Psalmorum 74
1 Intellectus Asaph. Ut quid Deus repulisti in finem: iratus est furor tuus super oves pascuæ tuæ?
A maskil of Asaph. Why, O God, have you spurned us forever? Why smokes your wrath against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Memor esto congregationis tuæ, quam possedisti ab initio. Redemisti virgam hereditatis tuæ: mons Sion, in quo habitasti in eo.
Remember the community you purchased of old to become by redemption the tribe of your heritage, Zion, the mountain you made your home.
3 Leva manus tuas in superbias eorum in finem: quanta malignatus est inimicus in sancto!
Rouse yourself, visit its ruins complete. In the temple the foe has made havoc of all things.
4 Et gloriati sunt qui oderunt te: in medio solemnitatis tuæ. Posuerunt signa sua, signa:
Like lions your enemies roared through your house, replacing our symbols by signs of their own,
5 et non cognoverunt sicut in exitu super summum. Quasi in silva lignorum securibus
hacking, like woodsmen who lift axes on thickets of trees,
6 exciderunt ianuas eius in idipsum: in securi, et ascia deiecerunt eam.
smashing with hatchets and hammers all of its carved work together.
7 Incenderunt igni Sanctuarium tuum: in terra polluerunt tabernaculum nominis tui.
They have set your temple on fire, to the very ground they have outraged the place where lives your name.
8 Dixerunt in corde suo cognatio eorum simul: quiescere faciamus omnes dies festos Dei a terra.
They have said in their heart, ‘Let us utterly crush them.’ They have burned all the houses of God in the land.
9 Signa nostra non vidimus, iam non est propheta: et nos non cognoscet amplius.
No symbol of ours do we see any more: no prophet is there any more, none is with us who knows how long.
10 Usquequo Deus improperabit inimicus: irritat adversarius nomen tuum in finem?
How long, O God, is the foe to insult? Shall the enemy spurn your name forever?
11 Ut quid avertis manum tuam, et dexteram tuam, de medio sinu tuo in finem?
Why, O Lord, do you hold back your hand, why keep your right hand in the folds of your robe?
12 Deus autem rex noster ante sæcula: operatus est salutem in medio terræ.
Yet God is our king from the ancient days, in the midst of the earth working deeds of salvation.
13 Tu confirmasti in virtute tua mare: contribulasti capita draconum in aquis.
It was you who did cleave the sea by your might, and shatter the heads of the ocean monsters.
14 Tu confregisti capita draconis: dedisti eum escam populis Æthiopum.
It was you who did crush many-headed Leviathan, and give him as food to the beasts of the wilderness.
15 Tu dirupisti fontes, et torrentes: tu siccasti fluvios Ethan.
It was you who did cleave the fountains and torrents; it was you who did dry the perennial streams.
16 Tuus est dies, et tua est nox: tu fabricatus es auroram et solem.
Yours is the day; yours, too, is the night, it was you who did establish the sun and the star.
17 Tu fecisti omnes terminos terræ: æstatem et ver tu plasmasti ea.
It was you who did fix all the borders of earth: summer and winter it’s you who have made them.
18 Memor esto huius, inimicus improperavit Domino: et populus insipiens incitavit nomen tuum.
Yet, for all this, the foe has insulted you, Lord, and a nation of fools has reviled your name.
19 Ne tradas bestiis animas confitentes tibi, et animas pauperum tuorum ne obliviscaris in finem.
Do not give your dove to the beasts, do not forget your afflicted forever.
20 Respice in testamentum tuum: quia repleti sunt, qui obscurati sunt terræ domibus iniquitatum.
Look to the sleek ones – how full they are: the dark places of earth are the dwellings of violence.
21 Ne avertatur humilis factus confusus: pauper et inops laudabunt nomen tuum.
O let not the downtrodden turn back ashamed: let the poor and the needy sing praise to your name.
22 Exurge Deus, iudica causam tuam: memor esto improperiorum tuorum, eorum quæ ab insipiente sunt tota die.
Arise, God, and defend your cause: remember how fools all the day insult you.
23 Ne obliviscaris voces inimicorum tuorum: superbia eorum, qui te oderunt, ascendit semper.
Do not forget the uproar of your enemies, the din of your foes that ascends evermore.
