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]
“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 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 the people which thou didst purchase of old; Thine own inheritance, which thou didst redeem; That Mount Zion, where thou once didst dwell!
3 Walk along [and see] where everything has been totally ruined; our enemies have destroyed everything in the sacred temple.
Hasten thy steps to those utter desolations! Every thing in the sanctuary hath the enemy abused!
4 Your enemies shouted triumphantly in this sacred place; they erected their banners [to show they had defeated us].
Thine enemies roar in the place of thine assemblies; Their own symbols have they set up for signs.
5 They cut down all the [engraved objects in the temple] like woodsmen cut down trees.
They appear like those who raise the axe against a thicket;
6 Then they smashed all the carved wood with their axes and hammers.
They have broken down the carved work of thy temple with axes and hammers;
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 cast fire into thy sanctuary; They have profaned, and cast to the ground, the dwelling-place of thy name.
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 hearts, “Let us destroy them all together!” They have burned all God's places of assembly in 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].
We no longer see our signs; There is no prophet among us, Nor any one that knoweth how long this desolation shall endure.
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 adversary revile? Shall the enemy blaspheme 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 withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? Take it from thy bosom, and destroy!
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].
Yet God was our king of old, Working 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 didst divide the sea by thy power; Thou didst crush the heads of the sea-monsters 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 didst break in pieces the head of the crocodile; Thou gavest him for food to the inhabitants of the desert.
15 You caused springs and streams to flow, and you [also] dried up rivers that had never dried up previously.
Thou didst cleave forth the fountain and the stream; Thou didst dry up perennial 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 the night; Thou didst prepare the 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 didst establish all the boundaries of the earth; Thou didst make summer and winter.
18 Yahweh, do not forget that your enemies laugh at you, and that it is foolish people who despise you [MTY].
O remember that the enemy hath reviled Jehovah; That an impious people hath blasphemed 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.
Give not up the life of thy turtle-dove to the wild beast; Forget not for ever thine afflicted people!
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 all the dark places of the land are full of the abodes of cruelty.
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].
O let not the afflicted go away ashamed! Let the poor and needy 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! maintain thy cause! Remember how the impious revileth thee daily!
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 clamor of thine adversaries, —The noise of thine enemies, which continually increaseth!
