1 For the Leader. On the gittit. By
Asaf: Sing for joy to God our strength! Shout to the God of Ya'akov!
2 Start the music! Beat the drum! Play
the sweet lyre and the lute!
3 Sound the shofar at Rosh-Hodesh and
at full moon for the pilgrim feast,
4 because this is a law for Isra'el, a
ruling of the God of Ya'akov.
5 He placed it as a testimony in
Y'hosef when he went out against the land of Egypt. I heard an unfamiliar
voice say,
6 "I lifted the load from his
shoulder; his hands were freed from the [laborer's] basket.
7 You called out when you were in
trouble, and I rescued you; I answered you from the thundercloud; I tested you
at the M'rivah Spring [by saying,] (Selah)
8 "'Hear, my people, while I give
you warning! Isra'el, if you would only listen to me!
9 There is not to be with you any
foreign god; you are not to worship an alien god.
10 I am ADONAI your God, who brought
you up from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth, and I will fill it.'
11 "But my people did not listen
to my voice; Isra'el would have none of me.
12 So I gave them over to their
stubborn hearts, to live by their own plans.
13 How I wish my people would listen to
me, that Isra'el would live by my ways!
14 I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate ADONAI would cringe
before him, while [Isra'el's] time would last forever.
16 They would be fed with the finest
wheat, and I would satisfy you with honey from the rocks."
