Psalms 74
1 God, why have you abandoned/rejected us? Will you keep rejecting us forever [RHQ]? Why are you angry with us, since we are like sheep in your pasture [and you are like our shepherd]? [MET, RHQ]
Understanding for Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Do not forget your people whom you chose long ago, the people whom you freed [from being slaves in Egypt] and caused to become your tribe. Do not forget Jerusalem, which was (your home/where you dwelt) [on this earth].
Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning. The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast redeemed: mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt.
3 Walk along [and see] where everything has been totally ruined; our enemies have destroyed everything in the sacred temple.
Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies shouted triumphantly in this sacred place; they erected their banners [to show they had defeated us].
And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs,
5 They cut down all the [engraved objects in the temple] like woodsmen cut down trees.
And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees,
6 Then they smashed all the carved wood with their axes and hammers.
They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down.
7 [Then] they burned your temple to the ground; they caused that place where you were worshiped to be unfit for people to worship in.
They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth.
8 They said to themselves, “We will destroy the Israelis completely,” and they [also] burned down all the other places where we gathered to worship God.
They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land.
9 All our sacred symbols (OR, miracles) are gone; there are no prophets now/any more, and no one knows how long [this situation will continue].
Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more.
10 God, how long will our enemies make fun of you [RHQ]? Will they insult you [MTY] forever [RHQ]?
How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever?
11 Why do you refuse to help [MTY, RHQ] us? Why do you keep your hand inside your cloak [instead of using it to destroy our enemies] [RHQ]?
Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever?
12 God, you have been our king [all the time] since we came out of Egypt [HYP], and you have enabled us to defeat [our enemies] in the land [of Israel].
But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 By your power you caused the [Red] Sea to divide; [it was as though] you smashed the heads of the [rulers of Egypt who were like] huge sea dragons [MET].
Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 [It was as though] you crushed the head of the king of Egypt [MET] and gave his body to the animals in the desert to eat.
Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians.
15 You caused springs and streams to flow, and you [also] dried up rivers that had never dried up previously.
Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers.
16 You created the days and the nights, and you put the sun and the moon in their places.
Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun.
17 You determined where the oceans end and the land begins, and you created the summer/hot season and the winter/cold season.
Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee.
18 Yahweh, do not forget that your enemies laugh at you, and that it is foolish people who despise you [MTY].
Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name.
19 Do not let your helpless people [MET] fall into the hands of their cruel enemies; do not forget your suffering/persecuted people.
Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.
20 Do not forget the agreement that you made with us; remember that there are violent people in every dark place on the earth.
Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.
21 Do not allow your oppressed people to be disgraced; help those poor and needy people in order that they will [again] praise you [MTY].
Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.
22 God, arise and defend yourself [by defending your people]! Do not forget that foolish people laugh at you (all day long/continually)!
Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day.
23 Do not forget that your enemies shout angrily [at you]; the uproar that they make [while they oppose you] never stops.
Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.
