Psalms 74
1 An instruction: of Asaph. Why, O God, hast thou cast off for ever? [why] doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
[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?
2 Remember thine assembly, which thou hast purchased of old, which thou hast redeemed [to be] the portion of thine inheritance, this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
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.
3 Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual desolations: everything in the sanctuary hath the enemy destroyed.
Lift up your hands against their pride continually; [because of] all that the enemy has done wickedly in your holy places.
4 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy place of assembly; they set up their signs [for] signs.
And they that hate you have boasted in the midst of your feast; they have set up their standards for signs,
5 [A man] was known as he could lift up axes in the thicket of trees;
ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;
6 And now they break down its carved work altogether, with hatchets and hammers.
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.
7 They have set on fire thy sanctuary, they have profaned the habitation of thy name to the ground.
They have burnt your sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the habitation of your name.
8 They said in their heart, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all God's places of assembly in the land.
They have said in their heart, [even] all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth.
9 We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and [God] will not know us any more.
10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy contemn thy name for ever?
How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke your name forever?
11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and thy right hand? [pluck it] out of thy bosom: consume [them].
Therefore turn you away your hand, and your right hand from the midst of your bosom for ever?
12 But God is my king of old, accomplishing deliverances in the midst of the earth.
But God is our King of old; he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; thou didst break the heads of the monsters on the waters:
You did establish the sea, in your might, you did break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.
14 Thou didst break in pieces the heads of leviathan, thou gavest him to be meat to those that people the desert.
You did break to pieces the heads of the dragon; you did give him [for] meat to the Ethiopian nations.
15 Thou didst cleave fountain and torrent, thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers.
You did cleave fountains and torrents; you dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the moon and the sun:
The day is your, and the night is your; you have prepared the sun and the moon.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; summer and winter — thou didst form them.
You have made all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and spring.
18 Remember this, that an enemy hath reproached Jehovah, and a foolish people have contemned thy name.
Remember this your creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked your name.
19 Give not up the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the troop of thine afflicted for ever.
Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to you: forget not for ever the souls of your poor.
20 Have respect unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the dwellings of violence.
Look upon your covenant: for the dark [places] of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.
21 Oh let not the oppressed one return ashamed; let the afflicted and needy praise thy name.
let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise your name.
22 Rise up, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day;
Arise, O God, plead your cause: remember your reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.
23 Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.
Forget not the voice of your suppliants: let the pride of them that hate you continually ascend before you.
