Psalms 74

1 The understanding of Asaph. O God, why have you rejected us to the end. Why has your fury become enraged over the sheep of your pasture?

Understanding for Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?

2 Be mindful of your congregation, which you have possessed from the beginning. You redeemed the scepter of your inheritance, mount Zion, in which you have dwelt.

Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning. The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast redeemed: mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt.

3 Lift up your hands against their arrogance in the end. How great the malice of the enemy has been in the sanctuary!

Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

4 And those who hate you have been glorified, in the midst of your solemnity. They have set up their own signs as a proof,

And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs,

5 as if it had been issued from on high; yet they did not understand. As in a forest of chopped wood,

And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees,

6 they have cut down the entrances themselves. With axe and hatchet, they have brought it down.

They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down.

7 They have set fire to your Sanctuary. They have polluted the tabernacle of your name on earth.

They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth.

8 They have said in their heart, the whole group of them together: “Let us cause all the feast days of God to cease from the land.

They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land.

9 We have not seen our proof; there is now no prophet. And he will no longer know us.”

Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more.

10 How long, O God, will the enemy place blame? Is the adversary to provoke your name until the end?

How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever?

11 Why do you turn your hand away, even your right hand, from the midst of your sinews, until the end?

Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever?

12 But God is our king before all ages. He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.

But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 In your virtue, you confirmed the sea. You crushed the heads of the serpents in the waters.

Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.

14 You have broken the heads of the serpent. You have given him as food for the people of the Ethiopians.

Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians.

15 You have disrupted the fountains and the torrents. You have dried up the rivers of Ethan.

Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers.

16 Yours is the day, and yours is the night. You have made the morning light and the sun.

Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun.

17 You have made all the limits of the earth. The summer and the spring were formed by you.

Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee.

18 Be mindful of this: the enemy placed blame against the Lord, and a foolish people has incited against your name.

Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name.

19 Do not hand over to beasts the souls that confess to you; and do not forget the souls of your poor until the end.

Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.

20 Consider your covenant. For those who have been darkened upon the earth have been filled by the iniquity of the houses.

Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.

21 Do not allow the humble to be turned away in confusion. The poor and the needy will praise your name.

Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.

22 Rise up, O God, judge your own case. Call to mind the accusations against you, which are made by the foolish all day long.

Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day.

23 Do not forget the voices of your adversaries. The arrogance of those who hate you rises up continually.

Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.