Psalms 74
1 AN INSTRUCTION OF ASAPH. Why, O God, have You cast off forever? Your anger smokes against the flock of Your 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 Your congregation [That] You purchased of old, You redeemed the rod of Your inheritance, This Mount Zion—You dwelt in it.
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 Your steps to the continuous desolations, Everything the enemy did wickedly 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 Your adversaries have roared, In the midst of Your meeting-places, They have set their ensigns as ensigns.
And they that hate you have boasted in the midst of your feast; they have set up their standards for signs,
5 He is known as one bringing in on high Against a thicket of wood—axes.
ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;
6 And now they break down its engravings, Together, with axe and hatchet,
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 sent Your sanctuary into fire, They defiled the Dwelling Place of Your Name to the earth,
They have burnt your sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the habitation of your name.
8 They said in their hearts, “Let us oppress them together,” They burned 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 have not seen our ensigns, There is no longer a prophet, Nor with us is one knowing how long.
We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and [God] will not know us any more.
10 Until when, O God, does an adversary reproach? Does an enemy despise Your Name forever?
How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke your name forever?
11 Why do You turn back Your hand, Even Your right hand? Remove [it] from the midst of Your bosom.
Therefore turn you away your hand, and your right hand from the midst of your bosom for ever?
12 And 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 You have divided [the] sea by Your strength, You have shattered heads of dragons by the waters,
You did establish the sea, in your might, you did break to pieces the heads of the dragons in the water.
14 You have broken the heads of leviathan, You make him food for the people of desert-dwellers.
You did break to pieces the heads of the dragon; you did give him [for] meat to the Ethiopian nations.
15 You have cleaved a fountain and a stream, You have dried up perennial flowings.
You did cleave fountains and torrents; you dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day [is] Yours, The night [is] also Yours, You have prepared a light-giver—the sun.
The day is your, and the night is your; you have prepared the sun and the moon.
17 You have set up all the borders of earth, Summer and winter—You have formed them.
You have made all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and spring.
18 Remember this—an enemy reproached YHWH, And a foolish people have despised Your Name.
Remember this your creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked your name.
19 Do not give up to a [wild] creature, The soul of Your turtle-dove, Do not forget the life of Your poor ones forever.
Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to you: forget not for ever the souls of your poor.
20 Look attentively to the covenant, For the dark places of earth, Have been full of habitations of violence.
Look upon your covenant: for the dark [places] of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.
21 Do not let the oppressed turn back ashamed, Let the poor and needy praise Your Name,
let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your plea, Remember Your reproach from a fool all the day.
Arise, O God, plead your cause: remember your reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries, The noise of Your withstanders is going up continually!
Forget not the voice of your suppliants: let the pride of them that hate you continually ascend before you.
