Psalms 74
1 [A Psalm] of instruction for Asaph. Wherefore hast thou rejected [us], O God, for ever? [wherefore] is thy wrath kindled against the sheep of thy pasture?
AN INSTRUCTION OF ASAPH. Why, O God, have You cast off forever? Your anger smokes against the flock of Your pasture.
2 Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased from the beginning; thou didst ransom the rod of thine inheritance; this mount Sion wherein thou hast dwelt.
Remember Your congregation [That] You purchased of old, You redeemed the rod of Your inheritance, This Mount Zion—You dwelt in it.
3 Lift up thine hands against their pride continually; [because of] all that the enemy has done wickedly in thy holy places.
Lift up Your steps to the continuous desolations, Everything the enemy did wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 And they that hate thee have boasted in the midst of thy feast; they have set up their standards for signs,
Your adversaries have roared, In the midst of Your meeting-places, They have set their ensigns as ensigns.
5 ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;
He is known as one bringing in on high Against a thicket of wood—axes.
6 they cut down its doors at once with axes as in a wood of trees; they have broken it down with hatchet and stone cutter.
And now they break down its engravings, Together, with axe and hatchet,
7 They have burnt thy sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the habitation of thy name.
They have sent Your sanctuary into fire, They defiled the Dwelling Place of Your Name to the earth,
8 They have said in their heart, [even] all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth.
They said in their hearts, “Let us oppress them together,” They burned all the meeting-places of God in the land.
9 We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and [God] will not know us any more.
We have not seen our ensigns, There is no longer a prophet, Nor with us is one knowing how long.
10 How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke thy name forever?
Until when, O God, does an adversary reproach? Does an enemy despise Your Name forever?
11 Wherefore turnest thou away thine hand, and thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom for ever?
Why do You turn back Your hand, Even Your right hand? Remove [it] from the midst of Your bosom.
12 But God is our King of old; he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
And God [is] my king of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst establish the sea, in thy might, thou didst break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.
You have divided [the] sea by Your strength, You have shattered heads of dragons by the waters,
14 Thou didst break to pieces the heads of the dragon; thou didst give him [for] meat to the Ethiopian nations.
You have broken the heads of leviathan, You make him food for the people of desert-dwellers.
15 Thou didst cleave fountains and torrents; thou driedst up mighty rivers.
You have cleaved a fountain and a stream, You have dried up perennial flowings.
16 The day is thine, and the night is thine; thou hast prepared the sun and the moon.
The day [is] Yours, The night [is] also Yours, You have prepared a light-giver—the sun.
17 Thou hast made all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and spring.
You have set up all the borders of earth, Summer and winter—You have formed them.
18 Remember this thy creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked thy name.
Remember this—an enemy reproached YHWH, And a foolish people have despised Your Name.
19 Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to thee: forget not for ever the souls of thy poor.
Do not give up to a [wild] creature, The soul of Your turtle-dove, Do not forget the life of Your poor ones forever.
20 Look upon thy covenant: for the dark [places] of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.
Look attentively to the covenant, For the dark places of earth, Have been full of habitations of violence.
21 let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.
Do not let the oppressed turn back ashamed, Let the poor and needy praise Your Name,
22 Arise, O God, plead thy cause: remember thy reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.
Arise, O God, plead Your plea, Remember Your reproach from a fool all the day.
23 Forget not the voice of thy suppliants: let the pride of them that hate thee continually ascend before thee.
Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries, The noise of Your withstanders is going up continually!
