Psalms 74
1 Maschil of Asaph. Why, O God, hast Thou cast us off for ever? Why doth Thine anger smoke against the flock of Thy pasture?
[A Psalm] of instruction for Asaph. Therefore have you rejected [us], O God, for ever? [therefore] is your wrath kindled against the sheep of your pasture?
2 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.
Remember your congregation which you have purchased from the beginning; you did ransom the rod of your inheritance; this mount Sion wherein you have lived.
3 Lift up Thy steps because of the perpetual ruins, even all the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.
Lift up your hands against their pride continually; [because of] all that the enemy has done wickedly in your holy places.
4 Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of Thy meeting-place; they have set up their own signs for signs.
And they that hate you have boasted in the midst of your feast; they have set up their standards for signs,
5 It seemed as when men wield upwards axes in a thicket of trees.
ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;
6 And now all the carved work thereof together they strike down with hatchet and hammers.
they cut down its doors at once with axes as in a wood of trees; they have broken it down with hatchet and stone cutter.
7 They have set Thy sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the dwelling-place of Thy name even to the ground.
They have burnt your sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the habitation of your name.
8 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.
They have said in their heart, [even] all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth.
9 We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet; neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and [God] will not know us any more.
10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever?
How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke your name forever?
11 Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Draw it out of Thy bosom and consume them.
Therefore turn you away your hand, and your right hand from the midst of your bosom for ever?
12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
But God is our King of old; he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst break the sea in pieces by Thy strength; Thou didst shatter the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.
You did establish the sea, in your might, you did break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.
14 Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan, Thou gavest him to be food to the folk inhabiting the wilderness.
You did break to pieces the heads of the dragon; you did give him [for] meat to the Ethiopian nations.
15 Thou didst cleave fountain and brook; Thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers.
You did cleave fountains and torrents; you dried up mighty rivers.
16 Thine is the day, Thine also the night; Thou hast established luminary and sun.
The day is your, and the night is your; you have prepared the sun and the moon.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; Thou hast made summer and winter.
You have made all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and spring.
18 Remember this, how the enemy hath reproached the LORD, and how a base people have blasphemed Thy name.
Remember this your creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked your name.
19 O deliver not the soul of Thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the life of Thy poor for ever.
Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to you: forget not for ever the souls of your poor.
20 Look upon the covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Look upon your covenant: for the dark [places] of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.
21 O let not the oppressed turn back in confusion; let the poor and needy praise Thy name.
let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause; remember Thy reproach all the day at the hand of the base man.
Arise, O God, plead your cause: remember your reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.
23 Forget not the voice of Thine adversaries, the tumult of those that rise up against Thee which ascendeth continually.
Forget not the voice of your suppliants: let the pride of them that hate you continually ascend before you.
