and their subjection would last for ever

 

Office of the Reading, Sunday 2 June 2024

Psalm 81
Solemn renewal of the covenant

See that no one among you has a faithless heart (Hebrews 3:12).

Ring out your joy to God our strength, *
shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.

Raise a song and sound the timbrel, *
the sweet-sounding harp and the lute;
blow the trumpet at the new moon, *
when the moon is full, on our feast.

For this is Israel’s law, *
a command of the God of Jacob.
He imposed it as a law on Joseph, *
when he went out against the land of Egypt.

A voice I did not know said to me: *
“I freed your shoulder from the burden;
your hands were freed from the load. *
You called in distress and I saved you.

I answered, concealed in the storm cloud; *
at the waters of Meribah I tested you.
Listen, my people, to my warning, *
O Israel, if only you would heed!

Let there be no foreign god among you, *
no worship of an alien god.
I am the Lord your God, †
who brought you from the land of Egypt. *
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

But my people did not heed my voice *
and Israel would not obey,
so I left them in their stubbornness of heart *
to follow their own designs.

O that my people would heed me, *
that Israel would walk in my ways!
At once I would subdue their foes, *
turn my hand against their enemies.

The Lord’s enemies would cringe at their feet *
and their subjection would last for ever.
But Israel I would feed with finest wheat *
and fill them with honey from the rock.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.

 

Ara salmi oħra