Psalms 44
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou did in their days, in the days of old.
For the leader. Of the Korahites. A maskil. O God, we have heard with our ears, all our ancestors have told us of the work that you wrought in their day, your wonders in days of old,
2 Thou drove out the nations with thy hand, but thou planted them. Thou afflicted the peoples, but thou spread them abroad.
uprooting and crushing the nations, then planting and settling them. For it wasn’t their own sword that won them the land,
3 For they did not get the land in possession by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them, but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou were favorable to them.
it was not their own arm that brought them the victory. Yours was the hand and the arm, yours was the face that shone on them with favor.
4 Thou are my King, O God. Command deliverance for Jacob.
It was you, my king and my God, that ordained the victories of Jacob.
5 Through thee we will push down our adversaries. Through thy name we will tread them under who rise up against us.
Through you we can thrust back our foes, and by your name tread down our assailants:
6 For I will not trust in my bow, nor shall my sword save me.
for not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword win me the victory.
7 But thou have saved us from our adversaries, and have put them to shame who hate us.
Our victory comes from you, and confusion to those who hate us.
8 In God we have made our boast all the day long, and we will give thanks to thy name forever. (Selah)
In God we boast all the day long, and your name will we praise forever. (Selah)
9 But now thou have cast off, and brought us to dishonor, and go not forth with our armies.
Yet you have spurned and disgraced us, in not going forth with our armies,
10 Thou make us to turn back from the adversary. And those who hate us take spoil for themselves.
and in making us flee from the foe, so that those who hated us plundered us.
11 Thou have made us like sheep for food, and have scattered us among the nations.
You have let us be eaten like sheep, you have scattered us over the world,
12 Thou sell thy people for nothing, and have not increased by their price.
sold your people for a pittance, and getting no gain from their price.
13 Thou make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are round about us.
You have made us the butt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of all round us.
14 Thou make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
O’er the world you have made us a byword, the nations at us shake their heads.
15 All the day long my dishonor is before me, and the shame of my face has covered me,
My disgrace is forever before me, my face is covered with shame,
16 for the voice of him who reproaches and blasphemes, because of the enemy and the avenger.
at the words of blasphemer and scoffer, at the sight of the foe and the vengeful.
17 All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten thee, nor have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you nor falsely dealt with your covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, nor have our steps declined from thy way,
Our heart has not turned back, nor our steps declined from your way,
19 that thou have greatly broken us in the place of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death.
that you thus should have crushed us down, and covered us over with gloom, in the place where the jackals roam.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread forth our hands to a strange god,
Had we forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a god that was strange,
21 will not God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
would God not have searched this out? For he knows the heart and its secrets.
22 Yea, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
But in your cause it is we are killed all the day, and counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why do thou sleep, O Lord? Arise, cast not off forever.
Rouse yourself, why do you sleep Lord? Awake, cast us not off forever.
24 Why do thou hide thy face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?
Why do you hide your face, forgetting our stress and our misery?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body clings to the ground.
For we have sunk down to the dust, our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Rise up for our help, and redeem us for thy loving kindness' sake.
Arise, come to our help: for your love’s sake, ransom us.
