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?
Maschil of Asaph. Why, O God, hast Thou cast us off for ever? Why doth Thine anger smoke against the flock 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 Thy congregation, which Thou hast gotten of old, which Thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of Thine inheritance; and 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 because of the perpetual ruins, even all the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.
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 have roared in the midst of Thy meeting-place; they have set up their own signs for signs.
5 They acted like men chopping down a forest with axes.
It seemed as when men wield upwards axes in a thicket of trees.
6 With axes and hammers they smashed in the carved wooden panels.
And now all the carved work thereof together they strike down with hatchet 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 Thy sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the dwelling-place of Thy name even 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 make havoc of them altogether'; they have burned up all the meeting-places of God 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 blaspheme Thy name for ever?
11 Why do you hold back from doing something? Take action and destroy them!
Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Draw it out of Thy bosom and consume them.
12 But you, God, are our king from long ago. You have saved us many times in the land.
Yet God is my King of old, working salvation 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 break the sea in pieces by Thy strength; Thou didst shatter the heads of the sea-monsters in 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 crush the heads of leviathan, Thou gavest him to be food to the folk inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You were the one who made springs and rivers flow with water. You made permanent rivers dry up.
Thou didst cleave fountain and brook; Thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers.
16 You created the day, and also the night; you made the moon and the sun.
Thine is the day, Thine also the night; Thou hast established luminary and sun.
17 You set the boundaries of the earth; you made summer and winter.
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; Thou hast made summer and winter.
18 So keep in mind how the enemy ridiculed you, Lord, and how irreverent people insulted your reputation.
Remember this, how the enemy hath reproached the LORD, and how a base people have blasphemed Thy name.
19 Don't let wild animals kill your turtledoves! Don't abandon your people forever!
O deliver not the soul of Thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the life of Thy poor for ever.
20 Remember your promises in the agreement, because the land is full of dark places and violence.
Look upon the covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Don't let those who suffer be mistreated again. Let the poor and needy praise you for you who are.
O let not the oppressed turn back in confusion; let the poor 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.
Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause; remember Thy reproach all the day at the hand of the base man.
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 which ascendeth continually.
