Psalms 44

1 For the end, a Psalm for instruction, for the sons of Core. O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, the work which you wrought in their days, in the days of old.

For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.

2 Your hand utterly destroyed the heathen, and you did plant them: you did afflict the nations, and cast them out.

With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out.

3 For they inherited not the land by their [own] sword, and their [own] arm did not deliver them; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you were well pleased in them.

For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.

4 You are indeed my King and my God, who command deliverances for Jacob.

You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Jacob.

5 In you will we push down our enemies, and in your name will we bring to nothing them that rise up against us.

Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.

6 For I will not trust in my bow, and my sword shall not save me.

For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me.

7 For you have saved us from them that afflicted us, and have put to shame them that hated us.

For You save us from our enemies; You put those who hate us to shame.

8 In God will we make our boast all the day, and to your name will we give thanks for ever. (Pause)

In God we have boasted all day long, and Your name we will praise forever.

9 But now you have cast off, and put us to shame; and you will not go forth with our hosts.

But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies.

10 You have turned us back before our enemies; and they that hated us spoiled for themselves.

You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us.

11 You made us as sheep for meat; and you scattered us amongst the nations.

You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations.

12 You have sold your people without price, and there was no profit by their exchange.

You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale.

13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision them that are round about us.

You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.

14 You have made us a proverb amongst the Gentiles, a shaking of the head amongst the nations.

You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

15 All the day my shame is before me, and the confusion of my face has covered me,

All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face,

16 because of the voice of the slanderer and reviler; because of the enemy and avenger.

at the voice of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy, bent on revenge.

17 All these things are come upon us: but we have not forgotten you, neither have we dealt unrighteously in your covenant.

All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant.

18 And our heart has not gone back; but you have turned aside our paths from your way.

Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.

19 For you have laid us low in a place of affliction, and the shadow of death has covered us.

But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness.

20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search these things out?

If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

21 for he knows the secrets of the heart.

would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?

22 For, for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for slaughter.

Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Awake, therefore sleep you, O Lord? arise, and do not cast [us] off for ever.

Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.

24 Therefore turn you your face away, [and] forget our poverty and our affliction?

Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?

25 For our soul has been brought down to the dust; our belly has cleaved to the earth.

For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.

26 Arise, O Lord, help us, and redeem us for your name's sake.

Rise up; be our help! Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.