Hear, O My people, and I will warn you: O Israel, if only you would listen to Me!
Parallel translations
- WEB “Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me!
- KJV Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
- NKJV “Hear,O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
- NASB “Hear, My people, and I will admonish you; Israel, if you would listen to Me!
- NLT “Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God earnestly calls His people to hear His testimony and listen to Him. The heart of the psalm is a plea for attentive obedience.
Overview
God's tender 'if you would listen to me' reveals His longing for His people's faithful response. This echoes the Shema's central call to hear and obey (Deut. 6:4). The verse exposes that Israel's deepest need is not more deliverance but a listening heart, a need ultimately met by the new heart promised in the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 50:7“Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
- John 3:11Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony.
- Exod 15:26saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
- Isa 55:3–4Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.
- 1 Jn 5:9Even if we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony that God has given about His Son.
- Isa 1:19If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land.
- John 3:32–33He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony.
- Ps 81:13If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Deut 5:27Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then you can tell us everything the LORD our God tells you; we will listen and obey.”
- Acts 20:21testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Deut 32:46he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I testify among you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 81:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.