Psalms 74
1 A psalm (maskil) of Asaph. God, why have you rejected us? Is it forever? Why does your anger burn so hot against the sheep of your own field?
An instruction: of Asaph. Why, O God, hast thou cast off for ever? [why] doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Remember the people you made your own long ago, the tribe you redeemed and made your own. Remember too Mount Zion, the place where you live.
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.
3 Come and walk through the complete devastation. The enemy has totally destroyed your Temple.
Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual desolations: everything in the sanctuary hath the enemy destroyed.
4 The enemy shouted in triumph right where you met with us. There they set up their war banners as signs of their victory.
Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy place of assembly; they set up their signs [for] signs.
5 They acted like men chopping down a forest with axes.
[A man] was known as he could lift up axes in the thicket of trees;
6 With axes and hammers they smashed in the carved wooden panels.
And now they break down its carved work altogether, with hatchets and hammers.
7 Then they set fire to your Temple, burning it to the ground. They defiled the place where you live, the place that bears your name.
They have set on fire thy sanctuary, they have profaned the habitation of thy name to the ground.
8 They said to themselves, “Let's destroy it all!” So they burned down every place where God was worshiped throughout the land.
They said in their heart, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all God's places of assembly in the land.
9 We no longer see any signs. There are no prophets left. And no one among us knows how long this will last.
We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
10 How long will the enemy ridicule you, God? Will they insult your character forever?
How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy contemn thy name for ever?
11 Why do you hold back from doing something? Take action and destroy them!
Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and thy right hand? [pluck it] out of thy bosom: consume [them].
12 But you, God, are our king from long ago. You have saved us many times in the land.
But God is my king of old, accomplishing deliverances in the midst of the earth.
13 You were the one who split apart the sea by your strength; you broke the heads of the sea monsters.
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; thou didst break the heads of the monsters on the waters:
14 You were the one who crushed the heads of Leviathan, and you gave its body to the desert animals to eat.
Thou didst break in pieces the heads of leviathan, thou gavest him to be meat to those that people the desert.
15 You were the one who made springs and rivers flow with water. You made permanent rivers dry up.
Thou didst cleave fountain and torrent, thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers.
16 You created the day, and also the night; you made the moon and the sun.
The day is thine, the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the moon and the sun:
17 You set the boundaries of the earth; you made summer and winter.
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; summer and winter — thou didst form them.
18 So keep in mind how the enemy ridiculed you, Lord, and how irreverent people insulted your reputation.
Remember this, that an enemy hath reproached Jehovah, and a foolish people have contemned thy name.
19 Don't let wild animals kill your turtledoves! Don't abandon your people forever!
Give not up the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the troop of thine afflicted for ever.
20 Remember your promises in the agreement, because the land is full of dark places and violence.
Have respect unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the dwellings of violence.
21 Don't let those who suffer be mistreated again. Let the poor and needy praise you for you who are.
Oh let not the oppressed one return ashamed; let the afflicted and needy praise thy name.
22 Stand up, God, and plead your case. Don't forget how these foolish people insulted you all the time.
Rise up, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day;
23 Don't ignore what your enemies have said, for their loud accusations against you are getting worse and worse!
Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.
