PSALM 85

You, Lord, showed favor to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 
 You forgave the iniquity of your people
    and covered all their sins.
 You set aside all your wrath
    and turned from your fierce anger.

 Restore us again, God our Savior,
    and put away your displeasure toward us. 

 Will you be angry with us forever?
    Will you prolong your anger through all generations? 

 Will you not revive us again,
    that your people may rejoice in you? 

 Show us your unfailing love, Lord,
    and grant us your salvation.

 I will listen to what God the Lord says;
    he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
    but let them not turn to folly. 

 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
    that his glory may dwell in our land.

 Love and faithfulness meet together;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other. 

 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
    and righteousness looks down from heaven. 

 The Lord will indeed give what is good,
    and our land will yield its harvest. 

 Righteousness goes before him
    and prepares the way for his steps.

PSALM 84

How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty! 
 My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God. 
 Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God. 
 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.

 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. 

 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 

 They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
    listen to me, God of Jacob. 

 Look on our shield,  O God;
    look with favor on your anointed one.

 Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 

 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.

 Lord Almighty,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you.

PSALM 83

O God, do not remain silent;
    do not turn a deaf ear,
    do not stand aloof, O God. 
 See how your enemies growl,
    how your foes rear their heads. 
 With cunning they conspire against your people;
    they plot against those you cherish. 
 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
    so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”

 With one mind they plot together;
    they form an alliance against you— 

 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    of Moab and the Hagrites, 

 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia, with the people of Tyre. 

 Even Assyria has joined them
    to reinforce Lot’s descendants.

 Do to them as you did to Midian,
    as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, 

 who perished at Endor
    and became like dung on the ground. 

 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
    all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 

 who said, “Let us take possession
    of the pasturelands of God.”

 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
    like chaff before the wind. 

 As fire consumes the forest
    or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, 

 so pursue them with your tempest
    and terrify them with your storm. 

 Cover their faces with shame, Lord,
    so that they will seek your name.

May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
    may they perish in disgrace. 

 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
    that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

PSALM 82

God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 

“How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 

Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
    maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. 

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

 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    they walk around in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you; 
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
    and fall like any prince.”

Rise up, O God, judge the earth;
    for all the nations belong to you!

PSALM 81

Sing for joy to God our strength;
    shout aloud to the God of Jacob! 
 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
    play the melodious harp and lyre.

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

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

 When God went out against Egypt,
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:

 “I removed the burden from their shoulders;
    their hands were set free from the basket. 

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

 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel! 

 You shall have no foreign god among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PSALM 80

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
    before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
    and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

O Lord God of hosts,
    how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
    our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
    it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches;
it sent out its branches to the sea,
    and its shoots to the River.
Why then have you broken down its walls,
    so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
    and all that move in the field feed on it.

Turn again, O God of hosts;
    look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
     the stock that your right hand planted.
They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;
    may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
    the one whom you made strong for yourself.
Then we will never turn back from you;
    give us life, and we will call on your name.

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

PSALM 79

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
 they have defiled your holy temple,
 they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
They have left the dead bodies of your servants
    as food for the birds of the sky,
    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
They have poured out blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there is no one to bury the dead.
We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
    of scorn and derision to those around us.

How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out your wrath on the nations
    that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
    that do not call on your name;
for they have devoured Jacob
    and devastated his homeland.

Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
    for we are in desperate need.
Help us, God our Savior,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
    for your name’s sake.
Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”

Before our eyes, make known among the nations
    that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times
    the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will praise you forever;
from generation to generation
    we will proclaim your praise.