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?

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

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

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

5 like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees

6 and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 ¶ Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast [us] off for ever? [why] doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

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

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

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

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

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, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 a teaching of Assaph. God, why do you even reject us and are so fiercely angry with the sheep of your pasture?

2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old, and redeemed unto thine inheritance, even mount Zion, where thou dwellest.

3 Tread them under foot, and cast them down to the ground. The enemy has spoiled everything in the sanctuary.

4 Thine abominable ones roar in thy houses, and set their idols therein.

5 The axes are seen looking up, as one heweth in a forest,

6 And hew up all his tables with axe and baleen.

7 They burn up thy sanctuary; they profane the habitation of thy name to the ground.

8 They say in their heart, Let us plunder them. They burn all the houses of GOD in the land.

9 We see not our signs, neither doth a prophet preach, nor a teacher teach us any more.

10 O God, how long shall the wicked revile, and the enemy blaspheme thy name?

11 Why turnest thou away thy hand, and thy right hand from thy bosom so completely?

12 But God is my King from of old, which doeth all help that is done in the earth.

13 Thou shalt divide the sea by thy strength, and shatter the heads of the dragons in the waters.

14 Thou shalt break the heads of the whales, and give them for meat unto the people of the wilderness.

15 Thou hast caused fountains and rivers to flow; thou hast dried up mighty streams.

16 The day and the night are thine; thou makest both the sun and the stars to have their course.

17 Thou settest the border of every land; thou makest summer and winter.

18 Remember therefore, that the enemy reproacheth the LORD, and a foolish people blasphemeth thy name.

19 Thou wilt not give the soul of thy turtledove unto the beast, nor forget thy wretched beasts.

20 Remember the covenant: for the land is miserably desolate in every place, and the houses are broken down.

21 Let not the lowly go away with shame: for the poor and the miserable glorify thy name.

22 Arise, O God, and plead thy cause: remember the reproach that is daily returned unto thee of the fools.

23 Forget not the clamour of thine enemies: the clamour of thine adversaries increaseth the longer.