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]
Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast [us] off for ever? [why] doth thy anger smoke 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 purchased of old: the rod of thy inheritance, [which] thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, 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 feet to the perpetual desolations; [even] all [that] 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].
Thy enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns [for] signs.
5 They cut down all the [engraved objects in the temple] like woodsmen cut down trees.
[A man] was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6 Then they smashed all the carved wood with their axes and hammers.
But now they break down the carved work of it at once 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 defiled [by casting down] the dwelling-place of thy name to the ground.
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 together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God 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 see not our signs: [there is] no more any prophet: neither [is there] among us any that knoweth how long.
10 God, how long will our enemies make fun of you [RHQ]? Will they insult you [MTY] forever [RHQ]?
O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? 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? pluck [it] out of thy bosom.
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].
For God [is] my 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 strength: thou didst break 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 didst break the head of leviathan in pieces, [and] didst give him [to be] food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You caused springs and streams to flow, and you [also] dried up rivers that had never dried up previously.
Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou didst dry up mighty rivers.
16 You created the days and the nights, and you put the sun and the moon in their places.
The day [is] thine, the night also [is] thine: thou hast prepared 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 hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
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, O LORD, and the foolish people have 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.
O deliver not the soul of thy turtle dove to the multitude [of the wicked]: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
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 respect to the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations 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 oppressed return 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, plead thy own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth 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 voice of thy enemies: the tumult of those that rise against thee increaseth continually.
