Psalms 83

A prayer for God to punish enemies

1God, do not continue to be silent! Do not remain quiet. Please do something!

2Look! Your enemies are causing trouble. The people who hate you are ready to attack.

3They decide carefully how they will attack your people. They want to hurt the people that you love.

4They say, ‘Come now! We will destroy them. They will no longer be a nation. Nobody will remember the name of Israel any more.’

5They agree together what they will do. They join one another to fight against you.

6Those enemies are Edomites and Ishmaelites, Moabites and Hagrites.

7They also come from Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia and Tyre.

8Even the Assyrian army has joined with them. They have given strength to Lot's descendants, the Moabites and the Ammonites. Selah.

9God, punish them as you punished Midian. Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon.

10You destroyed them at Endor. Their bodies remained on the ground, like dirt.

11Do to their leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb. Let their rulers die, like Zebah and Zalmunna.

12Those people said, ‘Let us take God's valuable country for ourselves!’

13God, blow them away like dust, like chaff that blows away in the wind!

14Go after them, like a fire that burns both forest and mountains.

15Chase them away with your storms. Frighten them with your strong winds.

16Cause them to be very ashamed, Lord, so that they might turn to you.

17May they always be ashamed and frightened. Let them die with shame!

18Then they will understand that you are the Lord. They will know that you are the Most High God who rules over all the earth.