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?
God, why have you abandoned/rejected us? Will you keep rejecting us forever [RHQ]? Why are you angry with us, since we are like sheep in your pasture [and you are like our shepherd]? [MET, RHQ]
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.
Do not forget your people whom you chose long ago, the people whom you freed [from being slaves in Egypt] and caused to become your tribe. Do not forget Jerusalem, which was (your home/where you dwelt) [on this earth].
3 Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual desolations: everything in the sanctuary hath the enemy destroyed.
Walk along [and see] where everything has been totally ruined; our enemies have destroyed everything in the sacred temple.
4 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy place of assembly; they set up their signs [for] signs.
Your enemies shouted triumphantly in this sacred place; they erected their banners [to show they had defeated us].
5 [A man] was known as he could lift up axes in the thicket of trees;
They cut down all the [engraved objects in the temple] like woodsmen cut down trees.
6 And now they break down its carved work altogether, with hatchets and hammers.
Then they smashed all the carved wood with their axes and hammers.
7 They have set on fire thy sanctuary, they have profaned the habitation of thy name to the ground.
[Then] they burned your temple to the ground; they caused that place where you were worshiped to be unfit for people to worship in.
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 said to themselves, “We will destroy the Israelis completely,” and they [also] burned down all the other places where we gathered to worship God.
9 We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
All our sacred symbols (OR, miracles) are gone; there are no prophets now/any more, and no one knows how long [this situation will continue].
10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy contemn thy name for ever?
God, how long will our enemies make fun of you [RHQ]? Will they insult you [MTY] forever [RHQ]?
11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and thy right hand? [pluck it] out of thy bosom: consume [them].
Why do you refuse to help [MTY, RHQ] us? Why do you keep your hand inside your cloak [instead of using it to destroy our enemies] [RHQ]?
12 But God is my king of old, accomplishing deliverances in the midst of the earth.
God, you have been our king [all the time] since we came out of Egypt [HYP], and you have enabled us to defeat [our enemies] in the land [of Israel].
13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; thou didst break the heads of the monsters on the waters:
By your power you caused the [Red] Sea to divide; [it was as though] you smashed the heads of the [rulers of Egypt who were like] huge sea dragons [MET].
14 Thou didst break in pieces the heads of leviathan, thou gavest him to be meat to those that people the desert.
[It was as though] you crushed the head of the king of Egypt [MET] and gave his body to the animals in the desert to eat.
15 Thou didst cleave fountain and torrent, thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers.
You caused springs and streams to flow, and you [also] dried up rivers that had never dried up previously.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the moon and the sun:
You created the days and the nights, and you put the sun and the moon in their places.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; summer and winter — thou didst form them.
You determined where the oceans end and the land begins, and you created the summer/hot season and the winter/cold season.
18 Remember this, that an enemy hath reproached Jehovah, and a foolish people have contemned thy name.
Yahweh, do not forget that your enemies laugh at you, and that it is foolish people who despise you [MTY].
19 Give not up the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the troop of thine afflicted for ever.
Do not let your helpless people [MET] fall into the hands of their cruel enemies; do not forget your suffering/persecuted people.
20 Have respect unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the dwellings of violence.
Do not forget the agreement that you made with us; remember that there are violent people in every dark place on the earth.
21 Oh let not the oppressed one return ashamed; let the afflicted and needy praise thy name.
Do not allow your oppressed people to be disgraced; help those poor and needy people in order that they will [again] praise you [MTY].
22 Rise up, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day;
God, arise and defend yourself [by defending your people]! Do not forget that foolish people laugh at you (all day long/continually)!
23 Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.
Do not forget that your enemies shout angrily [at you]; the uproar that they make [while they oppose you] never stops.
