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Psalm 81

1  Sing merrily to God our strength, ♦︎
   shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
2  Take up the song and sound the timbrel, ♦︎
   the tuneful lyre with the harp.
3  Blow the trumpet at the new moon, ♦︎
   as at the full moon, upon our solemn feast day.
4  For this is a statute for Israel, ♦︎
   a law of the God of Jacob,
5  The charge he laid on the people of Joseph, ♦︎
   when they came out of the land of Egypt.
6  I heard a voice I did not know, that said: ♦︎
   ‘I eased their shoulder from the burden;
      their hands were set free from bearing the load.
7  ‘You called upon me in trouble and I delivered you; ♦︎
   I answered you from the secret place of thunder
      and proved you at the waters of Meribah.
8  ‘Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: ♦︎
   O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9  ‘There shall be no strange god among you; ♦︎
   you shall not worship a foreign god.
10  ‘I am the Lord your God,
      who brought you up from the land of Egypt; ♦︎
   open your mouth wide and I shall fill it.’
11  But my people would not hear my voice ♦︎
   and Israel would not obey me.
12  So I sent them away in the stubbornness of their hearts, ♦︎
   and let them walk after their own counsels.
13  O that my people would listen to me, ♦︎
   that Israel would walk in my ways!
14  Then I should soon put down their enemies ♦︎
   and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15  Those who hate the Lord would be humbled before him, ♦︎
   and their punishment would last for ever.
16  But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat ♦︎
   and with honey from the rock would I satisfy them.

⁹ ‘All those things have vanished like a shadow,
and like a rumour that passes by;
¹⁰ like a ship that sails through the billowy water,
and when it has passed no trace can be found,
no track of its keel in the waves;
¹¹ or as, when a bird flies through the air,
no evidence of its passage is found;
the light air, lashed by the beat of its pinions
and pierced by the force of its rushing flight,
is traversed by the movement of its wings,
and afterwards no sign of its coming is found there;
¹² or as, when an arrow is shot at a target,
the air, thus divided, comes together at once,
so that no one knows its pathway.
¹³ So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be,
and we had no sign of virtue to show,
but were consumed in our wickedness.’
¹⁴ Because the hope of the ungodly is like thistledown^* carried by the wind,
and like a light frost^* driven away by a storm;
it is dispersed like smoke before the wind,
and it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day.

The Reward of the Righteous

¹⁵ But the righteous live for ever,
and their reward is with the Lord;
the Most High takes care of them.
¹⁶ Therefore they will receive a glorious crown
and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord,
because with his right hand he will cover them,
and with his arm he will shield them.
¹⁷ The Lord^* will take his zeal as his whole armour,
and will arm all creation to repel^* his enemies;
¹⁸ he will put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and wear impartial justice as a helmet;
¹⁹ he will take holiness as an invincible shield,
²⁰ and sharpen stern wrath for a sword,
and creation will join with him to fight against his frenzied foes.
²¹ Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim,
and will leap from the clouds to the target, as from a well-drawn bow,
²² and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult;
the water of the sea will rage against them,
and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them;
²³ a mighty wind will rise against them,
and like a tempest it will winnow them away.
Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth,
and evildoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.

16The plans of the mind belong to mortals,
   but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
² All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes,
   but the Lord weighs the spirit.
³ Commit your work to the Lord,
   and your plans will be established.
⁴ The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
   even the wicked for the day of trouble.
⁵ All those who are arrogant are an abomination to the Lord;
   be assured, they will not go unpunished.
⁶ By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
   and by the fear of the Lord one avoids evil.
⁷ When the ways of people please the Lord,
   he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them.
⁸ Better is a little with righteousness
   than large income with injustice.
⁹ The human mind plans the way,
   but the Lord directs the steps.
¹⁰ Inspired decisions are on the lips of a king;
   his mouth does not sin in judgement.
¹¹ Honest balances and scales are the Lord’s;
   all the weights in the bag are his work.
¹² It is an abomination to kings to do evil,
   for the throne is established by righteousness.
¹³ Righteous lips are the delight of a king,
   and he loves those who speak what is right.
¹⁴ A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,
   and whoever is wise will appease it.
¹⁵ In the light of a king’s face there is life,
   and his favour is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.
¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold!
   To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

39 He also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. ⁴¹Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s^* eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴²Or how can you say to your neighbour,^* “Friend,^* let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s^* eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

43 ‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; ⁴⁴for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

The Two Foundations

46 ‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord”, and do not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. ⁴⁸That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.^{* 49}But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.’