Psalms 74

1 A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?

1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

2 Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—Mount Zion, where You dwell.

2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

3 Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.

3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

4 Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,

4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

5 like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees

5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

6 and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.

6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

7 They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.

7 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 in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.

8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

9 There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.

9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

10 How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?

10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

11 Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand? Stretch it out to destroy them!

11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.

12 Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.

12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;

13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.

14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

15 You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

16 The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.

16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

17 You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.

17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

18 Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.

18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

19 Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.

19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

20 Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.

21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.

21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.

22 Rise up, O God; defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.

22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

23 Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.

23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.