Psalms 74
1 [A Psalm] of instruction for Asaph. Therefore have you rejected [us], O God, for ever? [therefore] is your wrath kindled against the sheep of your pasture?
A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation which you have purchased from the beginning; you did ransom the rod of your inheritance; this mount Sion wherein you have lived.
Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived.
3 Lift up your hands against their pride continually; [because of] all that the enemy has done wickedly in your holy places.
Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
4 And they that hate you have boasted in the midst of your feast; they have set up their standards for signs,
Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.
5 ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;
They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.
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.
Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.
7 They have burnt your sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the habitation of your name.
They have burnt your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
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 heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burnt up all the places in the land where God was worshipped.
9 We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and [God] will not know us any more.
We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there amongst us anyone who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke your name forever?
How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Therefore turn you away your hand, and your right hand from the midst of your bosom for ever?
Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it from your chest and consume them!
12 But God is our King of old; he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth.
13 You did establish the sea, in your might, you did break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.
You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
14 You did break to pieces the heads of the dragon; you did give him [for] meat to the Ethiopian nations.
You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
15 You did cleave fountains and torrents; you dried up mighty rivers.
You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is your, and the night is your; you have prepared the sun and the moon.
The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have made all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and spring.
You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this your creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked your name.
Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, LORD. Foolish people have blasphemed your name.
19 Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to you: forget not for ever the souls of your poor.
Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.
20 Look upon your covenant: for the dark [places] of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.
Honour your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.
21 let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise your name.
Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead your cause: remember your reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.
Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.
23 Forget not the voice of your suppliants: let the pride of them that hate you continually ascend before you.
Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.
