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Read the Bible
King James Version
Psalms 81:13
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- Hastings'Encyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
Oh that my people had hearkened vnto me, and Israel had walked in my wayes.
If only my people would listen to meand Israel would follow my ways,
Oh that my people would listen to me, That Yisra'el would walk in my ways!
If my people would listen to me and would live the way I want,
"Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!
Oh that my people would hearken unto me, That Israel would walk in my ways!
"My people, Israel, if only you would listen and do as I say!
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to live by their own plans.
So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsels.
O that my people had hearkned vnto me: and Israel had walked in my wayes!
If my people had hearkened to me, if Israel had walked in my ways,
Oh that my people would hearken unto me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
Oh that my people would listen to me; that Israel would walk in my ways.
Oh if My people had listened to me! If Israel had walked in My ways,
I wish my people would listen to me; I wish Israel would live my way.
If only my people would obey me! If only Israel would keep my commands!
"Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!
Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
If only My people would listen to Me! If only Israel would follow My ways!
If, my people, were hearkening unto me, If, Israel, in my ways, would walk,
(80-14) If my people had heard me: if Israel had walked in my ways:
Oh that my people had listened to me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
How I wish my people would listen to me; how I wish they would obey me!
"Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!
O that my people woulde haue hearkened vnto me: O that Israel had walked in my wayes.
O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, that Israel had walked in my ways!
If my puple hadde herde me; if Israel hadde go in my weies.
O that My people were hearkening to Me, Israel in My ways would walk.
Oh that my people would listen to me, That Israel would walk in my ways!
O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
Oh that my people would listen to me, That Israel would walk in my ways!
O that my people had hearkened to me, [and] Israel had walked in my ways!
If only my people would give ear to me, walking in my ways!
So I gaue the vp vnto their owne hertes lust, & let the folowe their owne ymaginacions.
"Oh, dear people, will you listen to me now? Israel, will you follow my map? I'll make short work of your enemies, give your foes the back of my hand. I'll send the God -haters cringing like dogs, never to be heard from again. You'll feast on my fresh-baked bread spread with butter and rock-pure honey."
"Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!
Oh that My people would listen to Me,That Israel would walk in My ways!
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Oh that: Deuteronomy 5:29, Deuteronomy 10:12, Deuteronomy 10:13, Deuteronomy 32:29, Isaiah 48:18, Matthew 23:37, Luke 19:41, Luke 19:42
Reciprocal: Genesis 6:6 - grieved Exodus 16:28 - General 1 Chronicles 15:24 - the priests Psalms 81:8 - if thou wilt Psalms 107:8 - Oh that men Psalms 128:1 - walketh Proverbs 1:33 - whoso Jeremiah 25:3 - rising Jeremiah 42:6 - that it Ezekiel 12:3 - it may Micah 6:3 - O my Luke 13:34 - how Ephesians 2:10 - walk Hebrews 3:7 - hear
Gill's Notes on the Bible
O that my people had hearkened unto me,.... This might have been expected from them, as they were his professing people; and it would have been to their advantage if they had hearkened to him, as well as it would have been well pleasing to him; for that is what is designed by this wish, which does not express the purposing will of God; for who hath resisted that? if he had so willed, he could have given them ears to hear; but his commanding will, and what is his approving one: to hearken to him is not only to hearken to what he commands, but to what he approves of; it is the good and acceptable will of God that men should hearken to the declarations of his will in the law, and to the declarations of his grace in the Gospel; and indeed it is the voice of Christ, the Angel of God's presence, who went before the children of Israel in the wilderness, which they were to hearken to and obey, that is here meant; see Exodus 23:20, and Hebrews 3:6,
and Israel had walked in my ways; which he marked out and directed them unto, meaning his ordinances and commandments; which to walk in, as it denotes progress and continuance, and supposes and requires life and strength, so it is both pleasant and profitable.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Oh that my people had hearkened unto me - This passage is designed mainly to show what would have been the consequences if the Hebrew people had been obedient to the commands of God, Psalms 81:14-16. At the same time, however, it expresses what was the earnest desire - the wish - the preference of God, namely, that they had been obedient, and had enjoyed his favor. This is in accordance with all the statements, all the commands, all the invitations, all the warnings, in the Bible. In the entire volume of inspiration there is not one command addressed to people to walk in the ways of sin; there is not one statement that God desires they should do it; there is not one intimation that he wishes the death of the sinner. The contrary is implied in all the declarations which God has made - in all his commands, warnings, and invitations - in all his arrangements for the salvation of people. See Deuteronomy 5:29; Deuteronomy 32:29-30; Isaiah 48:18; Ezekiel 18:23, Ezekiel 18:32; Ezekiel 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9; Luke 19:42.
And Israel had walked in my ways! - Had kept my commandments; had been obedient to my laws. When people, therefore, do not walk in the ways of God it is impossible that they should take refuge, as an excuse for it, in the plea that God desires this, or that he commands it, or that he is pleased with it, or that he approves it. There is no possible sense in which this can be true; in every sense, and on every account, he prefers that people should be obedient, and not disobedient; good, and not bad; happy, and not miserable; saved, and not lost. Every doctrine of theology should be held and interpreted in consistency with this as a fundamental truth. That there are things which are difficult to be explained on the supposition that this is true, must be admitted; but what truth is there in reference to which there are not difficulties to be explained? And is there anything in this, or in any of the truths of the Bible, which more demands explanation than the facts which are actually occurring under the government of God: the fact that sin and misery have been allowed to come into the universe; the fact that multitudes constantly suffer whom God could at once relieve?
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Psalms 81:13. O that my people had hearkened unto me, - Israel had walked in my ways — Nothing can be more plaintive than the original; sense and sound are surprisingly united. I scruple not to say to him who understands the Hebrew, however learned, he has never found in any poet, Greek or Latin, a finer example of deep-seated grief, unable to express itself in appropriate words without frequent interruptions of sighs and sobs, terminated with a mournful cry.
לו עמי שמע לי
ישראי בדרכי יהלכו
Lo ammi shomea li
Yishrael bidrachi yehallechu!
He who can give the proper guttural pronunciation to the letter ע ain; and gives the ו vau, and the י yod, their full Asiatic sound, not pinching them to death by a compressed and worthless European enunciation; will at once be convinced of the propriety of this remark.
