Psalms 83

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Psalm 83 opens with an appeal for God to break His silence as His enemies rage, scheme cunningly, and conspire to erase Israel as a nation. A large alliance has formed against God's people, uniting the tents of Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia, Tyre, and Assyria. The psalmist then asks God to deal with these confederated adversaries just as He did with historical figures like Midian, Sisera, Jabin, Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah, and Zalmunna at the River Kishon and Endor. The prayer continues with requests to scatter the enemies like tumbleweed and chaff, and to consume them with divine tempest and fire. Finally, the text asks that they be covered in shame and perish in disgrace so that all may acknowledge that the LORD alone is the Most High over all the earth.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God. ²See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads. ³With cunning they scheme against Your people and conspire against those You cherish, ⁴saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.” ⁵For with one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against You— ⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, ⁷of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia with the people of Tyre. ⁸Even Assyria has joined them, lending strength to the sons of Lot. Selah ⁹Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon, ¹⁰who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground. ¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, ¹²who said, “Let us possess for ourselves the pastures of God.” ¹³Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind. ¹⁴As fire consumes a forest, as a flame sets the mountains ablaze, ¹⁵so pursue them with Your tempest, and terrify them with Your storm. ¹⁶Cover their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD. ¹⁷May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace. ¹⁸May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.