Good News Translation (GNT)

A Prayer for the Nation’s Deliverance

1 O God, the heathen have invaded your land.

They have desecrated your holy Temple

and left Jerusalem in ruins.

2 They left the bodies of your people for the vultures,

the bodies of your servants for wild animals to eat.

3 They shed your people’s blood like water;

blood flowed like water all through Jerusalem,

and no one was left to bury the dead.

4 The surrounding nations insult us;

they laugh at us and mock us.

5 Lord, will you be angry with us forever?

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

6 Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you,

on the people who do not pray to you.

7 For they have killed your people;

they have ruined your country.

8 Do not punish us for the sins of our ancestors.

Have mercy on us now;

we have lost all hope.

9 Help us, O God, and save us;

rescue us and forgive our sins

for the sake of your own honor.

10 Why should the nations ask us,

“Where is your God?”

Let us see you punish the nations

for shedding the blood of your servants.

11 Listen to the groans of the prisoners,

and by your great power free those who are condemned to die.

12 Lord, pay the other nations back seven times

for all the insults they have hurled at you.

13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your flock,

will thank you forever

and praise you for all time to come.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/79-f8fb5ca5c601a955690e4f841b751d1b.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for the Nation’s Restoration

1 Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel;

hear us, leader of your flock.

Seated on your throne above the winged creatures,

2 reveal yourself to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.

Show us your strength;

come and save us!

3 Bring us back, O God!

Show us your mercy, and we will be saved!

4 How much longer, Lord God Almighty,

will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

5 You have given us sorrow to eat,

a large cup of tears to drink.

6 You let the surrounding nations fight over our land;

our enemies insult us.

7 Bring us back, Almighty God!

Show us your mercy, and we will be saved!

8 You brought a grapevine out of Egypt;

you drove out other nations and planted it in their land.

9 You cleared a place for it to grow;

its roots went deep, and it spread out over the whole land.

10 It covered the hills with its shade;

its branches overshadowed the giant cedars.

11 It extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea

and as far as the Euphrates River.

12 Why did you break down the fences around it?

Now anyone passing by can steal its grapes;

13 wild hogs trample it down,

and wild animals feed on it.

14 Turn to us, Almighty God!

Look down from heaven at us;

come and save your people!

15 Come and save this grapevine that you planted,

this young vine you made grow so strong!

16 Our enemies have set it on fire and cut it down;

look at them in anger and destroy them!

17 Preserve and protect the people you have chosen,

the nation you made so strong.

18 We will never turn away from you again;

keep us alive, and we will praise you.

19 Bring us back, Lord God Almighty.

Show us your mercy, and we will be saved.

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A Song for a Festival

1 Shout for joy to God our defender;

sing praise to the God of Jacob!

2 Start the music and beat the tambourines;

play pleasant music on the harps and the lyres.

3 Blow the trumpet for the festival,

when the moon is new and when the moon is full.

4 This is the law in Israel,

an order from the God of Jacob.

5 He gave it to the people of Israel

when he attacked the land of Egypt.

I hear an unknown voice saying,

6 “I took the burdens off your backs;

I let you put down your loads of bricks.

7 When you were in trouble, you called to me, and I saved you.

From my hiding place in the storm, I answered you.

I put you to the test at the springs of Meribah.

8 Listen, my people, to my warning;

Israel, how I wish you would listen to me!

9 You must never worship another god.

10 I am the Lord your God,

who brought you out of Egypt.

Open your mouth, and I will feed you.

11 “But my people would not listen to me;

Israel would not obey me.

12 So I let them go their stubborn ways

and do whatever they wanted.

13 How I wish my people would listen to me;

how I wish they would obey me!

14 I would quickly defeat their enemies

and conquer all their foes.

15 Those who hate me would bow in fear before me;

their punishment would last forever.

16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat

and satisfy you with wild honey.”

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/81-740068585bf8269b640cae1b4f6a6673.mp3?version_id=68—

God the Supreme Ruler

1 God presides in the heavenly council;

in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision:

2 “You must stop judging unjustly;

you must no longer be partial to the wicked!

3 Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans;

be fair to the needy and the helpless.

4 Rescue them from the power of evil people.

5 “How ignorant you are! How stupid!

You are completely corrupt,

and justice has disappeared from the world.

6 ‘You are gods,’ I said;

‘all of you are children of the Most High.’

7 But you will die like mortals;

your life will end like that of any prince.”

8 Come, O God, and rule the world;

all the nations are yours.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/82-1782134d5de976880cc5ebeadb5a203e.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for the Defeat of Israel’s Enemies

1 O God, do not keep silent;

do not be still, do not be quiet!

2 Look! Your enemies are in revolt,

and those who hate you are rebelling.

3 They are making secret plans against your people;

they are plotting against those you protect.

4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy their nation,

so that Israel will be forgotten forever.”

5 They agree on their plan

and form an alliance against you:

6 the people of Edom and the Ishmaelites;

the people of Moab and the Hagrites;

7 the people of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,

and of Philistia and Tyre.

8 Assyria has also joined them

as a strong ally of the Ammonites and Moabites, the descendants of Lot.

9 Do to them what you did to the Midianites,

and to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.

10 You defeated them at Endor,

and their bodies rotted on the ground.

11 Do to their leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb;

defeat all their rulers as you did Zebah and Zalmunna,

12 who said, “We will take for our own

the land that belongs to God.”

13 Scatter them like dust, O God,

like straw blown away by the wind.

14 As fire burns the forest,

as flames set the hills on fire,

15 chase them away with your storm

and terrify them with your fierce winds.

16 Cover their faces with shame, O Lord,

and make them acknowledge your power.

17 May they be defeated and terrified forever;

may they die in complete disgrace.

18 May they know that you alone are the Lord,

supreme ruler over all the earth.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/83-f4a332b9645cc156c8e8c3cff131e07f.mp3?version_id=68—

Longing for God’s House

1 How I love your Temple, Lord Almighty!

2 How I want to be there!

I long to be in the Lord’s Temple.

With my whole being I sing for joy

to the living God.

3 Even the sparrows have built a nest,

and the swallows have their own home;

they keep their young near your altars,

Lord Almighty, my king and my God.

4 How happy are those who live in your Temple,

always singing praise to you.

5 How happy are those whose strength comes from you,

who are eager to make the pilgrimage to Mount Zion.

6 As they pass through the dry valley of Baca,

it becomes a place of springs;

the autumn rain fills it with pools.

7 They grow stronger as they go;

they will see the God of gods on Zion.

8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty.

Listen, O God of Jacob!

9 Bless our king, O God,

the king you have chosen.

10 One day spent in your Temple

is better than a thousand anywhere else;

I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God

than live in the homes of the wicked.

11 The Lord is our protector and glorious king,

blessing us with kindness and honor.

He does not refuse any good thing

to those who do what is right.

12 Lord Almighty, how happy are those who trust in you!

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/84-4ea2f131a87b111c0d40ec014c29b211.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for the Nation’s Welfare

1 Lord, you have been merciful to your land;

you have made Israel prosperous again.

2 You have forgiven your people’s sins

and pardoned all their wrongs.

3 You stopped being angry with them

and held back your furious rage.

4 Bring us back, O God our savior,

and stop being displeased with us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

Will your anger never cease?

6 Make us strong again,

and we, your people, will praise you.

7 Show us your constant love, O Lord,

and give us your saving help.

8 I am listening to what the Lord God is saying;

he promises peace to us, his own people,

if we do not go back to our foolish ways.

9 Surely he is ready to save those who honor him,

and his saving presence will remain in our land.

10 Love and faithfulness will meet;

righteousness and peace will embrace.

11 Human loyalty will reach up from the earth,

and God’s righteousness will look down from heaven.

12 The Lord will make us prosperous,

and our land will produce rich harvests.

13 Righteousness will go before the Lord

and prepare the path for him.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/85-731599a37386f1ffbc8046eb13e58e57.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Help

1 Listen to me, Lord, and answer me,

for I am helpless and weak.

2 Save me from death, because I am loyal to you;

save me, for I am your servant and I trust in you.

3 You are my God, so be merciful to me;

I pray to you all day long.

4 Make your servant glad, O Lord,

because my prayers go up to you.

5 You are good to us and forgiving,

full of constant love for all who pray to you.

6 Listen, Lord, to my prayer;

hear my cries for help.

7 I call to you in times of trouble,

because you answer my prayers.

8 There is no god like you, O Lord,

not one has done what you have done.

9 All the nations that you have created

will come and bow down to you;

they will praise your greatness.

10 You are mighty and do wonderful things;

you alone are God.

11 Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do,

and I will obey you faithfully;

teach me to serve you with complete devotion.

12 I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God;

I will proclaim your greatness forever.

13 How great is your constant love for me!

You have saved me from the grave itself.

14 Proud people are coming against me, O God;

a cruel gang is trying to kill me—

people who pay no attention to you.

15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God,

always patient, always kind and faithful.

16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;

strengthen me and save me,

because I serve you just as my mother did.

17 Show me proof of your goodness, Lord;

those who hate me will be ashamed

when they see that you have given me comfort and help.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/86-d9a65644cd54c71394930f6d089a95c5.mp3?version_id=68—

In Praise of Jerusalem

1 The Lord built his city on the sacred hill;

2 more than any other place in Israel

he loves the city of Jerusalem.

3 Listen, city of God,

to the wonderful things he says about you:

4 “I will include Egypt and Babylonia

when I list the nations that obey me;

the people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia

I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

5 Of Zion it will be said

that all nations belong there

and that the Almighty will make her strong.

6 The Lord will write a list of the peoples

and include them all as citizens of Jerusalem.

7 They dance and sing,

“In Zion is the source of all our blessings.”

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/87-c27f8eab8e7a1d62b5dd8ba81c80a69a.mp3?version_id=68—

A Cry for Help

1 Lord God, my savior, I cry out all day,

and at night I come before you.

2 Hear my prayer;

listen to my cry for help!

3 So many troubles have fallen on me

that I am close to death.

4 I am like all others who are about to die;

all my strength is gone.

5 I am abandoned among the dead;

I am like the slain lying in their graves,

those you have forgotten completely,

who are beyond your help.

6 You have thrown me into the depths of the tomb,

into the darkest and deepest pit.

7 Your anger lies heavy on me,

and I am crushed beneath its waves.

8 You have caused my friends to abandon me;

you have made me repulsive to them.

I am closed in and cannot escape;

9 my eyes are weak from suffering.

Lord, every day I call to you

and lift my hands to you in prayer.

10 Do you perform miracles for the dead?

Do they rise up and praise you?

11 Is your constant love spoken of in the grave

or your faithfulness in the place of destruction?

12 Are your miracles seen in that place of darkness

or your goodness in the land of the forgotten?

13 Lord, I call to you for help;

every morning I pray to you.

14 Why do you reject me, Lord?

Why do you turn away from me?

15 Ever since I was young, I have suffered and been near death;

I am worn outfrom the burden of your punishments.

16 Your furious anger crushes me;

your terrible attacks destroy me.

17 All day long they surround me like a flood;

they close in on me from every side.

18 You have made even my closest friends abandon me,

and darkness is my only companion.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/88-750498d57f405a1e7c2de07116d88d3d.mp3?version_id=68—