Psalms 74
1 A maschil of Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?
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 Call to mind your people, whom you purchased in ancient times, the tribe whom you have redeemed to be your own heritage, and Mount Zion, where you live.
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 Come look at the complete ruins, all the damage that the enemy has done in the holy place.
Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries roared in the middle of your appointed place; they set up their battle flags.
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 hacked away with axes as in a thick forest.
And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees,
6 They smashed and broke down all the engravings; they broke them with axes and hammers.
They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrated where you live, knocking it to the ground.
They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth.
8 They said in their hearts, “We will destroy them all.” They burned up all of your meeting places in the land.
They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land.
9 We do not see any more signs; there is no prophet any more, and no one among us knows how long this will last.
Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more.
10 How long, God, will the enemy throw insults at you? Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take your right hand from your garment and destroy them.
Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever?
12 Yet God has been my king from ancient times, bringing salvation on the earth.
But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your strength; you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of leviathan; you fed him to those living in the wilderness.
Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians.
15 You broke open springs and streams; you dried up flowing rivers.
Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers.
16 The day is yours, and the night is yours also; you set the sun and moon in place.
Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun.
17 You have set all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and winter.
Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee.
18 Call to mind how the enemy hurled insults at you, Yahweh, and that a foolish people has blasphemed your name.
Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name.
19 Do not give the life of your dove to a wild animal. Do not forget forever the life of your oppressed people.
Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.
20 Remember your covenant, for the dark regions of the land are full of places of violence.
Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.
21 Do not let the oppressed be turned back in shame; let the poor and oppressed praise your name.
Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.
22 Arise, God; defend your own honor; call to mind how fools insult you all day long.
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 the voice of your adversaries or the uproar of those who continually defy you.
Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.
