Psalms 74
1 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?
“A Maskil of Assaph.” Why, O God, hast thou cast us off for ever? why will thy anger smoke against the flock of thy pasture?
2 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.
Remember thy congregation, which thou didst acquire of old; which thou didst redeem as the tribe of thy inheritance: this mount Zion, whereon thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual heaps of ruins: the enemy hath ill-used every thing in the sanctuary.
4 And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs,
Thy adversaries have roared in the midst of thy places of assembly: they have set up their signs for signs.
5 And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees,
[The enemy] is known as one that lifteth up high axes against the thickets of a forest.
6 They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down.
And now they hew in pieces the carved work thereof altogether with hatchets and hammers.
7 They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth.
They have set on fire thy sanctuary; to the ground have they profaned the dwelling-place of thy name.
8 They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land.
They have said in their heart, We will oppress them altogether: they have burnt up all the places of assembly of God in the land.
9 Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more.
Our signs do we not see: there is no more any prophet: and there is no one among us that knoweth how long.
10 How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever?
How long, O God, shall the adversary utter defiance? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever?
Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and thy right hand? [draw it] out of thy bosom—exterminate [them];
12 But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
Since [thou] God art my King from olden days, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.
It was thou that didst divide by thy strength the sea: thou brokest in pieces the heads of the crocodiles on the waters.
14 Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians.
Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan, and gavest them as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers.
Thou didst cleave fountain and stream: thou didst dry up ever-flowing rivers.
16 Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun.
Thine is the day and thine is the night: it is thou who hast prepared the luminary and the sun.
17 Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee.
It is thou who hast set up all the boundaries of the earth: summer and winter—thou thyself hast formed them.
18 Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name.
Remember this, that the enemy hath defied the Lord, and that a worthless foolish people have blasphemed thy name.
19 Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.
Oh give not up unto the multitude of enemies the soul of thy turtle-dove: the congregation of thy afflicted do not thou forget for ever.
20 Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.
Look unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of habitations of violence.
21 Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.
Oh let not the oppressed return confounded: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day.
Arise, O God, plead thy own cause: remember thy defiance from the worthless fool all the day.
23 Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.
Forget not the voice of thy adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.
