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 maskil of Asaph. Why, O God, have you spurned us forever? Why smokes your wrath 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 the community you purchased of old to become by redemption the tribe of your heritage, Zion, the mountain you made your home.
3 Lift up Thy steps because of the perpetual ruins, even all the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.
Rouse yourself, visit its ruins complete. In the temple the foe has made havoc of all things.
4 Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of Thy meeting-place; they have set up their own signs for signs.
Like lions your enemies roared through your house, replacing our symbols by signs of their own,
5 It seemed as when men wield upwards axes in a thicket of trees.
hacking, like woodsmen who lift axes on thickets of trees,
6 And now all the carved work thereof together they strike down with hatchet and hammers.
smashing with hatchets and hammers all of its carved work together.
7 They have set Thy sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the dwelling-place of Thy name even to the ground.
They have set your temple on fire, to the very ground they have outraged the place where lives 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, ‘Let us utterly crush them.’ They have burned all the houses of God in the land.
9 We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet; neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
No symbol of ours do we see any more: no prophet is there any more, none is with us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever?
How long, O God, is the foe to insult? Shall the enemy spurn your name forever?
11 Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Draw it out of Thy bosom and consume them.
Why, O Lord, do you hold back your hand, why keep your right hand in the folds of your robe?
12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
Yet God is our king from the ancient days, in the midst of the earth working deeds of salvation.
13 Thou didst break the sea in pieces by Thy strength; Thou didst shatter the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.
It was you who did cleave the sea by your might, and shatter the heads of the ocean monsters.
14 Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan, Thou gavest him to be food to the folk inhabiting the wilderness.
It was you who did crush many-headed Leviathan, and give him as food to the beasts of the wilderness.
15 Thou didst cleave fountain and brook; Thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers.
It was you who did cleave the fountains and torrents; it was you who did dry the perennial streams.
16 Thine is the day, Thine also the night; Thou hast established luminary and sun.
Yours is the day; yours, too, is the night, it was you who did establish the sun and the star.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; Thou hast made summer and winter.
It was you who did fix all the borders of earth: summer and winter it’s you who have made them.
18 Remember this, how the enemy hath reproached the LORD, and how a base people have blasphemed Thy name.
Yet, for all this, the foe has insulted you, Lord, and a nation of fools has reviled 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.
Do not give your dove to the beasts, do not forget your afflicted forever.
20 Look upon the covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Look to the sleek ones – how full they are: the dark places of earth are the dwellings of violence.
21 O let not the oppressed turn back in confusion; let the poor and needy praise Thy name.
O let not the downtrodden turn back ashamed: let the poor and the needy sing praise to your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause; remember Thy reproach all the day at the hand of the base man.
Arise, God, and defend your cause: remember how fools all the day insult you.
23 Forget not the voice of Thine adversaries, the tumult of those that rise up against Thee which ascendeth continually.
Do not forget the uproar of your enemies, the din of your foes that ascends evermore.
