Psalms 80

1 For the chief musician, set to the Shoshannim Eduth style. A psalm of Asaph. Pay attention, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit above the cherubim, shine on us!

[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 In the sight of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your power; 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 God, restore us; make your face shine on us, and we will 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 Yahweh God of hosts, how long will you be angry at your people when they pray?

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 You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in great quantities.

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

6 You make us something for our neighbors to argue over, and our enemies laugh about us 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 God of hosts, restore us; make your face shine on us, and we will 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 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out nations and transplanted 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 You cleared the land for it; it took root and 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 mountains were covered with its shade, the cedars of God by its branches.

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

11 It sent out its branches as far as the sea and its shoots to the Euphrates River.

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

12 Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by along the road pluck its fruit?

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 boars out of the forest ruin it, and the beasts of the field feed on it.

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

14 Turn back, God of hosts; look down from heaven and take notice and take care of 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 This is the root that your right hand planted, the shoot that you made to grow.

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

16 It has been burned and cut down; they perish because of your rebuke.

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

17 May your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.

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

18 Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your 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 Yahweh God of hosts, restore us; make your face shine on us, and we will 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]!