Psalms 44

1 To the Chief Musician. For the Sons of Korah. An Instructive Psalm. O God! with our own ears, have we heard, Our fathers, have recounted to us, —The work thou didst work, In their day, In the days of aforetime:

For the end, a Psalm for instruction, for the sons of Core. O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, the work which you wrought in their days, in the days of old.

2 Thou thyself, with thine own hand—Didst dispossess, nations, and didst plant them, Didst break peoples in pieces, and didst spread them out:

Your hand utterly destroyed the heathen, and you did plant them: you did afflict the nations, and cast them out.

3 For, not by their own sword, gat they possession of the land, Nor did, their own arm, win victory for them, —But thine own right hand, and thine own arm, and the light of thy face, Because thou hadst accepted them.

For they inherited not the land by their [own] sword, and their [own] arm did not deliver them; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you were well pleased in them.

4 Thou thyself, art my king, O God, Command thou the victories of Jacob.

You are indeed my King and my God, who command deliverances for Jacob.

5 By thee, will we thrust at, our adversaries, In thy Name, will we tread down our assailants;

In you will we push down our enemies, and in your name will we bring to nothing them that rise up against us.

6 For, not in my bow, will I trust, Nor shall, my sword, give me victory;

For I will not trust in my bow, and my sword shall not save me.

7 For thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And, them who hated us, hast thou put to shame.

For you have saved us from them that afflicted us, and have put to shame them that hated us.

8 In God, have we boasted all the day, And, thy Name—unto times age-abiding, will we praise. (Selah)

In God will we make our boast all the day, and to your name will we give thanks for ever. (Pause)

9 But nay thou hast rejected, and confounded us, And wilt not go forth with our hosts;

But now you have cast off, and put us to shame; and you will not go forth with our hosts.

10 Thou sufferest us to turn back from the adversary, And, they who hate us, have plundered at will:

You have turned us back before our enemies; and they that hated us spoiled for themselves.

11 Thou dost give us up like sheep to be devoured, And, amongst the nations, hast thou scattered us.

You made us as sheep for meat; and you scattered us amongst the nations.

12 Thou dost sell thy people for, no-value, And hast not made increase by their price.

You have sold your people without price, and there was no profit by their exchange.

13 Thou dost make us, A reproach to our neighbours, A mockery and a derision to them who are round about us:

You have made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision them that are round about us.

14 Thou dost make us, A by-word among the nations, —A shaking of the head among the peoples.

You have made us a proverb amongst the Gentiles, a shaking of the head amongst the nations.

15 All the day, is my confusion before me, And, the shame of my face, hath covered me:

All the day my shame is before me, and the confusion of my face has covered me,

16 At the voice of him who reproacheth and revileth, At the face of the foe and avenger.

because of the voice of the slanderer and reviler; because of the enemy and avenger.

17 All this, hath come upon us, Yet had we not forgotten thee, Neither had we dealt falsely with thy covenant;

All these things are come upon us: but we have not forgotten you, neither have we dealt unrighteously in your covenant.

18 Our heart had not drawn back, Nor had our goings swerved from thy path;

And our heart has not gone back; but you have turned aside our paths from your way.

19 That thou shouldst have crushed us down in the place of wild dogs, And covered us over with a deadly shadow.

For you have laid us low in a place of affliction, and the shadow of death has covered us.

20 If we had forgotten the Name of our God, And had spread forth our hands unto the GOD of the foreigner,

If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search these things out?

21 Would not, God, have searched into this, Seeing that, he, knoweth the secrets of the heart?

for he knows the secrets of the heart.

22 Surely, for thy sake, have we been slain all the day, We have been accounted as sheep for slaughter.

For, for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for slaughter.

23 Awake thou! wherefore shouldst thou sleep, O Lord? Bestir thee! do not reject us altogether!

Awake, therefore sleep you, O Lord? arise, and do not cast [us] off for ever.

24 Wherefore shouldst thou hide, thy face? Shouldst forget our humiliation and our oppression?

Therefore turn you your face away, [and] forget our poverty and our affliction?

25 For our soul, sinketh down to the dust, Our body, cleaveth to the earth.

For our soul has been brought down to the dust; our belly has cleaved to the earth.

26 Arise to our help, And ransom us, because of thine own lovingkindness.

Arise, O Lord, help us, and redeem us for your name's sake.