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Psalm 81 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Psa 81:1

Psa 81:1For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.[fn]

Sing praises to God, our strength.
Sing to the God of Jacob.

Psa 81:2

Psa 81:2Sing! Beat the tambourine.
Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

Psa 81:3

Psa 81:3Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,
and again at full moon to call a festival!

Psa 81:4

Psa 81:4For this is required by the decrees of Israel;
it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.

Psa 81:5

Psa 81:5He made it a law for Israel[fn]
when he attacked Egypt to set us free.
I heard an unknown voice say,

Psa 81:6

Psa 81:6“Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.

Psa 81:7

Psa 81:7You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
I answered out of the thundercloud
and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.
Interlude

Psa 81:8

Psa 81:8“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.
O Israel, if you would only listen to me!

Psa 81:9

Psa 81:9You must never have a foreign god;
you must not bow down before a false god.

Psa 81:10

Psa 81:10For it was I, the LORD your God,
who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

Psa 81:11

Psa 81:11“But no, my people wouldn’t listen.
Israel did not want me around.

Psa 81:12

Psa 81:12So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,
living according to their own ideas.

Psa 81:13

Psa 81:13Oh, that my people would listen to me!
Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!

Psa 81:14

Psa 81:14How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
How soon my hands would be upon their foes!

Psa 81:15

Psa 81:15Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him;
they would be doomed forever.

Psa 81:16

Psa 81:16But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew according to the gittith.
Hebrew for Joseph.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

Psalm Chapter 81 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras