Psalms 80

1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

[Yahweh], you [who lead us like] a shepherd leads his flock [of sheep], listen to us Israeli people. You sit on your throne [in the Very Holy Place in the temple], above the [carvings of] winged creatures.

2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

Show yourself to [the people of the tribes of] Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh! Show us that you are powerful and come and rescue us!

3 Turn us again, O Elohim, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

God, cause our nation to be strong like it was before; be kind to us [IDM] in order that we may be saved [from our enemies.]

4 O YHWH Elohim of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

Yahweh, you who are the commander of the armies of heaven, how long will you be angry with us, your people, when we pray to you?

5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.

[It is as though] the only food and drink that you have given us is a cup full of our tears!

6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.

You have allowed the people-groups that surround us to fight with [each other to decide which part of our land each of them will take]; our enemies laugh at us.

7 Turn us again, O Elohim of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

God, commander of the armies of heaven, cause our nation to be strong like it was before! Be kind to us in order that we may be saved!

8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

[Our ancestors were like] a grapevine [MET] that you brought out of Egypt; you expelled the other people-groups [from this land], and you put your people in their land.

9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

[Like people] clear ground to plant a grapevine [MET], [you cleared out the people who were living in this land for us to live in it]. [Like] the roots of a grapevine go deep down into the ground and spread [MET], [you enabled our ancestors to prosper and start living in towns all over this land].

10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

[Like huge] grapevines cover the hills with their shade and their branches are taller than big cedar [trees] [MET, HYP],

11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

[your people ruled all of Canaan], from the [Mediterranean] Sea [in the west] to the [Euphrates] River [in the east].

12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

So why have you abandoned us and [allowed our enemies to] tear down our walls [RHQ]? [You are like] someone who tears down the fences [around his vineyard], with the result that all [the people] who pass by [can] steal the grapes,

13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

and wild pigs [can] trample [the vines], and wild animals [can also] eat [the grapes].

14 Return, we beseech thee, O Elohim of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

You who are the commander of the armies of heaven, (turn to/stop abandoning) us! Look down from heaven and see [what is happening to] us! Come and rescue [us who are like] [MET] your grapevine,

15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

who are [like] the young vine that you [SYN] planted and caused to grow!

16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

Our enemies have torn down and burned everything in our land; look at them angrily and get rid of them!

17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

But strengthen [us] people whom you have chosen [IDM], [us] Israeli people whom you [previously] caused to be very strong.

18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

When you do that, we will never turn away from you again; (revive us/cause us to be again like we were previously), and [then] we will praise/worship you.

19 Turn us again, O YHWH Elohim of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Yahweh, commander of the armies of heaven, restore us; be kind to us in order that we may be rescued [from our enemies]!