Psalm 82 (A Chapter a Day)

A psalm of Asaph.

¹ God presides in the great assembly;
he gives judgment among the “gods”:

² “How long will you ^[a] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
Selah

³ Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

⁴ Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

⁵ “They know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶ “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’

⁷ But you will die like mere men;
you will fall like every other ruler.”

⁸ Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.

Psalm 81 (A Chapter a Day)

For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph. ^[a]

¹ Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!

² Begin the music, strike the tambourine,
play the melodious harp and lyre.

³ Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;

⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵ He established it as a statute for Joseph
when he went out against Egypt,
where we heard a language we did not understand. ^[b]

⁶ He says, “I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.

⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Selah

⁸ “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you—
if you would but listen to me, O Israel!

⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not bow down to an alien god.

¹⁰ I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

¹¹ “But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.

¹² So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.

¹³ “If my people would but listen to me,
if Israel would follow my ways,

¹⁴ how quickly would I subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!

¹⁵ Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever.

¹⁶ But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”