Psalms 74
1 A Psalme to give instruction, committed to Asaph. O God, why hast thou put vs away for euer? why is thy wrath kindled against the sheepe of thy pasture?
The understanding of Asaph. O God, why have you rejected us to the end. Why has your fury become enraged over the sheep of your pasture?
2 Thinke vpon thy Congregation, which thou hast possessed of olde, and on the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed, and on this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
Be mindful of your congregation, which you have possessed from the beginning. You redeemed the scepter of your inheritance, mount Zion, in which you have dwelt.
3 Lift vp thy strokes, that thou mayest for euer destroy euery enemie that doeth euill to the Sanctuarie.
Lift up your hands against their arrogance in the end. How great the malice of the enemy has been in the sanctuary!
4 Thine aduersaries roare in the middes of thy Congregation, and set vp their banners for signes.
And those who hate you have been glorified, in the midst of your solemnity. They have set up their own signs as a proof,
5 He that lifted the axes vpon the thicke trees, was renowmed, as one, that brought a thing to perfection:
as if it had been issued from on high; yet they did not understand. As in a forest of chopped wood,
6 But nowe they breake downe the carued worke thereof with axes and hammers.
they have cut down the entrances themselves. With axe and hatchet, they have brought it down.
7 They haue cast thy Sanctuarie into the fire, and rased it to the grounde, and haue defiled the dwelling place of thy Name.
They have set fire to your Sanctuary. They have polluted the tabernacle of your name on earth.
8 They saide in their hearts, Let vs destroy them altogether: they haue burnt all the Synagogues of God in the land.
They have said in their heart, the whole group of them together: “Let us cause all the feast days of God to cease from the land.
9 We see not our signes: there is not one Prophet more, nor any with vs that knoweth howe long.
We have not seen our proof; there is now no prophet. And he will no longer know us.”
10 O God, howe long shall the aduersarie reproche thee? shall the enemie blaspheme thy Name for euer?
How long, O God, will the enemy place blame? Is the adversary to provoke your name until the end?
11 Why withdrawest thou thine hand, euen thy right hand? drawe it out of thy bosome, and consume them.
Why do you turn your hand away, even your right hand, from the midst of your sinews, until the end?
12 Euen God is my King of olde, working saluation in the middes of the earth.
But God is our king before all ages. He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didest deuide the sea by thy power: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
In your virtue, you confirmed the sea. You crushed the heads of the serpents in the waters.
14 Thou brakest the head of Liuiathan in pieces, and gauest him to be meate for the people in wildernesse.
You have broken the heads of the serpent. You have given him as food for the people of the Ethiopians.
15 Thou brakest vp the fountaine and riuer: thou dryedst vp mightie riuers.
You have disrupted the fountains and the torrents. You have dried up the rivers of Ethan.
16 The day is thine, and the night is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sunne.
Yours is the day, and yours is the night. You have made the morning light and the sun.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
You have made all the limits of the earth. The summer and the spring were formed by you.
18 Remember this, that the enemie hath reproched the Lord, and the foolish people hath blasphemed thy Name.
Be mindful of this: the enemy placed blame against the Lord, and a foolish people has incited against your name.
19 Giue not the soule of thy turtle doue vnto the beast, and forget not the Congregation of thy poore for euer.
Do not hand over to beasts the souls that confess to you; and do not forget the souls of your poor until the end.
20 Consider thy couenant: for the darke places of the earth are full of the habitations of the cruell.
Consider your covenant. For those who have been darkened upon the earth have been filled by the iniquity of the houses.
21 Oh let not the oppressed returne ashamed, but let the poore and needie prayse thy Name.
Do not allow the humble to be turned away in confusion. The poor and the needy will praise your name.
22 Arise, O God: mainteine thine owne cause: remember thy dayly reproche by the foolish man.
Rise up, O God, judge your own case. Call to mind the accusations against you, which are made by the foolish all day long.
23 Forget not the voyce of thine enemies: for the tumult of them, that rise against thee, ascendeth continually.
Do not forget the voices of your adversaries. The arrogance of those who hate you rises up continually.
