Psalms 74
1 [A contemplation by Asaph.] God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
“A psalm of Asaph.” O God! why hast thou cast us off for ever? Why doth thine anger smoke against the flock of thy pasture?
2 Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance; Mount Zion, in which you have lived.
Remember the people which thou didst purchase of old; Thine own inheritance, which thou didst redeem; That Mount Zion, where thou once didst dwell!
3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Hasten thy steps to those utter desolations! Every thing in the sanctuary hath the enemy abused!
4 Your adversaries have roared in the midst of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.
Thine enemies roar in the place of thine assemblies; Their own symbols have they set up for signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.
They appear like those who raise the axe against a thicket;
6 Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.
They have broken down the carved work of thy temple with axes and hammers;
7 They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
They have cast fire into thy sanctuary; They have profaned, and cast to the ground, the dwelling-place of thy name.
8 They said in their heart, "We will crush them completely." They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.
They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them all together!” They have burned all God's places of assembly in the land.
9 We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
We no longer see our signs; There is no prophet among us, Nor any one that knoweth how long this desolation shall endure.
10 How long, God, shall the enemy mock? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
How long, O God! shall the adversary revile? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your pocket and consume them.
Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? Take it from thy bosom, and destroy!
12 Yet God is my King from long ago, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
Yet God was our king of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
Thou didst divide the sea by thy power; Thou didst crush the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
Thou didst break in pieces the head of the crocodile; Thou gavest him for food to the inhabitants of the desert.
15 You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.
Thou didst cleave forth the fountain and the stream; Thou didst dry up perennial rivers.
16 The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.
Thine is the day, and thine the night; Thou didst prepare the light and the sun.
17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter.
Thou didst establish all the boundaries of the earth; Thou didst make summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, YHWH. Foolish people have blasphemed your name.
O remember that the enemy hath reviled Jehovah; That an impious people hath blasphemed thy name!
19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Do not forget the life of your poor forever.
Give not up the life of thy turtle-dove to the wild beast; Forget not for ever thine afflicted people!
20 Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.
Have regard to thy covenant! For all the dark places of the land are full of the abodes of cruelty.
21 Do not let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.
O let not the afflicted go away ashamed! Let the poor and needy praise thy name!
22 Arise, God. Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.
Arise, O God! maintain thy cause! Remember how the impious revileth thee daily!
23 Do not forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.
Forget not the clamor of thine adversaries, —The noise of thine enemies, which continually increaseth!
