Chapter 79
In this
psalm, Asaph thanks G-d 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!
1. A psalm by Asaph. O G-d,
nations have entered Your inheritance, they defiled Your Holy Sanctuary; they
turned Jerusalem into heaps of rubble. 2. They 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. 3. They spilled their blood like water around
Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury [them]. 4. We became the object of
disgrace to our neighbors, ridicule and scorn to those around us. 5. Until
when, O Lord! Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? 6.
Pour Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You, upon the kingdoms that
do not call Your Name, 7. for they devoured Jacob and desolated His abode. 8.
Do not recall our former sins; let Your mercies come swiftly towards us, for we
have fallen very low. 9. Help us, G-d of our deliverance, for the sake of the
glory of Your Name; save us and pardon our sins for the sake of Your Name. 10.
Why should the nations say, "Where is their G-d?" Let there be known
among the nations, before our eyes, the retribution of the spilled blood of
Your servants. 11. Let the groan of the prisoner come before You; liberate
those condemned to death, as befits the greatness of Your strength. 12. Repay
our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, for the disgrace with which they
reviled You, O Lord. 13. And 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 G-d to draw near to us as in days of old.
1. For the Conductor, on
the shoshanim, 1 a testimony by Asaph, a psalm. 2. Listen, O Shepherd
of Israel, Who leads Joseph like sheep. Appear, You Who is enthroned upon the
cherubim. 3. Arouse Your might before Ephraim, Benjamin and Menashe, for it is
upon You to save us. 4. Return us, O G-d; cause Your countenance to shine, that
we may be saved. 5. O Lord, G-d of Hosts, until when will You fume at the
prayer of Your people? 6. You fed them bread of tears, and gave them tears to
drink in great measure. 7. You have made us an object of strife to our
neighbors; our enemies mock to themselves. 8. Return us, O G-d of Hosts; cause
Your countenance to shine, that we may be saved. 9. You brought a vine out of
Egypt; You drove out nations and planted it. 10. You cleared space before it;
it took root and filled the land. 11. Mountains were covered by its shade, and
its branches became mighty cedars. 12. It sent forth its branches till the sea,
and its tender shoots to the river. 13. Why did You breach its fences, so that
every passerby plucked its fruit? 14. The boars of the forest ravage it, and
the creepers of the field feed upon it. 15. O G-d of Hosts, please return! Look
down from heaven and see, and be mindful of this vine, 16. and of the
foundation which Your right hand has planted, and the son whom You strengthened
for Yourself. 17. It is burned by fire, cut down; they perish at the rebuke of
Your Presence. 18. Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the
son of man whom You strengthened for Yourself. 19. Then we will not withdraw
from You; revive us, and we will proclaim Your Name. 20. O Lord, G-d 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.
1. For the Conductor,
upon the gittit,1 by Asaph. 2. Sing joyously to G-d, our strength;
sound the shofar to the G-d of Jacob. 3. Raise your voice in song, sound the
drum, the pleasant harp, and the lyre. 4. Blow the shofar on the New Month, on
the designated day of our Holy Day; 5. for it is a decree for Israel, a ruling
of the G-d of Jacob. 6. He 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. 7. I
have taken his shoulder from the burden; his hands were removed from the pot.2 8. In 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. 9. Hear, My people, and I will admonish you;
Israel, if you would only listen to Me! 10. You shall have no alien G-d within
you, nor shall you bow down to a foreign deity. 11. I am the Lord your G-d who
brought you up from the land of Egypt; open wide your mouth, [state all your
desires,] and I shall grant them. 12. But My people did not heed My voice;
Israel did not want [to listen to] Me. 13. So I sent them away for the
willfulness of their heart, for following their [evil] design. 14. If only My
people would listen to Me, if Israel would only walk in My ways, 15. then I
would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their oppressors.
16. Those who hate the Lord would shrivel before Him, and the time [of their
retribution] shall be forever. 17. I would feed him [Israel] with the finest of
wheat, and sate you with honey from the rock.
TIKKUN HAKLALI
Chapter 77
19. The sound of Your
thunder was in the rolling wind; lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled
and quaked. 20. Your way was through the sea, Your path through the mighty waters;
and Your footsteps were not known. 21. You led Your people like a flock, by the hand of
Moses and Aaron.
PSALM 89
28. I will also make him [My] firstborn, supreme over the kings of the
earth.
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