jacob. ⁶He made it a solemn charge for Joseph \q when he went out against the land of Egypt. \q Then I heard a voice I had never known:^{ab 7}“I lifted the heavy load from their shoulders; \q their hands let go of the brick basket. ⁸When you were in trouble you cried out, and I set you free; \q I answered you from the hidden place of the thunder; \q I put you to the test at the waters of Meribah. Selah ⁹Listen, my people, and I will give you a solemn warning; \q Israel, oh, that you would listen to me! ¹⁰You must have no strange god among you; \q you must not bow down to any foreign god. ¹¹I am the LORD your God, \q the one who led you up out of Egypt’s land. \q Open your mouth as wide as you can, and I will fill it. ¹²But my people refused to listen to my voice; \q Israel would have nothing to do with me. ¹³So I left them to their stubborn hearts, \q and they followed their own schemes. ¹⁴If only my people were listening to me, \q if only Israel would walk in my paths, ¹⁵I would soon bring their enemies low \q and turn my hand against their attackers. ¹⁶Those who hate the LORD would come cringing to him, \q and their doom would never end.^{c 17}He would give them the finest wheat to eat, \q and I would fill you up with honey from the rock.”