New Living Translation
Psalms 81:8
8“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
Psalms 81:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
- New International Version (NIV)Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel!
- English Standard Version (ESV)Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
Context of Psalms 81:8
6“Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. 7You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude “Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me! 9You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god. 10For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
Read all of Psalms 81Psalms 81:8 word by word
שְׁמַ֣ע עַ֭מִּי וְאָעִ֣ידָה בָּ֑ךְ יִ֝שְׂרָאֵ֗ל אִם־תִּֽשְׁמַֽע־לִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 81:8
- Psalms 50:7“O my people, listen as I speak. Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God, your God!
- Deuteronomy 32:46he added: “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions.
- Isaiah 55:3“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
- John 3:11I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.
- Acts 20:21I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.
- 1 John 5:9Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son.
- Psalms 81:13Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
- Exodus 15:26He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”
- Deuteronomy 5:27Go yourself and listen to what the Lord our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’
- Isaiah 1:19If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat.
Commentaries on Psalms 81:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Hear, O my people - These are nearly the same words with those spoken at the giving of the law, Exodus 20:2.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee - See the notes at the similar passage in Psalm 50:7. God calls their attention to what he required of them; to what his law demanded; to what was the condition of their being his people and of securing his favor. What the demanded was, that they should acknowledge him; obey him; serve him; that there should be no strange god among them, and that they should worship no false god, Psalm 81:9.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-16Verses 8-16 We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if they do not well, the blame must be upon themselves. The Lord is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-10God pleads with his people to remember the covenant and the Ten Commandments.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. (Compare Psa 50:7). The reproof follows to Psa 81:12. if thou wilt hearken--He then propounds the terms of His covenant: they should worship Him alone, who (Psa 81:10) had delivered them, and would still confer all needed blessings.Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 81
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries