Chapter 79
In this psalm, Asaph thanks God for sparing the people and directing His wrath upon the wood and stones (of the Temple). Still he cries bitterly, mourning the immense destruction: The place where the High Priest alone was allowed to enter-and only on Yom Kippur-is now so desolate that foxes stroll through it!
1A psalm by Asaph. O God, nations have entered Your inheritance, they defiled Your Holy Sanctuary; they turned Jerusalem into heaps of rubble.
2They have rendered the corpses of Your servants as food for the birds of heaven, the flesh of Your pious ones for the beasts of the earth.
3They spilled their blood like water around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury [them].
4We became the object of disgrace to our neighbors, ridicule and scorn to those around us.
5Until when, O Lord! Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
6Pour Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You, upon the kingdoms that do not call Your Name,
7for they devoured Jacob and desolated His abode.
8Do not recall our former sins; let Your mercies come swiftly towards us, for we have fallen very low.
9Help us, God of our deliverance, for the sake of the glory of Your Name; save us and pardon our sins for the sake of Your Name.
10Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let there be known among the nations, before our eyes, the retribution of the spilled blood of Your servants.
11Let the groan of the prisoner come before You; liberate those condemned to death, as befits the greatness of Your strength.
12Repay our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, for the disgrace with which they reviled You, O Lord.
13And we, Your people, the flock of Your pasture, will thank You forever; for all generations we will recount Your praise.
Chapter 80
An awe-inspiring prayer imploring God to draw near to us as in days of old.
1For the Conductor, on the shoshanim, a testimony by Asaph, a psalm.
2Listen, O Shepherd of Israel, Who leads Joseph like sheep. Appear, You Who is enthroned upon the cherubim.
3Arouse Your might before Ephraim, Benjamin and Menashe, for it is upon You to save us.
4Return us, O God; cause Your countenance to shine, that we may be saved.
5O Lord, God of Hosts, until when will You fume at the prayer of Your people?
6You fed them bread of tears, and gave them tears to drink in great measure.
7You have made us an object of strife to our neighbors; our enemies mock to themselves.
8Return us, O God of Hosts; cause Your countenance to shine, that we may be saved.
9You brought a vine out of Egypt; You drove out nations and planted it.
10You cleared space before it; it took root and filled the land.
11Mountains were covered by its shade, and its branches became mighty cedars.
12It sent forth its branches till the sea, and its tender shoots to the river.
13Why did You breach its fences, so that every passerby plucked its fruit?
14The boars of the forest ravage it, and the creepers of the field feed upon it.
15O God of Hosts, please return! Look down from heaven and see, and be mindful of this vine,
16and of the foundation which Your right hand has planted, and the son whom You strengthened for Yourself.
17It is burned by fire, cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your Presence.
18Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of man whom You strengthened for Yourself.
19Then we will not withdraw from You; revive us, and we will proclaim Your Name.
20O Lord, God of Hosts, return us; cause Your countenance to shine that we may be saved.
Chapter 81
This psalm was chanted in the Holy Temple on Rosh Hashanah, a day on which many miracles were wrought for Israel.
1For the Conductor, upon the gittit, by Asaph.
2Sing joyously to God, our strength; sound the shofar to the God of Jacob.
3Raise your voice in song, sound the drum, the pleasant harp, and the lyre.
4Blow the shofar on the New Month, on the designated day of our Holy Day;
5for it is a decree for Israel, a ruling of the God of Jacob.
6He ordained it as a precept for Joseph when he went forth over the land of Egypt; I heard a language which I did not know.
7I have taken his shoulder from the burden; his hands were removed from the pot.
8In distress you called and I delivered you; [you called] in secret, and I answered you with thunderous wonders; I tested you at the waters of Merivah, Selah.
9Hear, My people, and I will admonish you; Israel, if you would only listen to Me!
10You shall have no alien god within you, nor shall you bow down to a foreign deity.
11I am the Lord your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open wide your mouth, [state all your desires,] and I shall grant them.
12But My people did not heed My voice; Israel did not want [to listen to] Me.
13So I sent them away for the willfulness of their heart, for following their [evil] design.
14If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would only walk in My ways,
15then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their oppressors.
16Those who hate the Lord would shrivel before Him, and the time [of their retribution] shall be forever.
17I would feed him [Israel] with the finest of wheat, and sate you with honey from the rock.
Chapter 82
This psalm admonishes those judges who feign ignorance of the law, dealing unjustly with the pauper or the orphan, while coddling the rich and pocketing their bribes.
1A psalm by Asaph. God stands in the council of judges; among the judges He renders judgment:
2How long will you judge wickedly, ever showing partiality toward the evildoers?
3Render justice to the needy and the orphan; deal righteously with the poor and the destitute.
4Rescue the needy and the pauper; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5But they do not know, nor do they understand; they go about in darkness, [therefore] all the foundations of the earth tremble.
6I said that you are angels, supernal beings, all of you;
7but you will die as mortals, you will fall like any prince.
8Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You possess all the nations.
Tehillim Ohel Yoseph Yitzchok,
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