Psalm 81

         

Sing for joy to HASHEM our great and powerful stronghold! Shout to the God of Ya‘akov! Start the music! Clang the cymbals! Tap your foot! Beat the drum! Play the sweet lyre and the lute! Sound the shofar at Rosh-Hodesh and at full moon for the pilgrim feast, because this is a sacred holy law for Isra’el, a ruling of the God of Ya‘akov. HASHEM placed it as a testimony in Y’hosef when he went out against the land of Egypt. I heard a strange and unfamiliar voice say, “I lifted the load from his shoulder; his hands were freed from the [laborer’s] basket. You called out when you were in trouble, and I rescued you; I answered you from the heavens above, from a thundercloud; I tested you at the M’rivah Spring [by saying,] (Selah) “‘Hear, my people, while I give you warning! Isra’el, if you would only listen to me! There is not to be with you any foreign god; you are not to worship an alien god. I am Adonai your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth, and I will fill it.’ "“But my people did not listen to my voice; Isra’el would have none of me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to live by their own plans. How I wish my people would listen to me, that Isra’el would live by my ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate Adonai would cringe before him, while [Isra’el’s] time would last forever.  They would be fed with the finest wheat, and I would satisfy you with honey from the rocks.”